AIAS Weighs In On California Game Bill

The video game trade body the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS), which operates both the Interactive Achievement Awards and the yearly D.I.C.E Summit in Las Vegas, is the latest organization to weigh in on the controversy caused by the recently passed California AB 1179 bill, which is aimed at preventing the sale of "violent video games" through state-based legislative means. In an email sent to its members and obtained by Gamasutra, AIAS President Joseph Olin suggests: "If enacted, AB 1179 would treat computer and video games differently than any other form of media even though they are an expressive medium worthy of the same constitutional free speech protections as movies, music, books and art. Therefore, attempts to regulate computer and video game content or our consumers' access to this creativity as provided under AB 1179 run afoul of constitutional protections." Olin continues by commenting of the bill: "It also subjects our industry, which directly and indirectly employs tens of thousands of people in California, to regulations that could cripple its ability to compete in the marketplace. Your help is needed in sending a letter to the Governor urging a veto of AB 1179." The AIAS then provides a link to a draft of a letter addressed to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, on whose desk the bill currently sits, urging the Governor to veto the bill, and suggesting: "Enactment of this legislation would send a terrible message to the people of our industry and those who depend on it through the creative, retail and technology communities." AB 1179 reached Schwarzenegger on September 13th; Schwarzenegger has until October 13 to make his decision.