ESA Report: 43 Game Laws Proposed In 2009, None Passed

The Entertainment Software Association released its annual report for the 2009 fiscal year, heavily highlighting its successes in increasing representation on behalf of the video game industry at various levels of government and legislation. In the period covered by the report, says the ESA, 43 bills were introduced attempting to regulate the sale or access of video game content, but none passed into law. And of the bills that had been introduced in the prior fiscal year, none were carried into this year's session. The organization also held "state lobbying days" in both California and Texas earlier this year, showing a selection of video game demonstrations to state legislators and their families. California legislators were also separately taken on tours of local ESA member companies. While those companies were not identified, ESA members with offices in California include Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, 505 Games, and new members Trion World Network, Crave Entertainment, Koei, and Xseed Games. In addition to efforts focused on legislation and lawmakers in the United States, the ESA says it sent takedown notices to ISPs worldwide where pirates were most active. Italy and Spain were identified as the countries with the highest level of peer-to-peer piracy. The ESA has set various goals to more strongly enforce piracy prevention and to work directly with ISPs to achieve that aim. The report also noted that the Video Game Voters Network, which is sponsored and promoted by the ESA, has reached a total of 160,000 members, who have sent in excess of 31,000 letters to state- and federal-level elected representatives regarding various game legislation. In particular, the state of Utah was singled out as having generated about 2,400 letters, likely in response to a bill aiming to to penalize ESRB-supporting retailers who violate ESRB rating guidelines. The full report can be downloaded from The ESA's website.