Louisiana Passes Separate 'Obscene Games' Bill

Following news that Louisiana Democratic Representative Roy Burrell's HB1381 bill, covering violent video games, was passed into law last week, to be subsequently challenged in court by the Entertainment Software Association, another video game-related bill is headed to Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco to be signed. However, the new bill, SB340, enjoys the full support of the video game industry, including the ESA, according to a GamePolitics.com report. The difference between the two bills is that, like Maryland's HB707 (which likewise was not opposed by the video game industry), SB340 deals only with explicitly pornographic sexual content in games, not violence. Both SB340 and Maryland's HB707 essentially echo their state's obscenity statutes, and treat the sale of games with sexually explicit content to minors, much the same as the sale of pornography. According to a report by The Times-Picayune, SB340 amends the existing "harmful to minors" law that governs obscene material, and outlaws the sale of books, magazines, records, and CDs containing such material to people under 18 years old. According to the report, the Louisiana House passed SB340 by an unanimous measure of 95-0 last week, and the bill is now headed to the Governor today to be signed into law.