Video Software Dealers Association Comments on AB1179

The head of the Video Software Dealers Association, a trade group of electronic game retailers, has followed the IEMA in releasing a statement lauding Judge Ronald Whyte’s injunction against California bill AB1179. The VSDA was one of the bodies who filed suit against the bill alongside the Entertainment Software Association after its signing in October. Though VSDA president Bo Anderson applauds the ruling, he notes that the "VSDA frankly takes no pleasure in this decision. The injunction was inevitable, as is a final ruling that the law is unconstitutional. It is indeed unfortunate that the state of California has wasted precious taxpayer dollars in pursuing this legislation, when the outcome is so predictable: This law will never go into effect." "The ruling marks the second time this month and the sixth time in five years that a federal court has prevented a law that attempts to restrict video games from going into effect," Anderson continued. "It should now be abundantly clear that these types of laws will never be enforced because they amount to unconstitutional government censorship. It is time for legislators to move beyond the rhetoric uttered in support of passage of such censorial legislation. We call on them to work with video game retailers and the video game industry to help educate parents about the existing video game rating system and encourage parents to use those ratings to make informed decisions about which video games to allow in their homes."