Retail Reaction Statement To Newly Proposed California Violent Video Game Legislation
Statement attributable to Hal Halpin, president, IEMA
February 15, 2005 - Wilton, CT - "The newly proposed violent video game legislation in California smacks of me-too politics in a vein effort for local politicians to garner some perceived moral high ground when clearly there is none to be had. Assemblyman Yee knows well that the IEMA member companies have just recently implemented nation-wide carding policies in an effort to inhibit the sale of M-rated games to minors, rendering his and similarly redundant pieces of legislation wholly unnecessary and a frivolous and irresponsible waste of taxpayer resources. The bottom line on this matter is that retailers have made the public commitment to partner with parents, and quite frankly you simply cannot legislate sound parenting. We again welcome responsible parties interested in making a tangible difference on the issue to work with us, rather than pursue a legislative course proven unconstitutional time and again."
Established in 1997, the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) is the non-profit U.S. trade association dedicated to serving the business interests of leading retailers that sell interactive entertainment software (including video and computer games, multimedia entertainment, peripherals and other software). Member companies of the IEMA collectively account for approximately eighty-five percent of the $10 billion annual interactive entertainment business in the United States. (http://www.iema.org)
Contact:
Marie Sylla
(203) 761-6185