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Supreme Court Strikes Down California Violent Video Game Law

The Supreme Court just struck down a California law which bans the sale of violent video games to minors. The now-invalid statute, which was based on anti-porn laws that the justices have upheld, forced video game merchants into the awkward position of determining whether an individual game survived a complex legal standard before they could sell it freely:

The Act defines a “violent video game” as one that depicts “killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being” in a manner that meets all of the following descriptions: (1) A reasonable person, considering the game as a whole, would find that it appeals to a deviant or morbid interest of minors; (2) it is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the community as to what is suitable for minors, and; (3) it causes the game, as a whole, to lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors.

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