Proposed Oklahoma "violent" game tax defeated in committee

[Richard B Riddick]

The Oklahoma House Revenue and Tax Subcommittee has rejected proposed legislation that would have placed a 1 percent surtax on all games rated T (Teen) or higher by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.

The bill, first proposed by state rep Will Fourkiller (D) earlier this month, was designed to discourage purchase of violent games and fund new programs focused on childhood outdoor education and bullying prevention. But by broadly grouping all T-rated games in the "violent" category, the bill would have roped in relatively innocuous titles like Ultimate Card Games and Zumba Fitness 2, as well as serious fare.

Before a 5-6 vote against moving forward with the bill, members of the subcommittee expressed skepticism at the idea of singling out video games in particular for causing bullying and obesity. "Why just video games? Why not French fries or rap music or movies?" Representative Pat Owenby (R) asked, according to minutes recorded by the Oklahoma Watchdog. "We could have a task force on a multitude of reasons children are obese," Oklahoma City rep Mike Reynolds (R) added.

Grassroots lobbying group Video Game Voters Network claimed the subcommittee was influenced by "hundreds" of messages from Oklahoma supporters, who pointed to last year's Supreme Court ruling offering full First Amendment protections for video games. "It was obvious that this bill singled out video games with unfair and unfounded claims, and something needed to be done," the group said in a statement.

Perhaps the Oklahoma legislature dodged a bullet here: California will end up paying nearly $1.8 million in court costs related to its failed attempt to bar children from buying violent games, which led to the landmark Supreme Court case.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/...ma-violent-game-tax-defeated-in-committee.ars

Go Oklahoma..

Its nice to see someone questioning the reason and mentality of politics, these days.

 

[Ohri-Jin]

California will end up paying nearly $1.8 million in court costs related to its failed attempt to bar children from buying violent games, which led to the landmark Supreme Court case.

LMAO. Thats where that State's money goes to main. tax payers money will go to stinking lawyers etc.

Screw that shit. Instead of focusing on BS like videogames focus more on the poor. Or ppl that dont even have jobs at all.

They just want to tax as much as possible. They always have a hidden agenda. Money. They always just sugarcoat it with bullshit pretences.

 

[Will Graham]

I agree that it was pointless to just single out the video game industry, but the underlying idea isn't a bad one. A 1% tax increase is absolutely miniscule, barely even noticeable. Those funds then paying for more outdoor activities, truly a travesty

 

[seddy-0]

oaklahoma has not just gone after violent video games. the oklahoma athletics commission has banned mma, professional wrestling and boxing events as well. while thevideo game ban got voted down. the banning of combative sports is still being fought in the courts. in my opinion that's a lot of money that could be coming into the state that they are willingly shutting away.