http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/kotaku.com.png http://kotaku.com/tag/laws http://kotaku.com/tag/laws

New York Governor David Paterson signed a video game bill into law yesterday that requires parental controls on all consoles, pushes game rating enforcement and launches a state-backed study of video games and violence. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5027774&view=rss&microfeed=true

Not if they have the appropriate license come September, but with a gambling law getting its final update at that time, MMOs that have competitions or offer prizes may be classified as 'online gambling' and subject to the same laws and penalties as more traditional forms. With all the chatter in the US and elsewhere about where MMOs fit into the overall scheme of online gambling (or not), it will be interesting to see how companies start to navigate the water. In the US, for example, 'games of skill' are - for the most part - exempt from gambling regulations; this is not the case with the new UK law. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=276021&view=rss&microfeed=true

This is fascinating detail of a case I'm otherwise tired of hearing about: Federal District Court Judge James Rosenbaum, who is presiding over the case over a pending law in which $25 fines will be issued to underaged purchasers of M-rated games, asked a court clerk to bring an Xbox and several games into the courtroom. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=187012&view=rss&microfeed=true Dr. Jerald Block is a head shrinker from Portland. So he's probably well qualified to say that Jack Thompson is a gibbering lunatic and proposed game laws are absolutely nutso. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=186170&view=rss&microfeed=true