FC: Appeals courts rule on violent arcade games (YES), anonymity (NO)

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=00/10/19/2151245&mode=nested

   Arcade Games Shouldn't Be Censored, Court Says
   posted by cicero on Thursday October 19, @04:47PM
   from the we-always-knew-pacman-was-a-spawn-of-satan dept.

   The city of Indianapolis went too far in preventing teens from
   playing violent arcade games, a federal appeals court said. U.S.
   District Judge David Hamilton ruled last week that the city's law,
   which promises a $200 fine for each day a business does not cordon off
   such video games, was perfectly A-OK. But a 7th Circuit Court of
   Appeals panel -- including onetime Microsoft mediator Richard Posner
   -- thought otherwise. Yesterday they cited the First Amendment when
   barring Indianapolis from enforcing the law until the video game
   industry's appeal is complete. This case is important because it
   appears to be the first to extend those dusty old "harmful to minor"
   rules (about selling Junior porn) to material that's allegedly
   violent. This could affect books, newspapers, and the Internet. A
   shocked Judge Hamilton said in his 88-page ruling (PDF) that he saw a
   game where "the player participated in the action as a sniper firing
   an electronic rifle at enemies in a game called Silent Scope" and
   "observed at least one character whose entire upper torso appeared to
   have been severed from the lower half of the figure." Says David
   Horowitz of the Media Coalition: "If this decision is allowed to
   stand, it's likely we'd see these ordinances everywhere." (Also see
   the case status file, and excerpts from Hamilton's opinion, below.)

Excerpts from opinion:
http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=00/10/19/2151245&mode=nested


*********


http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=00/10/19/1952214&mode=nested

   Judge Backs Corporate Effort to Unmask Users
   posted by lizard on Thursday October 19, @02:40PM
   from the who-is-john-galt-er-john-doe dept.

   The Freedom Forum has an article describing how a Florida appeals
   court has required AOL and Yahoo to reveal the names of several
   "John Does." These users were highly critical of the CEO of
   Hvide Marine Inc. This decision should worry anyone who believes in
   free speech and capitalism. Why? Free speech, because the right to
   critique anyone -- even the rich and powerful -- is a fundamental one.
   Capitalism, because "competition by lawsuit" is bad for business, and,
   if people aren't free to keep companies in line by vigorous
   whistleblowing and public criticism, the government will have an
   excuse to levy more regulations in the so-called interest of fairness.
   See a Lizardrant below.




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