California tried to establish unconstitutional regulations on videogames and failed miserably. Brown v. ESA had the Court voting 7-2 to Alpha Counter a 2005 California law that would put an unlawful lock on game distribution. The Entertainment Software Association is expecting a fat check for $950,000 from Cali to take care of legal fees incurred during the recent Supreme Court case. The ESA says they'll use that cash to help children in challenged communities in California, and they plan to launch a new charity this year that will work to channel young gamers' energies toward future job opportunities.

"Senator Yee and Governor Schwarzenegger wasted more than $1 million in taxpayer funds at a time when Californians could ill afford it," said Michael Gallagher, ESA president, in a release. "However we feel strongly that some of these funds should be used to improve services for California’s youth."

States really need to stop with this business of trying to regulate videogames. As of now, the ESA has received $3.1 million in legal fees in total. 

Legacy Comments (will be imported soon)

UltorOscariot

The state is billions in the red, but I doubt this is the last time they try this nonsense. Some motherfuckers are always trying to iceskate uphill.

BackBerner

Living in California is just going to get more and more expensive..

tuoman

RaginDude

Not just videogames, pushing all their crappy ideologies onto people.

s0lesurviv0r

Thank goodness I live in texas where the millions of dollars we spend go toward a stadium for a team that will never win a super bowl trophy anytime in the foreseeable future instead of something as silly as videogame legislation.

LuizPSC

Thank goodness I live in Brazil where the millions of dollars we spend go toward a stadium for a event, and the money that will not be used to hospistals, schools and etc, instead of something as silly as videogame legislation.

timtheterrible

@tuoman

The gif just isn't the same without the fart noise.

acetated

CORGIS! what? lawsuits? CORGIS!

CapnAhab

@s0lesurviv0r

As a resident of Cincinnati, I feel your pain.

Rammstein

Thank goodness I live in California where the millions of dollars we spend go toward paying back fees for videogame legislation instead of something as silly as feeding the hungry or healing the sick.

Rammstein

Also, does this now mean that California directly supports SOPA/PIPA because they're paying the ESA almost $1Billion dollars? Or does the ESA get off the hook for taking back their support ..after SOPA/PIPA were defeated?

Rammstein

Sorry, $1Million, not $1Billion*

NickCull

That's where they get all their SOPA monies!

JoeTheProYaKnow

Thank goodness I live in Iowa where someone like Rick Santorum and Bob Vander Plaats managed to convince people to spend millions of dollars to support them.

(I swear, I had nothing to do with them. I am sorry world)

Watts

I miss when it was just one crazy disbarred lawyer trying to do shit like this and SOPA. Where are you Jack Thompson? We need you.

BoomingEchoes

"The ESA says they'll use that cash to help children in challenged communities in California"

Thats nice, but seriously, someone keep an eye on that money. If it turns out a year from now that the ESA used $950,000 to lobby/support a stupid bill that would blast us back to the stone age, I'm pretty sure we should all go to our fridge, grab an egg, and smash it on our face as hard as we can for being so stupid to believe them so blindly.

Gwendolyn

@BoomingEchoes: I don't believe them one iota, either. I don't understand why they're more deserving of that money than you know, the people who gave that money: us the taxpayers. It all smells fishy.

Onyx Leo

Thank goodness I live in New York where the millions we spend goes to a casino and new convention building that NO ONE wanted.

Syn

Thank goodness I live in Colorado where our senator opposed the NDAA :D

Martin Montiel

Thank goodness I live in California where......... oh wait.

chaosriotzero

thank goodness I live in the UK, let me get back to sitting in my castle eating crumpets. We have no money, only dinosaurs

Mrdraven

The ESA wants poor kids to be online so they too can be subject to the next iteration of SOPA/PIPA. How considerate.

Arch649

I hate living in California.

ctg867

On the topic, I'd have no problem with banning the sale of M rated games to minors if R rated games, TV-MA television, Parental Advisory music, and pornographic magazines were all treated equally.

But they're not.

SUSPECT

Thank god WW3 will come soon and all this pointless crap will be the past.