NY Assemblyman Proposes Bill to Restrict the Sale of Games with Profanity or Racial Stereotypes, Bangs Head Against Wall

NY State Assemblyman, Keith L.T. Wright, submitted a proposal to prevent people under the age of 18 from purchasing games with a rating that "reflects content of various degrees of profanity, racist stereotypes, or derogatory language, and/or actions toward a specific group of persons." It would also require retailers to ID when selling or renting M or AO games. This is Wright's second attempt, the first attempt failing in 2007.

Does This Guy Look At History?

Retailers voluntarily checked IDs for video games, same as they do at the movies. This area does not need to be legislated. Also, the language of the quoted portion above is so broad, that anything could fall under that umbrella. It would lead to inconsistency and undue complexity. No offense to Mr. Wright, but not only has legislation like this failed in his own state, it has failed in multiple others for the same reason - it is unconstitutional!

Sony Sues Datel, Maker of a PSP-3000 Hacking Extra Battery

Sony Europe has filed suit against UK-based Datel, maker of the Max Power Digital Battery accessory for PSP, alleging copyright infringement for Max Power's ability to circumvent Sony's encryption protection for the PSP. Interestingly, the Battery was originally sold as the Lite Blue Tool, an explicit hacking device already frozen by Sony previously. Sony believed that with the launch of the PSP-3000 piracy was "trending downward."

Changing the Name Didn't Fool Them? Damn...

The PSP has enjoyed quite a bit of hardware success but not as much software success, in part due to large amounts of piracy. It isn't surprising that Sony is going after them, especially in these lean times.