ESA's Quarterly Lobbying Grows 23% To $1.2M

Game industry trade group the Entertainment Software Association spent $1.2 million lobbying Congress, the Federal Trade Commission, and other government organizations on behalf of video game publishers and developers in the first quarter of this year. That amount, which was divulged in a notice filed with a House of Representatives clerk and covered in an Associated Press report, is up 23 percent over the same period in 2009, and over the fourth quarter of 2009, suggesting the ESA is stepping up its lobbying efforts rapidly. In addition to Congress and the FTC, the ESA lobbied the Justice Department, the Federal Communications Commission, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Key areas of focus included freedom of speech issues, broadband development, video game content and sales regulation, copyright enforcement, piracy, and immigration for skilled workers. The ESA recently pledged to fight a California law that would restrict video game sales to minors. The Supreme Court has said it will review the legislation.