Louisiana Governor Signs 'Obscene Games' Bill Into Law

Following news that Louisiana Democratic Representative Roy Burrell's HB1381 bill, covering violent video games, was passed into law and subsequently challenged in court by the Entertainment Software Association, Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco has now signed another, this time ESA-approved game bill into law. According to a new GamePolitics.com report, the governor has completed the signing of the new bill, SB340 into law. But, unlike HB1381, Bill SB340 enjoys the full support of the video game industry, including the ESA. The difference between SB340 and the contested HB1381 is that, like Maryland's HB707 (which likewise was not opposed by the video game industry), SB340 deals only with explicitly pornographic sexual content in games, not violence. The Louisiana House passed SB340 by an unanimous measure of 95-0 earlier this month. Both SB340 and Maryland's HB707 essentially echo their state's obscenity statutes, and treat the sale of games with sexually explicit content to minors, much the same as the sale of any media that contains pornography, and therefore do not affect more or less the entirity of retail-sold video games.