Oklahoma may deem some games "harmful to minors."

Controversial Games Bill Gets OK
Oklahoma may deem some games "harmful to minors."

The Oklahoma Senate has unanimously approved a controversial violent games bill, HB3004, putting the "games as porn" bill one step closer to being signed into law. The House also unanimously approved the bill in March. Now the legislation will be sent back to the House for another approval, after which it will be placed on Democratic Governor Brad Henry's desk, awaiting his signature.

HB3004 seeks to amend an existing Oklahoma statute, and redefine what is considered "harmful to minors." Authored by State Rep. Fred Morgan (R), the bill would add "inappropriate violence" to the statute. In the actual wording of the bill, "harmful to minors" means: "the material or performance lacks serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic, or political value for minors." (But if Sony is going to have to demonstrate the serious literary, scientific, medical, artistic or political value of the latest Ratchet & Clank game, they may be in trouble.)

The effect of this legislation, if passed, would mean the Oklahoma government could designate certain games "inappropriate," and the games would then be treated like pornography—meaning it would be illegal for retailers to sell the game to minors. What makes the Oklahoma Senate's unanimous decision particularly significant is that similar bills in other states have been killed time and time again, because of the same vague wording of HB3004's definitions of "inappropriate."

Game Politics states on their site that a well-placed source has indicated that Governor Henry would most likely be inclined to sign the bill. If that proves to be true, the IDSA could have a significant First Amendment legal battle on their hands.