FC: Appeals courts rule on violent arcade games (YES), anonymity (NO)

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=00/10/19/2151245&mode=nested

    Arcade Games Shouldn't Be Censored, Court Says
    posted by cicero on Thursday October 19, @04:47PM
    from the we-always-knew-pacman-was-a-spawn-of-satan dept.

    The city of Indianapolis went too far in preventing teens from
    playing violent arcade games, a federal appeals court said. U.S.
    District Judge David Hamilton ruled last week that the city's law,
    which promises a $200 fine for each day a business does not cordon off
    such video games, was perfectly A-OK. But a 7th Circuit Court of
    Appeals panel -- including onetime Microsoft mediator Richard Posner
    -- thought otherwise. Yesterday they cited the First Amendment when
    barring Indianapolis from enforcing the law until the video game
    industry's appeal is complete. This case is important because it
    appears to be the first to extend those dusty old "harmful to minor"
    rules (about selling Junior porn) to material that's allegedly
    violent. This could affect books, newspapers, and the Internet. A
    shocked Judge Hamilton said in his 88-page ruling (PDF) that he saw a
    game where "the player participated in the action as a sniper firing
    an electronic rifle at enemies in a game called Silent Scope" and
    "observed at least one character whose entire upper torso appeared to
    have been severed from the lower half of the figure." Says David
    Horowitz of the Media Coalition: "If this decision is allowed to
    stand, it's likely we'd see these ordinances everywhere." (Also see
    the case status file, and excerpts from Hamilton's opinion, below.)

Excerpts from opinion:
http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=00/10/19/2151245&mode=nested


*********


http://www.cluebot.com/article.pl?sid=00/10/19/1952214&mode=nested

    Judge Backs Corporate Effort to Unmask Users
    posted by lizard on Thursday October 19, @02:40PM
    from the who-is-john-galt-er-john-doe dept.

    The Freedom Forum has an article describing how a Florida appeals
    court has required AOL and Yahoo to reveal the names of several
    "John Does." These users were highly critical of the CEO of
    Hvide Marine Inc. This decision should worry anyone who believes in
    free speech and capitalism. Why? Free speech, because the right to
    critique anyone -- even the rich and powerful -- is a fundamental one.
    Capitalism, because "competition by lawsuit" is bad for business, and,
    if people aren't free to keep companies in line by vigorous
    whistleblowing and public criticism, the government will have an
    excuse to levy more regulations in the so-called interest of fairness.
    See a Lizardrant below.




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