S. HRG. 109–479 WHAT’S IN A GAME? REGULATION OF VIOLENT VIDEO GAMES AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND PROPERTY RIGHTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED NINTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MARCH 29, 2006 Serial No. J–109–64 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 28–337 PDF WASHINGTON : 2006 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:17 Jul 20, 2006 Jkt 028337 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\28337.TXT SJUD4 PsN: CMORC COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania, Chairman ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts JON KYL, Arizona JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware MIKE DEWINE, Ohio HERBERT KOHL, Wisconsin JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin JOHN CORNYN, Texas CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois TOM COBURN, Oklahoma MICHAEL O’NEILL, Chief Counsel and Staff Director BRUCE A. COHEN, Democratic Chief Counsel and Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND PROPERTY RIGHTS SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas, Chairman ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin LINDSEY O. GRAHAM, South Carolina EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts JOHN CORNYN, Texas DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California TOM COBURN, Oklahoma RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois AJIT PAI, Majority Chief Counsel ROBERT F. SCHIFF, Democratic Chief Counsel (II) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:17 Jul 20, 2006 Jkt 028337 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\28337.TXT SJUD4 PsN: CMORC C O N T E N T S STATEMENTS OF COMMITTEE MEMBERS Page Brownback, Hon. Sam, a U.S. Senator from the State of Kansas ....................... 1 Feingold, Hon. Russell D., a U.S. Senator from the State of Wisconsin ............. 3 Kohl, Hon. Herbert, a U.S. Senator from the State of Wisconsin, prepared statement .............................................................................................................. 138 WITNESSES Bickham, David S., Research Scientist, Center on Media and Child Health, Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts ......................................... 12 Carll, Elizabeth K., Chair, Interactive Media Committee, Media Psychology Division, American Psychological Association, Long Island, New York .......... 7 Johnson, Hon. Jeff, Assistant Majority Leader, Minnesota House of Rep- resentatives, Plymouth, Minnesota .................................................................... 23 Saunders, Kevin W., Professor of Law, Michigan State University, East Lan- sing, Michigan ...................................................................................................... 29 Smith, Paul M., Jenner and Block LLP, Washington, D.C. ................................. 27 Strickland, Steve, Reverend, Fayette County, Alabama ...................................... 5 Vance, Patricia E., President, Entertainment Software Rating Board, New York, New York .................................................................................................... 22 Williams, Dmitri, Assistant Professor, Department of Speech Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois ........................ 10 SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD American Center for Law & Justice, Jay A. Sekulow, Esq., Chief Counsel, Stuart J. Roth, Esq., Senior Counsel, Colby M. May, Esq., Director, Wash- ington Office, and Erik Zimmerman, Law Clerk, Washington, D.C., state- ment ...................................................................................................................... 37 Andersen, Crossan R., President, Video Software Dealers Association, Encino, California, statement ........................................................................................... 57 Bach, Robert J., President, Entertainment and Devices Division, Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington, statement ................................................ 64 Bickham, David S., Research Scientist, Center on Media and Child Health, Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, statement ...................... 66 Calvert, Clay, Associate Professor of Communications and Law, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, statement ............................... 72 Carll, Elizabeth K., Chair, Interactive Media Committee, Media Psychology Division, American Psychological Association, Long Island, New York, state- ment and attachments ......................................................................................... 79 Florida Police Chiefs Association, Tallahassee, Florida, resolution .................... 91 Fraternal Order of Police, Mark Koch, President, Pensylvania State Lodge, Games and youth violence—independent research findings ignored by APA, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, letter ........................................................................ 92 Gee, James Paul, Tashia Morgridge Professor of Reading, University of Wis- consin Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, statement .............................................. 100 Goldstein, Jeffrey H., Department of Social & Organizational Psychology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands, statement .............................................. 110 Horowitz, David, Executive Director of the Media Coalition, statement ............ 127 Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association, Hal Halpin, President, Wil- ton, Connecticut, statement ................................................................................ 132 Johnson, Hon. Jeff, Assistant Majority Leader, Minnesota House of Rep- resentatives, Plymouth, Minnesota, statement ................................................. 135 (III) VerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:17 Jul 20, 2006 Jkt 028337 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\28337.TXT SJUD4 PsN: CMORC IV Page Murray, John P., Professor of Developmental Psychology, School of Family Studies and Human Services, Kansas State University and Senior Scientist, Visiting Scholar, Center on Media and Child Health, Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, statement and attachment ............................................................................................................ 140 Nusbaum, Howard C., Chair, Department of Psychology, University of Chi- cago, Chicago, Illinois, statement ....................................................................... 143 Saunders, Kevin W., Professor of Law, Michigan State University College of Law, East Lansing, Michigan, statement ...................................................... 153 Smith, Paul M., Jenner and Block LLP, Washington, D.C., statement .............. 158 Sternheimer, Karen, Sociologist, University of Southern California, Los Ange- les, California, statement .................................................................................... 171 Strickland, Steve, Reverend, Fayette County, Alabama, statement ................... 172 Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., and Rockstar Games, Inc., Paul Eibeler, New York, New York, letter ................................................................................ 174 Thierer, Adam D., Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Digital Media Freedom, Progress & Freedom Foundation, Washington, D.C., statement and attachment .................................................................................................... 176 Vance, Patricia E., President, Entertainment Software Rating Board, New York, New York, statement and attachment ..................................................... 207 Williams, Dmitri, Assistant Professor, Department of Speech Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, statement ..... 222 Yee, Hon. Leland Y., Speaker Pro Tempore, Assembly Member, Twelfth Dis- trict, Sacramento, California, statement ............................................................ 234 VerDate 0ct 09 2002 09:17 Jul 20, 2006 Jkt 028337 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\GPO\HEARINGS\28337.TXT SJUD4 PsN: CMORC WHAT’S IN A GAME? REGULATION OF VIO- LENT VIDEO GAMES AND THE FIRST AMENDMENT WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2006 UNITED STATES SENATE, SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION, CIVIL RIGHTS AND PROPERTY RIGHTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Washington, DC. The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:10 p.m., in room SD–226, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Sam Brownback, Chairman of the Subcommittee, presiding. Present: Senators Brownback, Coburn, and Feingold. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. SAM BROWNBACK, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF KANSAS Chairman BROWNBACK. The hearing will come to order. Thank you all for joining us here today. I am sorry to be late. We had a long caucus discussion on immigration, one of the key hot topics of the day. I am delighted that the witnesses are here and the people present, my colleague, Senator Feingold, who is also interested in this issue, and his colleague, Senator Kohl, has been one of the leaders on this topic for many years. I follow his lead on it. We are here today to discuss the recent developments in State efforts to restrict the sale of violent video games to minors. We have a video that we are going to show briefly here about