Games and Government

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The outspoken Jason Della Rocca, director of the International Game Developers Association, has an article up entitled "Salvation vs. Condemnation: The Two Faces of Government." He discusses the internal battle governments face when dealing with a young yet explosively profitable industry; with one hand, they welcome with support the economic benefits it can bring, and with the other they seek to limit and contain it. Della Rocca points to various contradictions stemming from governments across the world, such as the statements by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Culture Minister Kim Howells which respectively praise the UK's games industry and launch a moral attack on games as a whole.
As an example closer to home, the state of Louisiana is fighting the same ideological battle. Just as Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco approved the state's Digital Media Act to support game and new media production in the state via tax breaks and other incentives, Louisiana State Senator David Cain (R-Dry Creek) announced that he plans to introduce anti-game legislation in the 2006 session.

The article does not go particularly in-depth, and occasionally veers a little too much into righteous attitudes. It's a nice quick read, however, giving a broad perspective on the attitudes of governments worldwide on this developing medium.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    September 21, 2005 5:26 PM

    So the power structure revealed by these attitudes can be summarised as follows:

    Money > Governments > Individuals

    Off to read the article!

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