The biz guys and legal folks at id Software and Activision are sighing a little bit of relief, the Columbine lawsuit against them has been dismissed in US District court. The lawyer for the family of Dave Sanders says that they will certainly file an appeal.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock granted motions to dismiss filed by Time Warner Inc. and Palm Pictures, as well as 11 video game makers, including Sony Computer Entertainment America, Activision and Id Software, the maker of "Doom." In his ruling, Babcock said there was no way the makers of violent games and movies could have reasonably foreseen that their products would cause the Columbine shooting or any other violent acts. "Setting aside any personal distaste, as I must, it is manifest that there is social utility in expressive and imaginative forms of entertainment, even if they contain violence," Babcock wrote

We've certainly had a few studies allegedly prove one way or another the influence of video games on people. The most recent trend in the past year has been that experts believe that games dont influence people. Even prompting an announcement by the US Surgeon General several months ago.

I for one would gamble to say that generally games and other forms of media do influence people like anything else in the world, but not to any degree further than anything else. However there are certainly sick people out there who can be abnormally and strongly influenced by just about anything. Be it something they see on the cartoon network, in a movie, or in a video game. Should those industries be blamed if a sick person tries to emulate something they saw or did in those products? No I dont think so. Will the victims and families of victims so upset over the senseless violence search desperately for somewhere to point the finger? Yes.