Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you.-- Pericles (430 BC)
Recently, the City of Indianapolis began an attack on the arcade industry. This attack is a de facto ban on any video game considered violent. This includes games such as House of the Dead, Area 51 and Tekken. This ban refers to an assault on arcades and the small businessmen who own them, not on CDs for home consoles or computers.
Make no mistake, this is designed to be a ban. In case you are swayed by the misinformation put out by the City of Indianapolis, that there law is merely a "parental consent" law, think again. This article: City pulling plug on video games proves that what is actually happening is that arcade owners are being harrassed for carrying certain games, according to a very broad set of standards.
The effects of this ban are harsh. Arcade owners are quoted as saying:
Some video vendors, like Jayson Kreie, do mind. “We recently took Area 51 and Tekken out.” Executive Billiards, which also carries arcade games, replaced two of its biggest sellers thanks to the new ordinance. Kreie says, “We’re taking a hell of a hit. That’s 60% of our profits right there that we’re losing per week on that.”-- from the MSNBC ArticleThe meat of the ordinance, and the thing that makes it a ban and eliminates any pretext that it is merely a parental consent law, is the 10 foot rule. The 10 foot rule part of the ordinance states that "violent" games (which are vaguely defined) must be kept ten feet away from non-violent games and placed behind a barrier. This places a horrible burden on arcade owners. Have you ever been in an arcade? 10 feet is a lot of space, longer than a full sized man. This "buffer zone" can't contain other games, it must be empty space.
Obviously, the goal here is to make any games that the city's inspectors arbitrarily decide are "violent" disappear, by making it too uncomfortable for arcade owner's to carry them.
The people who are elected to represent the City of Indianapolis, and unfortunately a federal judge recently determined that video games in Indianapolis are unworthy of First Amendment protection. We have to accept this, the court's are no longer reliable when it comes to the First Amendment.
So, what can we gamer's do to express our disgust at the behaviour of the City of Indianapolis? Well, gamers, as a demographic group are valued by the sponsors of Indianapolis's most famous event, the Indianapolis 500. No matter what age you are, whether an adult or a teenager, the sponsors of the Indianapolis 500 want your money. I suggest that gamers protest the actions of the City of Indianapolis by boycotting the sponsors of the Indianapolis 500. The steps to take to accomplish this are:
1. Write a letter to each sponsor, explaining your reason for boycotting them. Explain that you will cease your boycott if they no longer support the Indianapolis 500, or if the City of Indianapolis repeals this assault on American Liberty.
2. Follow through, if you write a letter saying you will boycott, follow it up with a boycott. Don't buy anything or support in any way the sponsors of the Indianapolis 500.
I hope you will join me in condemning the disgusting and disgraceful actions of the City of Indianapolis. As I get time, I will try to include the names and addresses of sponsors of the Indianapolis 500, to make it easier for you to write letters.
Remember, no one can object to a peaceful boycott which is simply your right to express your opinion and your right to choose what businesses to patronize. The City of Indianapolis has determined, if you are a gamer, that you are irrelevant and that your ideas and opinions don't matter. Let them know that there will be consequences for this, if you care about your rights!!
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