Senate Bill sb0492c1
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Florida Senate - 2006 CS for SB 492
By the Committee on Judiciary; and Senators Diaz de la
Portilla, King, Jones, Bennett, Smith, Baker, Alexander,
Atwater, Dockery, Fasano, Crist, Webster, Sebesta, Margolis,
Bullard, Clary, Posey, Wilson, Saunders, Pruitt and Lawson
590-2195-06
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to violent video games;
3 providing legislative intent; providing
4 definitions; prohibiting a person from selling
5 or renting a video game to a minor, or allowing
6 a minor to play a video game in a video arcade,
7 if the video game has been labeled as a violent
8 video game; providing exceptions to the
9 prohibition; providing that having requested
10 identification from a person purchasing a video
11 game or playing a video game in a video arcade
12 is an affirmative defense to any action filed
13 under the act; requiring that each violent
14 video game that is imported into or distributed
15 in this state for retail sale, rental, or
16 playing in a video arcade, be labeled in a
17 specified manner; authorizing an enforcing
18 authority to commence a civil action to seek
19 injunctive relief to restrain or enjoin a
20 person from violating the act or to impose a
21 civil penalty; providing that attorney's fees
22 may be awarded under certain circumstances;
23 directing that any civil penalty recovered be
24 deposited into the General Revenue Fund;
25 providing that a violation of the act is a
26 misdemeanor; providing an effective date.
27
28 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
29
30 Section 1. Distribution of violent video games to
31 minors prohibited; penalties.--
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Florida Senate - 2006 CS for SB 492
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1 (1) The Legislature finds that:
2 (a) Minors who are exposed to depictions of violence
3 in video games are more likely to experience feelings of
4 aggression, to experience a reduction of activity in the
5 frontal lobes of the brain, and to exhibit violent antisocial
6 or aggressive behavior.
7 (b) Even minors who do not commit acts of violence
8 suffer psychological harm from prolonged exposure to violent
9 video games.
10 (c) This state has a compelling interest in preventing
11 violent, aggressive, and antisocial behavior, and in
12 preventing psychological or neurological harm to minors who
13 play violent video games.
14 (2) As used in this section, the term:
15 (a) "Cruel" means the intention to virtually inflict a
16 high degree of pain by torture or serious physical abuse of
17 the image of a victim in addition to killing the image of the
18 victim.
19 (b) "Depraved" means pleasure in the virtual killing
20 or indifference to the suffering of the image of the victim,
21 as evidenced by torture or serious physical abuse of the image
22 of a victim.
23 (c) "Enforcing authority" means a county or municipal
24 attorney, the state attorney, the Department of Legal Affairs
25 if a violation of this section occurs in more than one
26 judicial circuit, or anyone aggrieved by a violation of this
27 section.
28 (d) "Heinous" means shockingly atrocious. For the
29 killing depicted in a video game to be heinous, it must
30 involve additional acts of torture or serious physical abuse
31 of the image of a victim as set apart from other killings.
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Florida Senate - 2006 CS for SB 492
590-2195-06
1 (e) "Minor" has the same meaning as in s. 1.01.
2 (f) "Person" has the same meaning as in s. 1.01.
3 (g) "Serious physical abuse" means a significant or
4 considerable amount of injury or damage to the image of a
5 victim's body suggesting substantial risk of death,
6 unconsciousness, extreme physical pain, substantial
7 disfigurement, or substantial impairment of the function of a
8 bodily member, organ, or mental faculty. Serious physical
9 abuse, unlike torture, does not require that the victim be
10 depicted as conscious of the abuse at the time it is
11 inflicted. However, the player must specifically intend the
12 abuse apart from the killing.
13 (h) "Torture" includes mental as well as physical
14 abuse of the image of a victim. In either case, the victim
15 must be depicted as conscious of the abuse at the time it is
16 inflicted, and the player must specifically intend to
17 virtually inflict severe mental or physical pain or suffering
18 upon the victim, apart from killing the image of the victim.
19 (i) "Victim" means a life-like depiction of a human
20 being or a character having substantially human
21 characteristics.
22 (j) "Video arcade" means any premises where 10 or more
23 video game machines or devices are operated, and where minors
24 are legally permitted to enter.
25 (k) "Video game" means any electronic amusement device
26 that uses a computer, microprocessor, or similar electronic
27 circuitry and its own monitor, or a device that is designed to
28 be used with a television set or a computer monitor, which
29 interacts with the user of the device.
30 (l) "Violent video game" means a video game in which
31 the options available to a player include killing, maiming,
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Florida Senate - 2006 CS for SB 492
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1 dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human
2 being, if those acts are depicted in the game in a manner
3 that:
4 1.a. A reasonable person, considering the game as a
5 whole, would find appeals to a deviant or morbid interest of
6 minors;
7 b. Is patently offensive to prevailing standards in
8 the community concerning what is suitable for minors; and
9 c. Lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or
10 scientific value for minors; or
11 2. Enables the player to virtually inflict serious
12 injury upon images of human beings or characters having
13 substantially human characteristics in a manner that is
14 especially heinous, cruel, or depraved in that it involves
15 torture or serious physical abuse to the image of a victim.
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17 Pertinent factors in determining whether a killing depicted in
18 a video game is especially heinous, cruel, or depraved include
19 infliction of gratuitous violence upon the image of a victim
20 beyond that necessary to commit the killing, needless
21 mutilation of the image of a victim's body, and helplessness
22 of the image of a victim.
23 (3) A person may not sell or rent a video game to a
24 minor, or allow a minor to play a video game in a video
25 arcade, if the video game has been labeled as a violent video
26 game.
27 (4) Proof that a person, or his or her employee or
28 agent, demanded, was shown, and reasonably relied upon
29 evidence that a purchaser or renter of a violent video game,
30 or the player of a violent video game in a video arcade, was
31 not a minor, or that the manufacturer failed to label a
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Florida Senate - 2006 CS for SB 492
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1 violent video game as required by subsection (6), is an
2 affirmative defense to any action brought under this section.
3 Evidence of majority includes, but need not be limited to, a
4 driver's license or an identification card issued to the
5 purchaser, renter, or player by a state or by the Armed Forces
6 of the United States.
7 (5) This section does not apply if the violent video
8 game is sold or rented to a minor by the minor's parent,
9 grandparent, aunt, uncle, or legal guardian or is purchased or
10 rented on-line using a credit card.
11 (6) Each violent video game that is imported into or
12 distributed in this state for retail sale, rental, or playing
13 in a video arcade must be labeled with a solid white "18"
14 outlined in black of not less than 2 inches by 2 inches. The
15 "18" must be displayed on the front face of the video game
16 package.
17 (7)(a) An enforcing authority may institute a civil
18 action in order to:
19 1. Seek injunctive relief to immediately restrain or
20 enjoin any person from engaging in any activity in violation
21 of this section or to seek injunctive relief to enforce
22 compliance with this section.
23 2. Impose a civil penalty for each violation of this
24 section. If the person against whom the civil penalty is
25 sought is a person who possesses managerial responsibility for
26 a business entity selling, renting, or playing a violent video
27 game, the civil penalty may be in an amount of not more than
28 $1,000 per violation. If the person against whom the civil
29 penalty is sought is an employee of the business entity
30 selling, renting, or playing a violent video game, the civil
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Florida Senate - 2006 CS for SB 492
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1 penalty may be in an amount of not more than $250 per
2 violation.
3 (b) If a civil penalty is assessed in any litigation,
4 the enforcing authority is entitled to reasonable attorney's
5 fees and costs.
6 (c) If a civil penalty is collected, the penalty shall
7 accrue to the state and be deposited into the General Revenue
8 Fund.
9 (8)(a) A person who violates this section commits a
10 misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s.
11 775.082 or s. 775.083, Florida Statutes.
12 (b) A person who commits a second or subsequent
13 violation of this section commits a misdemeanor of the first
14 degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083,
15 Florida Statutes.
16 Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2006.
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18 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
19 Senate Bill 492
20
21 The substantial changes made by the committee substitute to
the underlying bill:
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-- Add the term "victim" and its definition to the defined
23 terms in the bill; and
24 -- Provide that the restrictions on the sale or rental of
video games made by the bill do not apply to video games
25 purchased or rented on-line with a credit card.
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