With the Supreme Court today hearing the oral arguments concerning the California violent video games law [Note: the full transcript is available here], the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) both seem encouraged by the Court's reaction.
A spokesperson for the EMA noted, "We thought the argument went well, despite some hard questioning from several justices, and we anticipate a positive (but probably not unanimous) ruling."
EMA President Bo Andersen commented, "Today’s U.S. Supreme Court argument in Schwarzenegger v. EMA was both spirited and stimulating. I’m pleased that the justices recognized that the standard in the California law for restricting 'violent video games' to minors is unworkable in practice. I am confident that the justices will see beyond the facial appeal of restricting 'violent video games' for minors and hold the law unconstitutional."
In a conference call held by the ESA after the oral arguments ESA general counsel Ken Doroshow said, "It was gratifying to hear all the themes that we expressed in our papers to be echoed by the justices during the day." [thanks Gamasutra]
The actual ruling won't come until the end of June next year. Doroshow added that "there's still no way to know for sure how this will come out."
