A Federal judge yesterday struck down an Illinois law that bars the sale of violent video games to minors, adding to the pile of court decisions ruling these kinds of laws unconstitutional. U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kennelly said that the law violates the First Amendment and that there is not enough of a compelling reason to enforce the law, such as preventing actual violence.
“In this country, the state lacks the authority to ban protected speech on the ground that it affects the listener’s or observer’s thoughts and attitudes,” Kennelly wrote.
In early November, another federal judge struck down a similar law in Michigan on the same grounds. Other similar laws have been struck down in St. Louis, Indianapolis and Washington State.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 9:34 AM | Print | Comments (0)
As New Orleans struggles to rise from the muck, BellSouth intends to teach the city a lesson. According to this article from the Washington Post, within hours of the city’s announcement of a muni-backed free Wi-Fi service, the petulant telco withdrew an offer to donate one of its buildings to house the city’s police force, which has been scattered in hotels and other makeshift locations since hurricane Katrina devastated the city.
According to city officials
the head of BellSouth’s Louisiana operations, Bill Oliver, angrily rescinded the offer of the building in a conversation with New Orleans homeland security director Terry Ebbert, who oversees the roughly 1,650-member police force.
BellSouth disputes this account but it sounds like city is sticking to its contention.
Greg Meffert, the city’s chief technology officer and a deputy mayor, said he is saddened that BellSouth finds the city’s network so objectionable. “It’s a once-in-a-century opportunity to truly show the entire world what can be, instead of just what is, and help write future history in the process,” Meffert said. “It’s a damn shame they don’t see that.”
The telco could not have picked a worse place to pick a fight over muni-Wi-Fi.
Posted by Cynthia Brumfield at 9:24 AM | Print | Comments (0)
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