Vice City Protected by First Amendment

8th Circuit Court of Appeals overturns the lower court decision in its ruling that video games are in fact protected by the first amendment. [INTERACTIVE DIGITAL SOFTWARE ASS'N v. ST. LOUIS COUNTY (8th Cir. June 3, 2003)]

Judge Arnold, writing for the Court, stated that "If the First Amendment is versatile enough to 'shield [the] painting of Jackson Pollock, music of Arnold Schoenberg, or Jabberwocky verse of Lewis Carroll,' we see no reason why the pictures, graphic design, concept art, sounds, music, stories, and narrative present in video games are not entitled to a similar protection." [coverage via CNN]