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18 New Eng. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 369 (2012)
Taking Back the Controller: How Germany's Video Game Rating System Curbs Freedom of Speech

handle is hein.journals/newenjic18 and id is 371 raw text is: TAKING BACK THE CONTROLLER: How GERMANY'S VIDEO GAME RATING SYSTEM CURBS FREEDOM OF SPEECH 1. INTRODUCTION In 1933, James Joyce's immortal classic Ulysses was brought to court in the Southern District of New York for allegedly violating Section 305 of the Tariff Act of 1930 with its obscenity and pornographic ending.' Now, Ulysses is taught in high schools and is hailed among critics, histori- ans, and lay readers alike as one of the greatest modern literary achieve- 2 ments known to man. Time seems to make all the difference in terms of individual perception;3 however, the public hysteria that used to affect nov- els such as Ulysses is now aimed toward another creative medium: video 4 games. In America, recreational activities are currently overseen in sur- prisingly stringent ways: sports are deftly guided by cooperative profes- sional organizations;5 movies are policed by a committee of their silver- screen compatriots; and now video games are making great strides to both equal and surpass other industries' methods for regulation.7 However, these efforts might be neutralized by the actions of the United States Supreme U.S. v. One Book Called Ulysses, 5 F.Supp. 182 (S.D.N.Y. 1933). 2 The James Joyce Center, 75 Years Since First Authorised American Ulysses!, 2006, avail- able at http://www.jamesjoyce.ie/detail.asp?ID=126. Clay Burell, Teaching Lolita, EDUCATION, June 9, 2009, available at http://education.change.org/blog/view/teachinglolita. 4 Children and Video Games: Playing With Violence, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHOLOGY, Aug. 2006, available at http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts for-families/children and videogames-Playing with violence. 5 See NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, www.nfl.com, MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, www.mlb.com, and NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE, www.nhl.com (last visited Jan. 21, 2012). 6 See MOTION PICTURE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, www.mpaa.org (last visited Jan. 21, 2012). 7 See ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE RATING BOARD, http://www.esrb.org/index-js.jsp (last vis- ited Jan. 21, 2012). 369

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