Technology Report - Game Over for Limits on Violent Video Games
科技报道 - 加州关于暴力视频游戏的限制性法律被最高法院否决
This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
America's video game industry was the winner in a decision last week by the United States Supreme Court.
在上周美国最高法院作出的裁决中，美国视频游戏行业成为赢家。
The justices rejected a law in California that banned the sale or rental of violent video games to people under eighteen. They said the two thousand five law violated the free speech guarantee in the First Amendment to the Constitution. The vote was seven to two.
法官否决了加州一项禁止向18岁以下未成年人销售或租赁暴力视频游戏的法律。法官们表示，加州这部2005年出台的法律违反美国宪法第一修正案中关于言论自由的规定。法院投票结果为7：2。
The court decided that video games are a protected form of creative expression like books, plays and movies. Paul McGreal, dean of the University of Dayton law school in Ohio, says California did not see gaming that way.
法院裁决，视频游戏和书籍、戏剧以及电影一样，都是一种受保护的创造性的表达形式。美国俄亥俄州戴顿大学法学院院长保罗·麦格雷尔(Paul McGreal)表示，加州并不这么看待游戏。
PAUL McGREAL: “The state of California tried to argue that this was not speech, it was more of an activity because children interact and play with the video games, and so it’s not traditional speech like a book or like a magazine.”
麦格雷尔：“加州试图证明，游戏不是一种自由言论，它更接近于是一种互动。因为儿童玩视频游戏并与之互动。所以游戏不是一种类似书籍或杂志的传统自由言论。”
California lawmakers argued that violent games were especially harmful to children. But the court said they were no more harmful than the violence in other forms of media. Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion. He pointed to the violence in fairy tales like "Snow White" and "Cinderella" and in cartoons.
加州议员辩称，暴力游戏对儿童尤为有害。但法院表示，暴力视频游戏并不比其它形式的媒体更加有害。大法官安东宁·斯卡利亚（Antonin Scalia）撰写了主要观点。他指出了《白雪公主》、《灰姑娘》等童话故事以及漫画中的暴力。
Professor McGreal says the court sees its job as only to decide what is and is not legally protected speech.
麦格雷尔教授称，法院认为其职责仅是裁决哪些是，哪些不是受法律保护的自由言论。
PAUL McGREAL: “The Supreme Court said we’re going to decide what counts as speech and then leave it up to private individuals, not the government, to decide what speech they want to see and want to view. We don’t want to get the Supreme Court into making fine distinctions about what is better than others, because that will lead us down a slippery slope. Once you start deciding that, what’s to stop the government from saying that, for example, Grimm’s fairy tales themselves are too violent, or that particular books should be banned?”
麦格雷尔：“最高法院说，我们将裁决哪些是受法律保护的自由言论，其它的留待个人而不是政府来决定。个人自行决定他们希望看到什么样的言论。我们不想让最高法院来区分‘哪些比其它更好’这种细微差别，因为那会导致我们越陷越深。一旦你开始裁决这些，就无可避免让政府就类似’格林通话过于暴力是否应该被禁止？’等问题作出表态。”
In fact, from nineteen fifteen to nineteen fifty-two, the Supreme Court permitted censorship of movies for fear they could be "used for evil."
事实上，从1915年到1952年，最高法院由于担心电影“作恶”通过了电影审查制度。
Today the film and music industries have voluntary rating systems, and so does the video game industry. For example, extremely violent games are rated "M" for mature. Abby Halloran, a manager at a Gamestop store in Clinton, Maryland, says these are meant for ages seventeen and older.
今天，电影和音乐行业都有自身的评级制度，视频游戏行业也是如此。例如，极端暴力被评为M级，适用于心理成熟的用户。美国马里兰州克林顿地区一家Gamestop的商店经理艾比·哈洛伦（Abby Halloran）表示，M级意味着适用于年龄大于17岁的用户。
ABBY HALLORAN: “If there is blood and gore, intense violence, strong language, strong sexual content -- anything like that, use of drugs and alcohol -- those are all M-rated.”
哈洛伦：“如果游戏中有流血画面，暴力行为，粗话，任何性一类内容，以及滥用毒品和酒精，这些都是M级。”
Only five percent of the more than sixteen hundred games rated last year were rated M. Still, Ms. Halloran says M-rated games like Call of Duty, Halo and Fallout are the most popular games in the store. Children need a parent’s permission to buy them.
去年超过1600个游戏中，仅有5%被评为M级。尽管如此，哈洛伦女士称，M级游戏，例如《使命召唤Call of Duty》，《光晕Halo》和《辐射Fallout》一类的M级游戏是店里最受欢迎的。儿童购买这类游戏需要得到父母许可。
ABBY HALLORAN: “If they don’t have a parent with them they can’t buy it. If their parent says it’s okay we’re obligated to sell it to them. But we’re obligated to ask the parent and explain to them all of the reasons why it’s a more mature rated game. And if they still agree with it then we’ll sell it to them. But the majority of the time when we tell them what’s in it, they don’t.”
哈洛伦：“如果儿童没有父母陪同就无法购买这类游戏。如果其父母允许，我们就能把这类游戏卖给他们。但我们有义务询问其父母，并向其解释它为什么会被评为M级游戏。如果他们的父母仍同意购买，我们就会出售给他们。但大部分时间当我们告诉他们游戏里有什么内容，他们不怎么理会。”
And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember. |