Selling Video Games to Minors a Felony in NY

The Lower Hudson Online reported that both the New York Assembly and New York Senate agreed on a bill Thursday that would essentially make it a felony to sell video games to minors that fall under the game's minimum age requirements.

As GamePro reported in late May, the bill originally passed through the New York Assembly with ease and only awaited a similar approval from the State Senate. The Senate agreed on Thursday, the last day of this year's legislative session.

"We were all always on the same page in protecting children. We just had to come up with ways to compromise," said Democratic Brooklyn Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, who co-chaired the joint conference committee.

In addition to the measure that would make the illegal sale of "violent" or "indecent" games into a felony, the bill also calls for all consoles to be equipped with some form of parental-control device that would limit access of such games to underage children. Additionally, New York retailers would have to label potentially offensive games under state guidelines, and a committee would be established to study inappropriate video games in general.

Although Governor Eliot Spitzer has not yet had a chance to fully examine the bill, it has been fully expected by most observers that he will sign it into law.