Makers of 'Grand Theft Auto' May Be in Grand Trouble
by Ed Thomas and Jody Brown
February 2, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The makers of a controversial video game that contained hidden pornography now face a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court. The city is seeking civil penalties and a new disclosure policy from the producers of "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas."RockStar Games and parent company Take2 Interactive face the first of what could be a precedent-setting lawsuit. The suit charges the game makers with embedding a hidden game code inside "Grand Theft Auto" in which characters could engage in sexual acts. According to the Globe and Mail newspaper, the suit alleges misleading statements and unfair competition.
Pat Trueman, a special counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, likens it to other suits for consumer fraud. "The game maker says this game is about one thing, but hidden in the game is pornography that goes to children," he explains. "So the target audience is children."
He says the embedded game code deceives retailers and the Entertainment Software Rating Board -- the industry board that rates games -- as well as parents who allow children to buy the games based on their rating. "What the game maker is doing is deceiving parents to drive up sales," Trueman claims. "They're offering one thing -- that is, the game itself -- but giving an 'extra something' to drive sales higher; and that something extra is pornography. That's consumer fraud."
L.A. city attorney Rocky Delgadillo puts it this way: "Greed and deception are part of the [video game's] story -- and in that respect its publishers are not much different from the characters in their story." (See associated press release)
The video game carries two ratings, according to the ESRB website: "Mature" (for users 17 and older) and "Adults Only" (for ages 18 and older). The ESRB descriptor for the "M" version reads: "Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs." The "AO" descriptor adds "Nudity" to that list. As Daniel Weiss of Focus on the Family says, what is disclosed conveys the message that the game -- even outside of the hidden pornography -- is "completely un-tethered from any kind of moral center."
According to Family News In Focus, the Los Angeles suit -- which targets the "M" version of the game -- involves "truth in advertising" and does not address a First Amendment question or inject the issue of censorship. Trueman feels it is a good strategy to show that the video game company misled retailers and endangered children in violation of the law.
"What I think is good is that someone is attacking the game maker and setting a precedent that we will not put up with this fraud that harms our children," the attorney states. It is important, he adds, that a lawsuit such as this expose attempts by anyone to take away parents' control over harmful influences on their children -- and make video game producers wary of trying it again.
The financial cost to the makers of "Grand Theft Auto" could cause game makers to think twice about deceptive practices. A spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorney's office tells FNIF the costs could be "substantial." The law, he explains, allows for a fine of $2,500 for every copy sold -- and an estimated 200,000 units were sold in California alone.
