The Internet has been rife with Grand Theft Auto IV stories as of late. It seems as though any website with a merely tangential relationship to video games has mentioned Rockstar’s blockbuster and many gaming-centric sites have turned into little more than Grand Theft Auto RSS feeds. With record-breaking sales, unprecedented critical acclaim, and GTA’s uncanny ability to agitate pundits and parents alike, it is no wonder that people are finding plenty to talk about.
Laws of Play has been laying low and avoiding most of the hype because all that has really happened is a lot of political posturing. Or, at least, that was the case. Yesterday, Reuters reported that Grand Theft Auto publisher Take Two Interactive filed suit against the Chicago Transit Authority (“CTA”) earlier this week. Take Two alleges that by pulling advertisements for Grand Theft Auto IV from public transportation and bus terminals, the CTA has breeched contract and violated the company’s First Amendment rights. The suit seeks an order for the transit authority to run the ads as well as monetary damages of at least $300,000.
A Fox News broadcast (below) condemning the CTA for promoting the “unapologetically violent” video game is reportedly the cause for the recent action.
What’s interesting is that the CTA is not the only public transportation authority to pull ads for the controversial video game. Late last April the Miami-Dade transit authority similarly pulled GTA IV ads from its buses and stations after attorney Jack Thompson complained about them to Miami Mayor Carlos Alvarez.
There is no word whether Take Two Interactive will pursue any sort of legal action against Miami-Dade Transit. However, GamePolitics conducted a brief interview with Miami-Dade Transit Deputy Director Hugh Chen and Marketing Director Michael DeCossio concerning the pulling of the ads:
[GamePolitics]: The GTA IV ads themselves are inoffensive. Is Miami-Dade Transit making a value judgment as to the underlying product? If so, this judgment is based on…?
[Miami-Dade Transit]: The Miami-Dade County Commission has adopted three resolutions in the last five years dealing with violent video games — R-1447-03, R-248-04 and R-573-06. You may look up all three at www.miamidade.gov/govaction/searchleg.asp?Action=searchleg.
The first resolution specifically condemned the “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” video game for its “hate-filled messages” and for appearing “to encourage or condone violence against ethnic minorities” and called on retailers to remove the game from their shelves. The other two condemned violent video games in general and urged retailers not to make such games available to minors.
Miami-Dade Transit is a department of Miami-Dade County and as such follows the policies set by the Miami-Dade County Commission and Mayor.
After inquiring into the organization’s administrative decision-making process, GamePolitics continued:
GP: Is MDT familiar with Change the Climate vs MBTA, in which the US First Circuit Court ruled that a quasi-governmental transit agency could not restrict ads based on viewpoint?
MDT: Miami-Dade Transit is a department of Miami-Dade County and as such is a unit of County government, not a quasi-governmental transit agency.
As GamePolitics astutely points out, this is a very curious answer. Miami-Dade Transit seems to believe that, as a governmental transit agency, they may be held to a lesser standard than a quasi-governmental transit agency — an odd conclusion when one considers the fact that First Amendment protections are held against state governments and not private parties.
Laws of Play will continue to cover both of these situations as they develop.
