October 7^th, 2005 (7:06pm) - The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed the bill proposed by the state legislature to ban the sale and rental of violent video games to children. The games have to show serious injury to human beings in a manner that is especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel. What that actually means and who gets to define what is in those boundaries is not said.

The bill is set to take effect on January 1st, 2006, but already with a commitment by the ESA and the California Chamber of Commerce (as well as other busineses) to challenge the proposal in court from being enacted.

The bill would assess a fine on retailers who violate the act liable in an amount up to $1,000 for each violation. In addition, the video games would have to be labeled with a designation for adult sale only. Stores would not be fined if the manufacturer fails to properly label the game.

Leland Yee, the author of the bill, proclaims that "unlike movies where you passively watch violence, in a video game, you are the active participant and making decisions on who to stab, maim, burn or kill. ...As a result, these games serve as learning tools that have a dramatic impact on our children" despite not having any concrete evidence of the aforementioned being true.