ADVOCACY & GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS

From both a political and a cultural perspective, these are challenging times for gamers. More than ever before, gaming has become a favorite societal "whipping boy" of some elected officials, mass media outlets and lobbying groups. Since 2005, legislators in California, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Louisiana and Oklahoma have attempted to curtail the rights of consumers to purchase violent video games as one such example. We've been fortunate that the courts struck down restrictive video game sales laws and regulations as attacks on free speech so far. But we can't continue to assume that the court system will protect us while we stand idly by. As a matter of policy, the ECA opposes legislative efforts to unconstitutionally restrict access to interactive entertainment. Other forms of media, including books, music and movies, are protected by the First Amendment; video games deserve no less.

New issues that concern consumer rights broadly, but effect gamers specifically, have made our work that much more important - and your involvement that much more necessary. Be it restrictive, intrusive or punitive digital rights management (DRM) technologies or access providers seeking to limit our rights online, we must make our voices heard. That's where the ECA comes in. On behalf of the 50 million consumers of games across the US and Canada, the association works to protect our collective rights by working directly with legislators, building or joining coalitions or engaging and activating our membership through a variety of digital advocacy initiatives. Together, we effect change and - for the first time - have a seat at the negotiation table.

• To learn more about our online empowerment tools, click here.
• To find out more about how you can get involved in our digital advocacy efforts, Take Action Now!
• To receive timely advocacy e-mail updates on important legislative issues, sign up here.

We work on a wide variety of legal, public policy and government affairs issues and have fostered and/or developed a number of related area-specific initiatives. Take a moment to check out the list in the left-hand navigation to review some of our "Gamers for" groups and the important work that our members and your fellow gamers are undertaking.

If you want to make your voice heard on the major issues confronting gaming consumers today - anti-game legislation, consumer rights, and more - join ECA today. Together, we can make a difference.