Today is a huge day in the United States. There is an election going on that will determine which political party will be in control of many branches of government. The Supreme Court is also holding a hearing that will determine whether the States will be able to decide which videogames are too violent to be sold to minors. There is currently a 72 page transcript from the hearing available. We picked out some of the highlights that reflect both sides of the argument.

DVD and video game theft has always been a problem, especially for games since they are so expensive and a guaranteed resale.

The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) is sick of tired of this (as well as everyone else) and is proposing a new device to prevent theft. It’s called “benefit denial technology.” Games and DVDs will be shipped to stores in an inoperable state and, when the game is purchased, it becomes operable again. They also hope to do this for Blu-Ray.

The project is appropriately code-named “Project Lazarus.” The EMA hopes with this project to prevent theft from stores and factories because the game will basically be useless until it is…

Video game retailers aren’t too happy with the proposed New Mexico tax law that will levy a 1% surcharge on the sale of video games and TV sets in the state. They have shared their displeasure with Sierra Club, the social organization that has purported the law. According to Sierra Club, the funds will be in turn used to “to fight obesity and poor school performance which may result from excessive… video game exposure.” But in a letter sent by the Entertainments Merchants Association (EMA), a representative body of game retailers, its vice president Sean Bersell countered the very logic behind the tax proposal.