A Utah congressman wants to throw video game violence into an anti-porn bill in an attempt to criminalize the showing of ‘inappropriate violence’ to minors. Most disturbing is his definition of inappropriate violence.

His definition of inappropriate violence includes – among other things – violence used to shock or stimulate, violence that holds the plot together, violence that trivializes the serious nature of realistic violence and violence that endorses or glorifies torture or excessive weaponry.

Emphasis added. I guess a video game version of Wylie Coyote would be illegal to show to a kid, because with all the blowing up and falling off cliffs and getting smashed that he does – it sure seems to ‘trivialize the serious nature’ of real violence and it could be argued that his plight amounts to torture at the hands of the RoadRunner. An ACLU rep from Utah states the obivous:

“You can’t just stick violence into an obscenity statute and expect it to stand up to constitutional scrutiny,” Plane said. “Obscenity is not protected speech. Government can regulate obscenity. The courts have not said the same thing about violence.”

Related: RockStar Games gets sued over hidden porn in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Also: Booth babes banned at E3 video game expo.