Consumer protection is already clearly the focus of Congress, and with the demise of the Chevron deference in 2024, it seems that Congress needs to bind (such that they can) groups operated by the Executive Branch to uphold consumer rights explicitly instead of allowing regulators to navigate the commercial market.
The answer to Why is Congress concerned with details like this? is that the Supreme Court of the United States made it their concern by rejecting an established practice of deferring to expert regulators instead of electable people who probably lack the relevant knowledge and experience.
Tis a silly question. This has the combination of being something that the populace either doesn't care about at all (so no opposition from _constituents_) or rapidly supports (basically any gamer with some form of nostalgia that has gone unmet). As an added bonus it has the potential to set a legal precedent over similar more serious software such as SaaS offerings with a client component.
I could use the same argument to oppose pretty much any legislation that isn't like, solving healthcare or preventing climate change. For any given issue, there's almost always something more important than it to at least some people, so if the best argument against fixing a problem is "there are other problems that should be fixed", that's a pretty strong argument in favor of the fix.
:) You can argue almost all software is a video game in some way, just gotta argue yourself a way that the definition of "video game" would include your software in some way: https://excel-esports.com/
Congress.gov says Rep. Ritchie Torres has sponsored 171 bills since 2021 and only one became a law, five passed the House and most of those were under Democrat majority. [1]
it's easier to formulate and pass something with a smaller scope, like this, and then expand/iterate on it to apply more broadly.
Maybe in one aspect but it also raises the question, "Why is Congress concerned with details like this?"
Just trying to point out what could be the opposition for this, not that it's a bad thing to pass.
Consumer protection is already clearly the focus of Congress, and with the demise of the Chevron deference in 2024, it seems that Congress needs to bind (such that they can) groups operated by the Executive Branch to uphold consumer rights explicitly instead of allowing regulators to navigate the commercial market.
The answer to Why is Congress concerned with details like this? is that the Supreme Court of the United States made it their concern by rejecting an established practice of deferring to expert regulators instead of electable people who probably lack the relevant knowledge and experience.
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Tis a silly question. This has the combination of being something that the populace either doesn't care about at all (so no opposition from _constituents_) or rapidly supports (basically any gamer with some form of nostalgia that has gone unmet). As an added bonus it has the potential to set a legal precedent over similar more serious software such as SaaS offerings with a client component.
I could use the same argument to oppose pretty much any legislation that isn't like, solving healthcare or preventing climate change. For any given issue, there's almost always something more important than it to at least some people, so if the best argument against fixing a problem is "there are other problems that should be fixed", that's a pretty strong argument in favor of the fix.
I agree. I think this is why lobbyists will be flooding this guy very soon. They don't want the door cracked.
:) You can argue almost all software is a video game in some way, just gotta argue yourself a way that the definition of "video game" would include your software in some way: https://excel-esports.com/
It's easier to pass a bill for video games than try to cram movies and music in the same bill.
I doubt it will become law either way.
Congress.gov says Rep. Ritchie Torres has sponsored 171 bills since 2021 and only one became a law, five passed the House and most of those were under Democrat majority. [1]
[1] https://www.congress.gov/quick-search/legislation?congressGr...