Congressman gamer supports Riot Game's anti-SOPA stance

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, Free-to-play, Legal, MOBA

SOPA is an extremely hot-button issue on the internet right now, with politicians, companies, websites, and individuals coming out for and against this controversial piece of US legislation. It's so important that many game studios have broken the unwritten rule of not commenting on politics to state their positions on the matter.

Riot Games is one of these studios that have piped up to oppose the bill, as CEO Brandon Beck posted a lengthy reasoning as to why SOPA would harm League of Legends specifically, and he asked players to help stop it from being passed into law. "While we do support efforts to prevent online piracy, the current form of this legislation comes at far too high a cost for us, our players, and online communities across the internet," Beck writes, citing examples as to how the game could be taken offline and the community dismantled if the SOPA were wielded against LoL.

Interestingly enough, Colorado Rep. Jared Polis, who is himself a League of Legends player, replied to Beck in support of Riot Games' stance: "I'm particularly concerned that SOPA might stifle the kind of innovation that brings us games we love, such as LoL. The bill makes it far too easy for angry competitors to sue good law abiding companies out of existence." Polis says that he is drafting an alternate piece of legislation to combat internet piracy without SOPA's potential abuse.

[Update: If you'd like to encourage other companies to blockade SOPA, you might be interested in the online petition aimed squarely at Electronic Arts.]

Congressman gamer supports Riot Game's anti-SOPA stance originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Republican legislative candidate speaks about her 70 Orc Hunter

Shawn Schuster — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Interviews, Politics

Politicians proclaiming their love for World of Warcraft is not a new thing, but in a recent interview with Wandering Goblin, we get treated to some information on the playing style of Jeanne Stevens, Republican candidate for the Connecticut legislature.

In this interview, Stevens reveals that her three Horde characters -- a 70 Orc Hunter, a 58 Troll Shaman and a 53 Blood Elf Rogue -- are a way for her to relax in her mostly PvE playstyle. She also brings up some wonderful points regarding parenting and gaming. "Parents need to start parenting!" she says. "You are the adult. You are responsible for what happens within your home. If you don't like the content of a t.v. show, game, book, etc., don't allow it in your home - that is your choice - you get to be the legislator, you make the laws of your home." We couldn't agree more, and it's certainly refreshing to hear someone in such potential legislative power say something like that.

Republican legislative candidate speaks about her 70 Orc Hunter originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 07 Jun 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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