Changes

=== Government lobby ===

=== Government lobby ===

Second only to their anti-piracy activities, the ESA constantly lobbies the government to forestall regulation of the video game industry--and, when they deem it necessary, to sue on member companies' behalf to seek injunctive relief against industry regulation, usually on "free speech" grounds.<ref>[http://www.theesa.com/index.php Official Website]</ref>

Second only to their anti-piracy activities, the ESA constantly lobbies the government to forestall regulation of the video game industry—and, when they deem it necessary, to sue on member companies' behalf to seek injunctive relief against industry regulation, usually on "free speech" grounds.<ref>[http://www.theesa.com/index.php Official Website]</ref>

=== The ESA Foundation ===

=== The ESA Foundation ===

== Controversies ==

== Controversies ==

=== The Jack Thompson Affair ===

=== The Jack Thompson Affair ===

In a letter (October, 2005) to ESA President Doug Lowenstein, lawyer [[Jack Thompson]] offered a $10,000 donation to the charity-of-choice of one Paul Eibler (whose company publishes the especially violent video game titled ''Grand Theft Auto'') if any video-game publisher would create a game in which an aggrieved parent, who had lost his son to a violent attack by a video-game player, would kill several attendees at the E3 Summit in revenge. Someone actually did create such a game, and Thompson refused to pay the reward, saying that his suggestion was clearly satire and never sincerely meant. The two creators of the [[Penny Arcade]] Web comic, Mike Kralhulik and Jerry Holkins, announced a donation of $10,000 to the ESA Foundation in response. Witnesses say that a Penny Arcade representative did in fact present such a check at a charity dinner.<ref>http://www.penny-arcade.com/2005/10/17</ref> <ref>http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2005/11/69404</ref>

In a letter (October, 2005) to ESA President Doug Lowenstein, lawyer [[Jack Thompson]] offered a $10,000 donation to the charity-of-choice of one Paul Eibler (whose company publishes the especially violent video game titled ''Grand Theft Auto'') if any video-game publisher would create a game in which an aggrieved parent, who had lost his son to a violent attack by a video-game player, would kill several attendees at the E3 Summit in revenge. Someone actually did create such a game, and Thompson refused to pay the reward, saying that his suggestion was clearly satire and never sincerely meant. The two creators of the [[Penny Arcade]] Web comic, Mike Kralhulik and Jerry Holkins, announced a donation of $10,000 to the ESA Foundation in response. Witnesses say that a Penny Arcade representative did in fact present such a check at a charity dinner.<ref>http://www.penny-arcade.com/2005/10/17</ref><ref>http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2005/11/69404</ref>

== References ==

== References ==