Look Ma, the system of checks and balances does work! After passing both the state House and Senate, Utah governor John Huntsman vetoed a bill that would make it a crime to sell mature-rated games to underage consumers. While the bill sounds noble, the fine print imposed strict penalties on retailers, and as a concession, actually allowed them to opt-out from using ratings altogether. As such, the bill was largely viewed as pointless legislation.

"While protecting children from inappropriate materials is a laudable goal, the language of this bill is so broad that it likely will be struck down by the courts as unconstitutional," Huntsman said after his decision. "The unintended consequence of the bill would be that parents and children would have no labels to guide them in determining the age appropriateness of the goods or service."

After the bill started gaining momentum in the state legislature, retailers responded by saying they would simply use a loophole in the bill to avoid civil penalties of up to $2,000. By simply removing the Entertainment Software Ratings Board labels from games, they would not suffer penalties because they would not be advertising guidance when selling mature-rated games.

The ESRB, which lobbied heavily to have the bill vetoed, was pleased with the decision. "This is an absolute win for families," said ratings president Michael Gallagher. "Utah's parents will benefit from Governor Huntsman's leadership and thoughtfulness on this issue. His decisive action helps caregivers and prevents businesses from being opened to unproductive, wasteful civil litigation and needless expense."

Under Utah law, the bill will now return to the legislative branch, where it can be further amended to satisfy the governor's objections. If they desire, however, both the state house and senate can override the governor's veto and force the bill into law with a two-thirds majority revote. Both the house and senate approved the bill by more than two-thirds majority the first time.

Representative Mike Morley (R) of the Utah House, who sponsored the bill, has not made it known if he plans to veto the veto with a second vote. In the event he does and it successfully passes, the courts would likely deem the current bill unconstitutional, as Governor Huntsman is aware.