Dan Sayles
Staff Writer
As part of the ongoing La Verne Faculty Research Lecture Series came an interesting topic: Video game law.
In an effort by the La Verne Academy to encourage new faculty to give inaugural lectures, Ashley Lipson, professor of law, was among the first to do so Tuesday in the President’s Dining Room.
“Video games can be new and exciting ways to educate students,” said John Linarelli, professor of law.
For his presentation, Lipson shared packets with screenshots of old nostalgic games such as “Pong,” “Pac-Man,” “Asteroids” and “Centipede” – which, he pointed out, was the first game created by a woman.
And he joked about technology taking over teachers’ jobs.
“I still believe in standing up and talking to students,” Lipson said.
Lipson spoke about the general history of video games, built from the ground up by Nolan Bushnell with his invention of “Pong,” the impact it had on the world and the possibilities it has for the education of students.
Lipson shared his experiences as a programmer, discussing how he programmed simple games for law students, who used the information to make their own conclusions.
Lipson also spoke about legal aspects of video games, discussing the copyright brawls from companies like Nintendo and Universal and the backlash the video game industry received when it was revealed that “Doom” was a favorite game of the Columbine shooters.
Lipson showed the difficulty of banning obscene or violent video games.
He also pointed out how difficult it is to get a consensus on what is considered obscene.
Lipson is in the midst of writing a new textbook, “Video and Computer Game Law,” collaborating with Professor of Law Diane Klein.
“It will be a case book, and it will be the first of it’s kind,” Klein said.
Dan Sayles can be reached at dsayles@ulv.edu.
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