DVD kiosks can only stock G-rated movies, Indiana prosecutor demands

[Newsjock]

Source: Louisville Courier-Journal

A Southern Indiana prosecutor has threatened criminal charges unless stores with DVD rental kiosks remove R-rated movies and other material considered harmful to children.

The rollout of hundreds of automated Redbox-style kiosks to grocery stores, McDonald's restaurants, Wal-marts and other retailers in Indiana has met resistance in some communities over the perception that they provide children younger than 17 with easier access to adult-rated movies.

Letters sent to retailers in recent weeks by the office of Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Stanley Levco may amount to the largest crackdown yet in Indiana.

... In Vanderburgh County, one letter -- addressed to the general manager of a Schnuck's grocery store and dated Jan. 27 -- cites an Indiana law prohibiting dissemination of matter harmful to minors, a Class D felony. It says that category might include adult-rated videos in that store's MovieCube kiosk, a Redbox competitor.

"We suggest that the machine or machines dispensing these materials at your location no longer provide access to videos, movies, games" and other material that are unrated or have ratings of R or even PG, the letter says. William Roberts, an investigator in Levco's office, signed the letter.

Read more: http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20100303/NEWS02/3030382/Movie-rental-kiosks-in-Vanderburgh-County-hit-with-legal-threat

[asdjrocky]

1. That's about 4 movies a year.

[Initech]

2. Wow... the stupid. I've never seen adult videos at a Redbox.

[Political Heretic]

4. There aren't any. He considers "R" to be "adult"

[Arkana]

Dollars to donuts this guy has an extensive collection of wank material

as well as a BDSM fetish.

[Initech]

7. Then he's obviously never seen real adult films. All it takes is a quick Google search.

:evilgrin:

[Political Heretic]

3. He'll lose. Why? Because they are highly profitable. $ > all, including crazy fanatics

[fishwax]

5. Don't you have to have a credit card to rent from those?

I think that would make it a bit more difficult for kids to have access to R-rated movies.

[FSogol]

6. No, they take debit cards also, which a lot of teenagers carry.

Still Batshit crazy though.

[conscious evolution]

8. I wonder how much blockbuster/netflix

is paying him for doing this.

[DefenseLawyer]

9. Thank goodness there isn't any crime in Evansville, Indiana

It leaves the prosecutor plenty of time to tackle real problems.

[HopeHoops]

10. You need a fucking credit card to use them. They won't take one without a ZIP code reference.

So no, you can't use a pre-paid VISA on them, at least not RedBox and I doubt you can on the RedBox rip-offs like Blockbuster has now (but I haven't tried those).