Oklahoma State Representative Will Fourkiller is proposing a 1 percent sales tax on all violent video games sold in the state. Fourkiller believes there is a link between these video games and teen bullying. This quote from the representative is from The Huffington Post:

“Violent video games contribute to some of our societal problems like obesity and bullying, but because they raise a lot of revenue, they can also provide part of the solution,” William Fourkiller, the State Representative who introduced the bill, told Oklahoma City’s KFOR. Fourkiller also cited an incident where a car thief admitted to having played Grand Theft Auto before committing the crime.

Games rated "Teen", "Mature", and "Adult Only" would be subject to this tax. These include "Call of Duty", "Grand Theft Auto", "Skyrim". The Huffington Post states that the extra tax collected from these game sales would be donated to Oklahoma's Childhood Outdoor Education Revolving Fund to fight obesity and the Bullying Prevention Revolving Fund.

Read the full article from The Huffington Post here.

Update:  This bill was voted down 5-6 in an Oklahoma House of Representatives sub-committee in February, 2012.  The committee felt the bill broadly grouped all "T"-rated games in the "violent" category.  The committee also questioned why games were the only target. 

CTIA - The Wireless Association and the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) have announced a new rating system that AT&T, Microsoft, Sprint, T-Mobile USA, US Cellular, and Verizon Wireless will voluntarily support. 

A press release on CTIA's web site states:

"The CTIA Mobile Application Rating System with ESRB will utilize the well-known and trusted age rating icons that ESRB assigns to computer and video games to provide parents and consumers reliable information about the age-appropriateness of applications...When developers submit their applications to a participating storefront they will be able to complete a detailed yet quick multiple choice questionnaire that is designed to assess an application’s content and context with respect to its age-appropriateness. This includes violence or sexual content, language, substances, etc., as well as other elements such as a minimum age requirement, the exchange of user-generated content, the sharing of a user’s location with other users of the application and the sharing of user-provided personal information with third parties. Once developers complete all answers to these questions, their applications are rated within seconds. Each rated app is issued a certificate and a unique identifying code that may be subsequently submitted to other storefronts during their respective onboarding processes, avoiding the need for developers to repeat the rating process. This means consistent ratings across participating storefronts and a convenient, cost-free process for app developers."

The ESRB says that it will monitor consumer complaints and frequently test the most popular applications. 

For the full press release, see the CTIA's web site.