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  • Florida county mandates fingerprints to sell videogames

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    Stephen C. Webster
    Raw Story
    June 2, 2009

    For many young Americans, reselling video games to pick up the newest, latest and greatest is simply the only choice to keep up with the fast-paced, high-dollar industry (which is about to kick off a massive annual trade show in Los Angeles as I write this).

    GameStop, the largest games retailer on the planet, has made billions from the trade, building an empire off the business model that one Florida county appears to now view as a haven for criminals.

    From the Broward-Palm Beach New Times:

    I’m in line at Gamestop the other day, breaking down and finally buying the much-hated NCAA Football ‘09, when I hear the clerk ask the guy in front of me for his fingerprints. He’s returning a game, and the clerk breaks out some kind of form. He swipes his thumb across an ink pad stuck to the counter and then puts his mark in the appropriate box.

    What the deuce? "The sheriff’s office has been making us do it," the clerk told me. "People hate it."

    Reporter Eric Barton goes on to say:

    • A d v e r t i s e m e n t
    • efoods

    Broward County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kayla Concepcion said the new requirement comes straight from the Florida Legislature, which enacted a law on October 1 of last year that treated video games like second-hand goods sold at pawn shops. Now any store buying used video games has to collect the thumb prints, along with a bunch of other personal info about the seller.

    Now, I’ve got a little personal insight into this issue. As a teen and young adult, well before I found myself tasked with the journalisms, I was employed by Blockbuster, Movie Trading Company, Borders Books and Books-A-Million. Library science — or, at least inventory management and customer service — was my forte as a student. (We’ve all got to get by somehow.)

    At Movie Trading Company, we had tons and tons of DVDs and VHS cassettes for sale, almost all of them brought in by customers looking for cash or store credit. After about six months, it became quite easy to spot the thieves among them.

    I’m talking about people who’d walk in 10 minutes before closing with a stack of Simpsons box set DVDs, or five copies of that week’s big, new release. We had one regular customer, Eddy (a sex offender, I later found out), who offered a couple of us, myself included, methamphetamine in exchange for more cash back from his stolen DVDs. The man was obviously desperate. I’d even go so far as to guess that stealing DVDs was essentially his job.

    It was policy that we accept what customers bring in unless the condition was beyond repair, so every time he’d show up with a backpack full of DVDs and games, we had to give him cash. But by the same measure, he had to submit some form of identification. We’d record it, pay out and go about our business.

    One day a cop walked in with Eddy’s photo and asked if we’d see him and if we had records of what he had sold us. I told the officer yes, but the management stepped in after that and I never found out what happened … And I never saw Eddy again.

    Case in point: That happened in Texas, where there is no requirement for fingerprints to sell used media like games or DVDs. Crimes were committed openly and law enforcement (apparently) worked. It wasn’t that difficult.

    Surely Florida does not lack basic law enforcement capabilities. Why should such draconian measures be necessary just to trade in a video game?

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    Comment Rules

    90 Responses to “Florida county mandates fingerprints to sell videogames”

    1. ew keane Says:

      ?

      there trying to track Reply:

      looks like there trying to track who likes violence.

      shut up and fight back Reply:

      if thats the case then every gamer in the huge communauty will be flaged as potential terrorist.

      Captain Trips Reply:

      This is hilarious. Now little kids and adults who play games are suspect. These people are totally insane. What’s next, fingerprints for gas or buying cleaning products?

      steve Reply:

      No, they want us to love violence. They are behind the violence in video games.

      The purpose is simple:
      They don’t like any form of barter or trade which decreases their tax revenues and reliance on their currency. They know that the people who trade in video games also buy and trade private party on ebay, craigslist, etc. They want to find & track those who are potentially part of the underground economy in the future.

      jmc Reply:

      …is tipper gore behind this???

      de obvious Reply:

      It wouldn’t surprise me. She was a whack job back in the 80s; she could only be less mentally capable today.

      CorpoGeist Reply:

      @ there trying to track

      read the story again, the law is intended only for those pawning shit.

      CorpoGeist Reply:

      does anyone actually read the stories aroound here before they post a comment??

      Anon420 Reply:

      You gotta look where this is going…just another brick in the wall friend…

      bill Reply:

      My wife just told me that last weekend when she took our son to gamestop to return some games (we live in florida), she was asked to complete this long form and then she noticed the fingerprint pad and asked do they seriously plan on asking for her fingerprint. When the assistant said yes, she drew the line in the sand and told them what they could do. They went up the street and returned them at another store (don’t know the name) with no hassle.

      If more people just refused to put up with this crap like she did… they would have to back down… unfortunately most of the sheeple will just do whatever they are told… sad.

      KDUBBLL Reply:

      WOW…that is almost unbelievable.

      bill Reply:

      Actually my son was just trading in games that were previously purchased at gamestop… it’s insane. To make matters worse, the other customers in the store were looking at my wife like she was some kind of nut job… the brain washing is complete for most people.

      pribble Reply:

      video games are highly discretionary items. you dont need them to live. so if they insist on prints- WALK OUT. if enough do so, that “need” for prints will subside right quickly.
      its called BOYCOTT. whining on a blog is not enough.

      vueflix Reply:

      Alert, Inform, Educate, Act!
      join the resistance VueFlix

      Married to 1/3 Native American Reply:

      You don’t have buy video games in Florida. Order them over the internet or go to some other state to buy them.

    2. Buffalo Nuts Says:

      1st its an easy way out for the legislators who are getting mauled by the media and the game companies..2nd..its another way to keep track of who does what…pretty soon you will have to swipe a print to do most anything

      JANET JUBILEE Reply:

      A new law, just a few months ago in Chicago, you are required to be finger printed just to buy/sell a house? I wonder how people have responded to that. What is their excuse?

      pribble Reply:

      in this buyers market, they should wield their power. if that is required- WALK AWAY.

      pribble Reply:

      EXACTLY. part of this procedure is to test the waters, so to speak. to gage the amount of resistance. if there is none- next we’ll require prints for milk and grocery. this is their end goal- so NIP it in the bud!

    3. White Man Hezballah Says:

      i bet you EA sports is behind this. they have a monopoly on many games and people are starting to hate them because they are such a joke. this whole country is the laughing stock on the world.

      WELCOME TO AMERICA: MORE PAPERWORK, MORE LAWS, AND MORE TAXES

      …and we hopelessly believe that we are free.

      rob base Reply:

      The simple way to counteract these stasi like laws is to withdraw. No more purchases of these games and the companies who are affected will lobby for legislative change.

      shut up and fight back Reply:

      i have stoped buying any games from microsoft, ubisoft EA and THQ i download them illegaly instead. and i say FUCK THOSE ASSHOLES!

      steve Reply:

      Thats real good, yeah, thats a real patriot, just steal what you want. Make others work for free. What a fucking asshole YOU are.

      pribble Reply:

      hey, its called the working man’s bailout. nothing more American than that.

      TakerOfCorporateSouls Reply:

      the major philosophy in martial arts is to meet a force with an equal amount of opposite force,…..I say with this criminally run system is steal away……..

      Bill Swensen Reply:

      People who pay for music, movies and software are just too stupid too download anything or fix their own computer and have no idea what’s going on with the internet revolution… You probably wouldn’t even have anything like Loose Change or InfoWars if geeks couldn’t steal software… The people in power even want you to pay for pictures and jpgs to create your own website… Half the websites on the internet wouldn’t even exist without free software or pics… No one would show up to a Flaming Lips concert without stealing music… Who’s going to know about them if it’s never played on the radio? Look at the really creative and talented musicians right now touring and making real cash at live shows… It’s the same music that’s being downloaded for free… Bands have never made any money through CD sales… They make it all at live shows…

    4. Weben Hadd Says:

      Life would be so much easier if we just all had some kind of tracking chip implanted. No more hassling with fingerprints, ID cards, no “Papers please!”.

      onemadcanuck Reply:

      TROLL, keep yer chips to yerself.

      celticpatriot Reply:

      I believe the post you are replying to employed something called “irony”.

      Look it up.

      ScrewyL Reply:

      …Princess Zelda becomes more sophisticated…

      Weben Hadd Reply:

      Why, why do you insist on making life difficult fo yourself and everyone around you? Go with the flow. Chill. Pour an icy cold galss of government Kool-Aid. Enjoy a tasty bite of Frankenfood. Relax in a hammock beside the pool at beautiful Camp Fema. You know Thursday is Taco & dollar Beer nifgt!!! Life could be beautiful and easy if you would just be reasonable about those pesky “rights” things. Who needs rights when you have a leader like Obama!!!

      whatthefuck Reply:

      And he Causeth all both rich and poor free and slave to recieve a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads and that no man shall buy or sell unless he that had the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. REV 13:16-17

      All this is conditioning the public and working up towards the biblical statement above. There WILL be a mark and EVERYONE will be forced to have it. Bible believers or not, it will happen and there is evidence to suggest its in the mid to late stages of it being implemeted. Just look at this story and the “Microchip” for example. I would recommend investigating the relationships with microchips (such as the verichip) and databases and barcodes and 666. Is the verichip likely to be the mark of the beast?, you tell me.

      whatthefuck Reply:

      Also look at the financial aspect of the word these days. It has never been more likely for a cashless society to be implemented (well after the soon coming major major crash).

      Dale Gribble Reply:

      This may come as a shock to some of you, but the Bible is not literal prophecy. A lot of you are all about the “Truth” but have a big blind spot when it comes to your Christ.

      The most disappointing thing I’ve noticed since “joining the infowar” is that everyone still comes at it with their own agenda.

      Hologram5 Reply:

      That is the nature of the Bible, it is interpretable by anyone who reads it. That is by design for those that need a certain something. Each to his own needs.

    5. homedawg Says:

      its all about control…now they have a record of what kids are doing what with which games…and a foolproof way to ID anyone connected with the subculture of gaming….the really violent games are thought to be training aids for yound soldiers….now they know which ones concentrate on those type games….its all about control and information….pay cash and leave no trail…neer face a camera at a gas station or a convience store…take your tag off and put it in your back window,,,tell the cops someone in your neighborhood is stealing car tags and thats why its up there…easily readable by an officer in a car but not viewable by a camera…peace..Watch out for Stobor

      ScrewyL Reply:

      Whatever the intent, the effect will be keeping closer tabs on people, in this case, the younger, more niave, more docile generation. Of course, draconian rules such as this will “normalize” the fingerprint scan to purchase anything.

      As for the license plate idea–that’ll work better than not doing so, but don’t assume cameras can’t read it; finding a plate in a picture is trivial.

      Buffalo Nuts Reply:

      why not just turn it over?..as if it “accidently” fell face down on the rear deck?..this sounds like a good plan to me…Im starting it today

    6. Conclude1111 Says:

      It’s pretty obvious why they did this, i mean it’s common knowledge that terrorists sell thier used video games to fund thier operations.

      White Man Hezballah Reply:

      conclude1111 – lol

      pribble Reply:

      i heard they also sell candy bars and cigarettes. that is why Hershey just moved The All American Chocolate Bat down to mexico. easier access for cross border terror infiltration

      Abbie Reply:

      Pff, Lol.

      Conclude1111 Reply:

      Jeez, I would hate to be a Muslim taking in Ghost Recon

    7. Kayhla Says:

      Dammit all… I’m not giving up gaming, and not giving up my thumb print. The good news is, these games have taught us all how to pull of a rather spectacular headshot… maybe they should find another group of people instead of gamers to fuck with.

      there trying to track Reply:

      therea A drug out there they sue to treat canser that earses your finger prints.

      pribble Reply:

      yes, but then they’ll have to get DNA instead.

    8. Gary Says:

      “…treated video games like second-hand goods sold at pawn shops. Now any store buying used video games has to collect the thumb prints, along with a bunch of other personal info about the seller.”

      Ummm…since when do pawn shops require your fingerprints for anything? I sold some of my things at a pawn shop in 2005 and was never required to supply any such thing.

    9. Chantal Janssen Says:

      Check this out at 0:38 (pause film)

      What do you see?

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..&hl=nl

      Bob T Reply:

      bad link

      chantal janssen Reply:

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4kZd4Roies

      Gary Reply:

      I see “URL Contains malformed video ID”

    10. Mr.Geltschmidt Says:

      Why do you worry they are looking for stolen goods it the same at a pawn shop for over ten years

      Gary Reply:

      Why should we worry if we haven’t done anything wrong, eh? That’s the sort of stupidity that has lead to increasing fascism in America. Pull your head out and realize that the more you are willing to accept as “normal,” the more they will impose upon all of us.

      shut up and fight back Reply:

      totaly agree.

      Mackiavelli Reply:

      This is a perfect opportunity to make a complete scene! Goes something like this!
      You got to be kidding me what is the SS Style Nazi Germany! How Many Sheeple have Taken this thumb print like a good little Homeland Partiot?!?!? Its Tyranny at yer local Store! Big Brother is worried about Video games! The borders leak like a GM Transmission! Boxcutters Hijacked Planes NORAD and the “Worlds Greatest Military” couldnt shoot down planes after incommunicado of 4 hours! Take yer Vaccines, and yer Flouride and Have A SHITTY DAY YOU GET NO MORE OF MY BUSINESS!!! AND EVERYONE I KNOW WILL HEAR THIS STORE IS BIG BROTHER! etc… or till the cops show and ask you to contract with them….lol!
      Oh and Gary keep Fighting the Good Fight!

      Griz Reply:

      Strange, police in the MIAC report state, where I live, catch pawn shop items without a thumbprint. And the thieves that took them too. So, tell me again about Florida’s wonderful law enforcement officers? Seems a bit radical to me, using biometrics to sell used DVDs. When this happens long enough, I’m guessing crooks will wise up and hold a semi-constant garage sale. That will make it real easy to find them, cash, no forms, have to catch them with the goods in their possession. These people are never practical when they make a law for law’s sake alone, or just to track, regulate and tax us more. *SIGH*

    11. understand the greatness Says:

      listen people im running for president. and jesse ventura will be my vice. ron paul will be the treasurer and alex will be the speaker of the house. anyone who wants to roll against these credentials will have to go through the infowarriors first. lets make the campaign happen now.

      White Man Hezballah Reply:

      forget about running for president…let’s TAKE the 2012 election. what i mean is we will forcibly enter the white house and say, “mr. president you are in my seat get out!”

    12. Milwaukeerick Says:

      Broward County, FL is run by a bunch of Zionist New York jews! Come down on vacation, leave on probation, return on violation!

    13. Kenny Gifford Says:

      It would seem that the goal is to stop theft, which in itself is bad, by making it impossible. This means huge amounts of money invested in police, legislative and court time, not to mention the extra time and expense that the games shop needs to fork out. The question is, will this cure the problem or just shift it somewhere else? So Eddy wont steal DVDs and pawn them at the local store, great, but will this mean he will become so much more desperate he may attack old ladies or hold up a bank? Governments and Judicial systems are so big they fail to see the even bigger picture, which is cure the problem not the symptoms.

      vi toe jam Reply:

      This is just a system to control buying and selling,a finger print here a finger print there.Central system to read and track,nest it well be to buy gas.

      pmw Reply:

      I think you hit the hammer squarely on the nail Kenny

    14. AJ VidZ Says:

      HERE: Stream and Download ALL the best interviews and rants from the Alex Jones Show Archives:

      LATEST VIDEOS:
      - Jesse Ventura on Alex Jones Tv:No More Torture!
      - Jason Bermas:New “Cyber Czar” End of Internet Freedom!

      http://alex-jones-archives.politicsfiles.info/

      Backup your favorite episodes, don’t miss any!

    15. WileyCoyote Says:

      My 14 year old daughter was informed that if she wanted to be a VOLUNTEER at the local hospital, she had to give her fingerprints so they could conduct a background check. Needless to say, she is NOT volunteering for the facility.

    16. Joey Rapps Says:

      Um….Anbody ever heard of Ebay? You have to be a tool to sell your games (or anything) to a physical store. In order for the middle man (Gamestop or whatver) to make money, they have to rip you (the seller) off first. Once Gamestop starts losing suckers to Ebay (where they’ll become “winners”), Gamestop Corp. Inc. will “work something out” with the Florida Legislature. Isn’t that how it works? Use it against them, sheep! Resist!

      Akeem Suleman Reply:

      Ebay, you making shit worse Joey Rapps. The more you leave your digital imprint the more they have you in their palms. Idiot said Ebay geez. Triumph the Dog sounds smarter than you right now. Ebay is still a middleman. selling your stuff directly to a buyer is it.

    17. Dogmeat Says:

      Its just one county in Florida, i’ve live there for years and never had to do a fingerprint to trade in my games.

    18. SteveNYC Says:

      Just rememeber people it always starts out like this… It’s for the safety of the children

    19. EA SPORTS Says:

      Fingerprints —- its in the game

      KDUBBLL Reply:

      the new PSP GO is not UMD based, all games as far as i know are downloadable through the internet on PSN. it won’t matter who sells or buys games at gamestop or on ebay in the near future.

    20. Akeem Suleman Says:

      We have been had over and over again. History repeating itself. I remember when people were complaining about GPS inputs by Census folks. Now its PAWN shops, Pawn shops. They want to force people into the stoneage. Well so be it. I am going to do things that will piss them off so should all of us. Drop credit cards, debit card, I would say cell phone but its a lifeline just turn off your stuff, take out the battery get of the grid for a few. CASH CASH CASH. most cars coming with tracking devices. Warren G said it best REGULATORS.

      Stay up peoples, never sleep. Didnt the bible say keep a watchful eye, so did the quran. All this stuff we blab about is in this books. BAH.

    21. HillbillyJihad&TheBubbaLiberationFront Says:

      Let see here…Fingerprints, semen sample/pap smear, breathylizer, shoe size, Phrenology exam, blood test, stool sample, mothers maiden name please!!! The Corriolis Effect has run amok folks!!! Cheese and Crackers this is off the F’n hook!!! I reckon’ they took the lead from re-cyclers battling catalytic converter thefts!!! It’s all about the Love!!! “All ‘HAIL’ Thermal Expansion!!!”

    22. Paul (Pv8man) Says:

      Whoaaa…..what the fuck!!!!!!

      Are they serious???

      Someone find the phone numbers of who is responsible for this and post them everywhere
      so I can call them until then answer.

    23. TONA2009 Says:

      Soon auto biometrics may be commonplace.

      How do you achieve wealth in a cashless personal credit, virtual capital society?

      Why are we still fighting the Banksters game?

      Only accept gold or silver for your labor.

      There are only two forms of wealth, labor and intellectual.

      Resources become wealth only through the manipulation of labor and intellect.

      The license, suppression and classification of technology is the basis for the enslavement of the mind. What is more important limited national security or natural human evolution?

      The acceptance of fiat currency is a basis for enslavement of the body. Through fiat currency the labor of the body is taxed by constant monetary creation. By design you will never get rich simply selling your labor for fiat, whereas if you sold it for gold or silver you may.

      Enslave the mind and the body will follow, this is where we are today.

      Its the masterplan.

    24. CM Says:

      Well it’s a good thing I don’t play video games! O_O

    25. shut up and fight back Says:

      as if the game industry is already near collapse cause they make too much of the same and only one rare title form time to time bring something new.(north american games).

      sony microsoft and all those 3rd party ces are all responsible for what happen in pc gaming community. sony and microsoft on top of that whant to literraly the pc gaming market.

      by puting every games for pc on the ps3 and xbox360. where they can rip off more peeps and can lock the machines and do w/e they whant.

      dont be suprised people if in 3 years owing a personal computer would be considered illegal.

      those elites are going for it. cause they are desperate but this shit just gona hit back at them.

      not so bright those elites after all.

    26. Bailey Says:

      we’ve had to do this at gamestop ever since 2000. i live in osceola county fl

      KDUBBLL Reply:

      whaaaaaaattt? are you serious? i’m guessing under of the guise of stopping fencing.

    27. Vector Chief Says:

      The REVOLUTION is COMING
      We are orginizing
      We will fight the N-A-U
      And the N-W-O
      to join me e-mail me at VectorChief@Rocketmail.com

    28. mike Says:

      its just a way to put you in their system if you aint already, just like when they take kids on a “feild trip” to a hospital or police station and let the kids get fingerprinted “for fun”

    29. Killer of Wolrd Says:

      Crazy and Stupid Politcs eugenistcs more firsth Democracy one direct inalieneble and individuals of Citizens
      Secsion America
      new constituition
      independenc of states
      no Tirany assassinates

    30. Michael the Gardener Says:

      Princess Zelda is definitely a royal with his mind set
      and if you what your games bandage your hands

    31. Fenix Says:

      Parts from the song “Fight for Freedom” by ManoWar :

      To hear the sound of freedom many gave their lives
      They fought for you and me
      Those memories will always live inside us
      And now it’s our time to be free

      Where the eagles fly – I will soon be there
      If you want to – come along with me my friend
      Say the words and you’ll be free
      From the mountains to the sea
      We’ll fight for freedom again

    32. rod blogojevich Says:

      when i was a kid we played football, basketball, baseball, rode bikes, swam, fished, had rock fights etc etc. coming up with a couple quarters to play pinball or a video game was a once every couple months treat. now all the little shits do is sit on their ass in front of a screen. whilst their spineless parents run around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to appease juniors every little whim. i want the new video game waaaaaaaa. ok ok we’ll go get it for you right now. i want some pizza too waaaaaa. ok ok we’ll get some for you. dad: high five high five. junior: waaaaaaa i want i want i want. dad: we’ll get it for you we’ll get it for you high five high five. junior: waaaaaaaaa

    33. Michael Savage Fan Says:

      Alright! it’s about time we started protecting our children with video game regulation, instead of spoiling them like these homosexual and interracial liberal couples are doing with their violent video games, computers, and ipods, along with the occasional sexual abuse that comes with abondoning the Bible and promoting feminism, secularism, and Islam.

    34. NewWorldOwner Says:

      Texas cops have their noses so far up ev1’s a$$ that they already knew about it the whole time. I once had a Texas cop come to my house bring me to jail, just because he was in the neighborhood.. He said I had a warrant, and never was even true… 1 bit.

      Like Reno911.. He served a warrant on the wrong house.
      Long story short… he is not a cop anymore, and I’m not in Texas anymore!!!

    35. jack parler Says:

      I really liked your blog!

    36. morison dony Says:

      Very nice information. Thanks for this. You are a very good blogger. I look forward to reading more information from you.

    37. me Says:

      “i bet you EA sports is behind this”

      AT E3 THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT THEIR “GLOBALIZATION” TACTICS/

      I WAS LIKE WTF