US industry execs set to co-host Clinton fundraiser

The videogames industry looks set to intensify its political lobbying activities in the USA, with ESA president Doug Lowenstein and EA's head of music Steve Schnur to co-host a fundraiser for outspoken industry critic Hillary Clinton.

Lowenstein and Schnur are listed as co-hosts of a $1,000 per plate breakfast with the New York senator, according to a report written by Brian Crecente, editor of popular gaming blog Kotaku, for the Rocky Mountain News.

The fundraiser will take place on September 14th in Washington, DC - two months to the day since Clinton accused the videogame industry of "stealing the innocence of our children" over the Grand Theft Auto San Andreas "Hot Coffee" affair.

Clinton has also previously taken the stage with such right-wing undesirables as Senator Rick Santorum to express her concerns over videogames and call for a major investigation into their effects on children.

Although the ESA denies that the fundraiser has anything to do with the organisation - describing it as being on Lowenstein's "private schedule" - the breakfast is described as having the hallmarks of "an industry trying to curry favour with one of its critics" by Steven Weiss of the Centre for Responsive Politics, cited in the Rocky Mountain News piece.

Political lobbying is nothing new for the entertainment industries, of course, but so far the videogames industry's efforts in the USA have been relatively low profile compared to the music and film industries, and even to the games industry here in the UK - where publisher trade body ELSPA has had several high profile meetings and briefings with senior UK government figures.