Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. This overview provides an excellent foundation for Owen Livermore's piece "Digital Locks, Labor, and Play in Canada's Copyright Policy: Filtering Power through Configurations of Game Development". Video game policies are difficult to study because the actors are often obfuscated by nondisclosure agreements, opaque licensing agreements written in legalese, and political posturing in civic debates that are sometimes funded by invisible donors. Digital games as cultural artifacts are some of the most technically complex, intellectually provocative, ethically challenging, and politically contentious products in contemporary society. In production, corporate and governmental policies affect labor, creative practices, and game design vision. From the moment that a person enters a United States (US) game company. Likewise, Michael Perret's chapter looks to Switzerland's ongoing ban on violent video games in "Banning Violent Video Games in Switzerland: A Public Problem Going Unnoticed".