INDIANAPOLIS—
LATEST: A Redbox battle in Indiana may be over before it began.The Vanderburgh Co. Prosecutor in Evansville, Ind. says he will not go after stores with the movie-rental kiosks.
Earlier this week, Prosecutor Stan Levco threatened to prosecute stores if they allowed minors access to PG-13 and R-rated movies. Now Levco is asking stores with the Redbox machines to make sure they don't contain any movies meant for mature audiences.
Police will reportedly check the kiosks to make sure stores are complying.
PREVIOUS STORY:
Parent Jethro Zapanta knows who rents the Redbox movies in his family and it's not his teenager.
"I don't allow him to rent a movie of course, because he is only 14," Zapanta told Fox59 News.
It says right there in plain English: If you're not 18 and don't have a credit card, don't bother. But those and other safeguards, Vanderburgh County prosecutor Stan Levco claims are not enough to stay within state obscenity laws.
He sent letters out in his southern Indiana county to business owners that have Redboxes on their property.
"{I} told them that I thought they had a potential violation there and they should remove them," said Levco.
Redbox's defense is that their R-rated warnings include a full-screen age question page are sufficient to comply with law.
Indiana Family Institute President Curt Smith acknowledged the tough task of protecting children today.
"I think the troubling issue for the community is, technology allows for all kinds of ways for this material to be accessed. Maybe a credit card or a screen or being in a public place, maybe the company thought that was sufficient," said Smith.
"I've gotten a number of responses from attorneys around the county and the country they want to persuade me that I shouldn't be going after them," said Levco.
Many of those critics believe this is a last ditch survival effort by traditional video stores
"I can see why like a blockbuster would try to figure out, hey wait, how are we losing business? And how can we gain business back?" reasoned Zapanta.
An Indianapolis attorney has been hired to defend the age restriction methods used by movie rental kiosks in Indiana.
