Washington, June 28 (IANS) US Supreme Court Monday ruled against a California law that would have banned the sale or renting of violent video games to children, Xinhua reported.

The top court voted seven to two to strike down the law, signed by then-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005, but has never taken effect due to legal challenges by video game makers and sellers.

While recognising the importance of protecting children from violent contents, the top court believed the law would violate free-speech rights if being enacted.

"As a means of assisting concerned parents it (the law) is seriously overinclusive because it abridges the First Amendment rights of young people whose parents think violent video games are a harmless pastime," wrote Justice Antonin Scalia in the majority opinion.

The law defines a violent video game as one that depicts " killing, maiming, dismembering or sexually assaulting an image of a human being." Retailers who sell or rent a violent video game to children could be fined as much as $1,000.