Pokémon Go. (Photo by Health Gauge)

Illinois may become the first state with legislation curbing mobile games like Pokémon Go.

A bill, called Pidgey’s Law after a bird-like Pokémon, would impose fines on companies that make augmented-reality mobile games like Pokémon Go that don’t remove troublesome sites from their maps. The bill would fine a developer $100 per day if they don’t remove the requested site from their in-game maps in more than two days. State Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago) says her bill aims to protect public and private property from damage.

“We require the companies that are going to do business in our state to create an accessible, user-friendly and responsive process in which you can make this request and expect a response,” she said.

Liberty Justice Center Senior Attorney Jacob Huebert says the bill is overreaching.

“It really seems to go way further than necessary to address many concerns that may have arisen as a result of this new technology,” he said. “I don’t believe that the state has done any research on the technological feasibility of this, on the reasonability of expecting a company to make changes in the way it operates within two days of receiving a request.”

The troublesome site which Cassidy, a Pokémon Go player herself, calls the inspiration for the bill is a 4-acre plot of land called Loyola Dunes in Chicago. She says there would be groups of hundreds of Pokémon players in the dunes leading to trampled nests of birds and endangered plants. Cassidy says a number of activists and Chicago residents contacted the game’s developers to no avail.

The game’s developer, Niantic, have not responded to requests for comment but have taken down the location that prompted the creation of this bill. The developers already have a process for removing of sites that may be deemed problematic, but Cassidy says it is burdensome and unreliable.

— ‘Pidgey’s Law’ raises questions of feasibility in regulating Pokémon G —