Forbes.com reports the Entertainment Software Association spent $980K in Q4 2008 on the trade group's lobbying efforts. They offer an outline of what this money bought them:

The group opposes efforts to regulate the content of entertainment media, including the creation of government-sanctioned ratings systems. It lobbied on issues such as parental control technology, the regulation of media violence and the sale of video games to minors.

In the October-December period, the ESA also lobbied on intellectual property protection, and green cards for skilled foreign workers and the H1-B visa program, which allows temporary employment of foreign workers in specialized and advanced-degree positions.

The ESA lobbied Congress, the Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission, Federal Communications Commission and other agencies, according to the report filed Jan. 16 with the House clerk's office.