Congressman Sponsors "Truth in Video Game Rating A

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Readers of GamePolitics will not soon forget the contentious June 14th video game hearing of the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection. The ESRB and its president, Patricia Vance, came under heavy fire during the proceedings. Ultimately, several members of Congress would be lampooned by Jon Stewart, host of The Daily Show, for clueless comments made during the videotaped session.

Now, Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL, seen at left) has formalized his issues with the ESRB by introducing HR 5912, the so-called "Truth in Video Game Rating Act."

Among its provisions, Stearns' legislation directs the Federal Trade Commission "to prescribe rules to prohibit deceptive conduct in the rating of video and computer games." Under terms of the proposed bill, the following would be defined as unlawful:

- Rating games on only partial content: Unlike the present system, the ESRB would be forced to play games in their entirety

- Withholding content: Publishers would be on the hook for failing to completely reveal content to the ESRB.

- Gross mischaracterization of content: Although not specifically named, the ESRB would be barred from "grossly mischaracterizing" (as defined by the FTC) game content

Perhaps more significantly, Rep. Stearns' legislation would also compel the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a study in order to determine the effectiveness of the ESRB system; whether content ratings systems should be peered-reviewed; whether an independent ratings system would be better; how commonly underaged buyers can purchase M-rated games; as well as the possibilities for a universal ratings system.

Co-sponsoring Stearns' bill are Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT) and Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC). Matheson is also the sponsor of HR 5345, retail-oriented video game legislation introduced during the week of E3 2006.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Stearns, Matheson, and McIntyre are all running for re-election in November.


gamepolitics.livejournal.com/333899.html

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New Bill Puts ESRB Under Further Scrutiny

A Republican congressman from Florida is sponsoring the "Truth in Video Game Rating Act," which will place the Entertainment Software Ratings Board and game ratings in general under further scrutiny.



Rep. Cliff Stearns introduced HR 5912 in an attempt to put an end to what he calls "deceptive ratings of video games."

The act would require any person or entity (i.e., the ESRB) to review a game in its entirety before issuing a final rating. In other words, all games would have to be played and finished prior to rating.

This measure isn't likely to sit well with ESRB president Pat Vance. During a June videogame hearing on Capitol Hill, Vance explained that with over a thousand games to rate every year, the firm simply doesn't have the time or resources to play every single game to the end. The ESRB usually just plays games for a few hours, primarily relying on documentation from game companies to disclose all pertinent content related to a game.

Vance recently told Next-Gen, “… Games sometimes take 100 to 200 hours plus to play through, so we really must rely on companies to fully disclose pertinent content to us. … It’s extremely important in an interactive medium like ours that companies really take disclosure of pertinent content seriously, and fully disclose when they submit a product to us to be rated.”

In addition to the requirement of a full play-through, the act prohibits publishers from withholding pertinent content from rating firms. The ESRB can agree with this, as Vance announced in June that any game company withholding such information would be subject to fines of up to $1 million.

Another provision of the act would prohibit game ratings to "grossly mischaracterize" a game's content, as defined by the Federal Trade Commission.

Finally, the act would have the Government Accountability Office conduct an in-depth study scrutinizing the overall effectiveness of the ESRB, whether ESRB ratings should be peer-reviewed, whether an independent ratings system would be more effective, marketing that targets inappropriately young audiences and the effectiveness of a universal ratings system across multiple forms of "visual content."

The bill is cosponsored by Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson and Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre.

The bill would go into effect no less than a year after approval.

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To see this bill in its entirety:

frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h5912ih.txt.pdf

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ESA: Game Rating Act Misguided

Following the proposal of the Truth in Video Game Rating Act, Entertainment Software Association head Doug Lowenstein said the measure wouldn't benefit consumers.

Last week, Florida Republican congressman Cliff Stearns proposed the bill to counteract what he called "deceptive ratings of video games." One of the more controversial requirements of the act would have the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) play every game to the end before issuing a rating. Normally, the organization plays games only for a few hours, with the rating relying primarily on documentation from publishers, which is meant to expose all pertinent content.

"We share Chairman Stearns' commitment to the continued effectiveness and accuracy of the ESRB's ratings system," stated Lowenstein in a response sent to Next-Gen. "However, as introduced, we do not believe his legislation will serve consumers and parents."

He continued, "For example, the proposal that every video game be played through in its entirety before a rating is issued means that the only people rating games will be professional gamers with the skills necessary to play through games that can take more than 100 hours and who are not likely to be representative of the mainstream American parent.

"According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, parents said that among all entertainment rating systems (TV, movies, music and games), the ESRB ratings are the most useful. It is not broken. Neither is it perfect and we are always exploring ways to ensure it retains the respect it has earned from American families. We look forward to working constructively with Chairman Stearns and his colleagues on these issues in the weeks ahead."


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