Post by leunas on Sept 30, 2006 2:14:20 GMT -5
A Michigan congressman has proposed the “Video Game Decency Act of 2006,” which aims to “prohibit deceptive acts and practices in the content rating and labeling of videogames.”
Fred Upton’s (R-MI) proposal would make it illegal for people (i.e. game companies) to withhold pertinent content from game ratings boards in order to achieve a more mass-market friendly game rating that would (in theory) help sales along. A violation of the order would be considered an “unfair or deceptive act or practice,” allowing the Federal Trade Commission to “prevent persons, partnerships, or corporations … from using unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.”
Upton said that parental supervision is the first “line of defense” in protecting children from mature content, but the law is intended to “empower parents.”
"This legislation will restore parents' trust in a system in which game makers had previously done an end-run around the process to deliver violent and pornographic material to our kids,” Upton said in a statement. “Parents across the country can breathe a sigh of relief as this legislation goes hand in hand with the mission of the industry's own ratings system."
It’s not clear yet what the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) or Entertainment Software Association (ESA) will think of the act, as the ESA had yet to reply to Next-Gen’s inquiries on the matter. However, ESRB president Pat Vance could very well be behind the law, as it not only keeps self-regulation in the loop, but also will back up ESRB’s demand that all game companies disclose all pertinent content.
At a commerce hearing in June, Vance said that the ESRB would impose fines of up to $1 million against companies that withhold pertinent content from their ratings submissions.
The ESRB accused developer Bethesda this year of downplaying the violence and gore in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion to achieve a more lenient rating. The organization chose to change that game’s rating from Teen to Mature after the game had been at retail for over a month.
In June, the FTC said that Take-Two and Rockstar deceived consumers by not disclosing the full contents of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the catalyst for the "hot coffee" debacle. However, during July’s commerce hearing, Upton said that the FTC’s order wasn’t even "a slap on the wrist for the best-selling videogame in the country.”
www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3917&Itemid=2
Fred Upton’s (R-MI) proposal would make it illegal for people (i.e. game companies) to withhold pertinent content from game ratings boards in order to achieve a more mass-market friendly game rating that would (in theory) help sales along. A violation of the order would be considered an “unfair or deceptive act or practice,” allowing the Federal Trade Commission to “prevent persons, partnerships, or corporations … from using unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.”
Upton said that parental supervision is the first “line of defense” in protecting children from mature content, but the law is intended to “empower parents.”
"This legislation will restore parents' trust in a system in which game makers had previously done an end-run around the process to deliver violent and pornographic material to our kids,” Upton said in a statement. “Parents across the country can breathe a sigh of relief as this legislation goes hand in hand with the mission of the industry's own ratings system."
It’s not clear yet what the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) or Entertainment Software Association (ESA) will think of the act, as the ESA had yet to reply to Next-Gen’s inquiries on the matter. However, ESRB president Pat Vance could very well be behind the law, as it not only keeps self-regulation in the loop, but also will back up ESRB’s demand that all game companies disclose all pertinent content.
At a commerce hearing in June, Vance said that the ESRB would impose fines of up to $1 million against companies that withhold pertinent content from their ratings submissions.
The ESRB accused developer Bethesda this year of downplaying the violence and gore in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion to achieve a more lenient rating. The organization chose to change that game’s rating from Teen to Mature after the game had been at retail for over a month.
In June, the FTC said that Take-Two and Rockstar deceived consumers by not disclosing the full contents of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the catalyst for the "hot coffee" debacle. However, during July’s commerce hearing, Upton said that the FTC’s order wasn’t even "a slap on the wrist for the best-selling videogame in the country.”
www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3917&Itemid=2
