Remember when assemblyman Keith L.T. Wright proposed to have kids protected from racist games and its ilk? And before that, representative Joe Baca introduced another bill which wanted those obtrusive warning labels on video game boxes. Take those two bills and up the ante with a whole list of mature content warnings, plus a US$ 1000 fine for violators. Thus, you get this new one. Execute order 66 A2837!

Last week, Gino posted an article about Rep. Joe Baca and his H.R. 231, a bill that would require all games with a Teen rating or stronger to have a warning label on their boxes. This time, the Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) takes a stand and launches a campaign to trash the bill. Learn more in the full article.

Feels like a bucket of bricks just fell on my forehead. Heard via GamePolitics, a new bill is being passed in Congress which would have some staggering effects on how our video games look all nice and fun-like on the retail shelf. The bill, once approved, will require Teen-rated (or higher) video game boxes to have a warning label on it, much like what they have on cigarette boxes. *facepalm*

Jack Thompson, silenced by a permanent disbarment? No wai. Everyone's favorite non-lawyer is back and noisier than ever, this time over Bethesda's last-minute pullout of Fallout 3 gameplay footage. Hm, guess "ambulance chaser" is off his list of titles.

So what's old Jack so upset about? Click.

Recent documents being passed around Congress and the PotUS office [insert West Wing red tape montage here] gave birth to a new anti-piracy bill which was signed into law as the "Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008" or, in short, PRO-IP. Back in the ESA offices, Michael Gallagher couldn't be any happier.

 

The last time we updated you on Jack Thompson's latest exploits to keep violent games out of children's hands, we told you about the lawyer from Florida allegedly posting a comment on the GamePolitics website, stating that he'll be going after Take-Two once more in response of the critically-acclaimed FPS for the Xbox 360 and PC, Bioshock.

Now, it seems that he's taken action indeed, in the form of a written complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) about the game's ads, televised during WWE Smackdown. His letter, verbatim and snipped for brevity:

Take-Two… is aggressively marketing its newest Mature-rated video game to kids under 17 years of age… On this Friday’s night’s 8 pm Eastern time airing of WWE’s wrestling program “Smackdown,” there were repeated ads for Take-Two/Rockstar Game’s Mature-rated, incredibly violent BioShock…

A check of the demographics of the audience of that program reveals that teens under 17 years of age watch that program in huge numbers…

Remarkably, the video game industry is running ads for games like BioShock on teen-intensive television programs while at the same time its industry-captured “watchdog,” the ESRB, is running a self-congratulatory ad campaign to assure parents that the video game ratings system is working and that the industry can be trusted not to target their kids with these Mature-rated games. It is all a lie, as the BioShock ads prove.

This rampant fraudulent trade practice is precisely what “Big Tobacco” did with its “Joe Camel” and other teen-targeting ads, while at the same time lying to Congress that it was not marketing its adult product to kids.

Comparing a game rated Mature to an addictive and life-threatening substance? Certainly strong words coming from Mr. Jack Thompson. Although it's true that some children under 17 do get to watch WWE Smackdown, it is to note that pro-wrestling shows are also more violent, with risky and life-threatening wrestling moves and bloodletting.

And let's not forget the edgier, sexually-themed angles that WWE has taken in the past, of course. With these, doesn't Bioshock fit into the major demographic that WWE itself is aiming for?

In any case, Mr. Jack Thompson has made his move. What will Take-Two's be? Only time will tell. Let us know what you think about this recent development by your comments.

As President of the ESRB, Patricia Vance said in an official statement that the ESRB appreciates that the Federal Trade Commission "recognizes the effectiveness of ESRB's self-regulatory activities." The report recently submitted by the FTC to Congress described in detail the marketing practices and compliance with retail regulations. She had this to say:

We’re pleased that today’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report affirms what other consumer research has previously shown to be true, namely that the overwhelming majority of parents are aware of the ratings, understand what they mean, agree with them, find them helpful and are actively using them to choose appropriate video games for their children.

Vance responded further, saying, "The report also details the significant improvement among retailers in enforcing their store policies with respect to the sale of M-rated games, which we support and applaud." The report reflected that the amount of M-rated games sold to gamers 17 and below were reduced, due to point-of-sale policing.

While the report did praise the game industry for having successfully reinstated a stricter compliance with the ratings system, the report did point out other areas where the industry could improve its content regulation, including online policing of content and broadening ratings coverage to mobile games.

Vance answered that call, stating that the ESRB will do their best to inform parents of the content ratings and how they can effectively be used to judge game content, in order for them to make more informed decisions on part of the game selection process.

 

An official report by the Federal Trade Commission to Congress showed that the video game industry has been able to reduce the amount of M-rated games sold to inappropriately aged gamers. In fact, since 2000, the amount of M-rated retail has been disallowed at the point-of-sale by a significant percentage, especially in major retail outlets.

This brings us to the other point of the ratings issue: the parents. As far as the report goes, it shows an increased amount of parents who are aware of the rating system established by the ESRB. 60% of them have agreed that the system does a good job of informing them about the violence in games, although 36% believe it doesn't do them any good at all.

What is consistent from the results of the report, however, is that parents are now more involved in the purchase of video games. As reported, 89% of surveyed parents and 83% of surveyed children have claimed that parents do involve themselves in a video game rental or purchase decision, while some 70% of parents have at least watched or played the most recent game purchased.

Conclusively, the report sees that the video game industry has done a good job with public announcements of ESRB ratings, compared with the music and movie industry. They recommend that the game industry, however, reconsiders the time and place to advertise their M-rated titles where audiences under 17 could be situated in, just as the movie and music industry continues to do.

While HR1531, better known as the Video Game Decency Act, is still going through review in Congress, Michigan Congressman Fred Upton declared that the bill was a way for the legislative body to restore parental faith on the ratings system currently used on games.

As the bill's sponsor, he explained that the bill was being reviewed to prevent developers and publishers from withholding questionable content from the ESRB. The bill is supposed to introduce a form of discipline for the game industry from bending around the rating system that parents have been unwilling to trust since the 2005 Hot Coffee scandal.

But what about the game industry's freedom? Rights activists and gamers alike were quick to question the motives of the bill - which is having to police even the game development process and the content that eventually get shipped to retail stores. Upton reassured the public that the bill was "written under the strict guidelines of the Constitution."

That aside, Upton believes that the FTC should be empowered with the ability to punish game developers and publishers who sneak age-inappropriate content past the ratings system. However, he seems to be partial to the Rockstar Games' claim of "it was the HaXorZ, we tell you!" In fact, he mentioned:

It is unfortunate that a few bad players have tarnished the integrity of the ratings system. The Federal Trade Commission currently does not have the tools necessary to pursue game makers who maliciously deceive consumers - this legislation will change that, and parents will be able to have faith in the ratings system once again.

Delaware Representative Helene Keeley comes into the gaming scene today, as we we pick up word of her introduction of a new bill to help curb the circulation of Mature-rated (M, age 17+) and Adult-Only (AO, age 18+) games to minors.

Going into detail, House Bill No. 77, once implemented as a law, will prohibit the sale or rental of any video game rated by the Electronic Software Rating Board (ESRB) unless the said rating is clearly displayed - games unrated by the ESRB will also be required to have a "not rated"  label visible on them.

The second provision "makes it unlawful for a person to sell or rent to an underage person and requires proof of age prior to sale or rental," which means anybody procuring their next copy of Grand Theft Auto will have to have a copy of their driver's license (or senior citizen's card) handy to prove their age - very much like the procedure being used for guys buying alcoholic beverages.

For those with longer memories among us, you may remember Rep. Keeley from back on November 3, 2005, when she attempted to pass House Bill No. 319, which also required games with an ESRB rating to be properly displayed, and a valid ID to be presented by buyers when purchasing M and AO-rated games.

Comparatively speaking, this appears to be one of the more level-headed laws we've seen under works - their stand on unrated titles is relatively tame compared to the provisions stated in a similar House Bill in New York. Once again, though, given that this only targets limiting games to minors, we're hoping that parents can step up to the challenge of becoming more aware of the sort of video games their kids are slipping into the console's disc tray. For the moment, we are worried about some vague points made by the bill - let's just hope it gets sharpened up to something more practical in the long run.