At present in the US, there is no federal law against the sale
of violent video games to minors. Instead there is a system of
industry self-regulation. Some games are labelled "M" for Mature –
and they should not be sold to anyone younger than 17; others are
marked " AO " for Adults Only, where customers must be over 18.
Several states, including Illinois, Michigan and most recently
California, have passed their own legislation prohibiting the sale
of violent games to children. Most of these have been challenged by
the industry, which has had some measure of success in striking
down the laws as unconstitutional.
On Friday, Senators Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman and Evan
Bayh, tried to move the debate to the federal level, introducing
the Family Entertainment Protection Act into the Senate.
The Senators argue that video game content is getting
increasingly violent and sexually explicit, yet young people are
able to purchase these games with relative ease, while parents are
struggling to keep up with being informed about the content.
“Video games are hot holiday items, and there are certainly
wonderful games that help our children learn and increase hand and
eye coordination. However, there are also games that are just not
appropriate for our nation’s youth,” said Senator Clinton. “This
bill will help empower parents by making sure their kids can’t walk
into a store and buy a video game that has graphic, violent and
pornographic content.”
Senator Lieberman explained, “We are not interested in censoring
videos meant for adult entertainment but we do want to ensure that
these videos are not purchased by minors. Our bill will help
accomplish this by imposing fines on those retailers that sell
M-rated games to minors, putting purchasing power back in the hands
of watchful parents."
In general terms, the Act would prohibit any business from
selling or renting a Mature, Adults-Only, or Ratings Pending game
to a person who is younger than seventeen. On-site store managers
would be subject to a fine of $1,000 or 100 hours of community
service for the first offence and $5,000 or 500 hours of community
service for each subsequent offence.
The bill also requires an annual, independent analysis of game
ratings and requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to conduct
an investigation to determine whether hidden content is a pervasive
problem and take appropriate action.
This issue was highlighted earlier this year when it was
revealed that Rockstar Games had embedded illicit sexual content in
the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. This game had
received a Mature rating from the Entertainment Software Ratings
Board (ESRB), which was unaware of the embedded content.
The bill also sets out a mechanism for consumers to file
complaints with the FTC and would ensure that the FTC reports these
complaints to Congress. Finally, the bill authorises the FTC to
conduct an annual, random audit of retailers to monitor enforcement
and report the findings to Congress.
