The U.S. House of Representatives will soon debate whether or not to make the Entertainment Software Ratings Board's ratings legally binding. The new bill, proposed by Jim Matheson (R-Utah), would potentially make it illegal to sell or rent to anyone under the age of 18 any game rated "AO," and also seeks to make it unlawful to sell/rent any "Mature" title to persons under the age of 17. The fines for doing so would be in the area of $5000 per violation.
"The Video Games Ratings Enforcement Act" is the latest step taken by the U.S. government in response to incident at Sandy Hook, and serves to show just how seriously lawmakers are moving to try and find a solution to the reported connections between violence and video games. Though the corrolation between game media and violent incidents such as the one that happened last month is still unproven, the Entertainment Software association does at least agree with representative Matheson's goal to ensure only people of the appropriate age are playing specifically rated titles.
That said, the ESA disagrees with the House attempting to pass such legislation into law. "[The ESA] shares Representatives Matheson’s goal of ensuring parents maintain control over the entertainment enjoyed by their children," the ESA said in a released statement. "That is why we work with retailers and stakeholders to raise awareness about the proven Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) system, the parental controls available on every video game console, and the importance of parents monitoring what games their children play."
"However, this type of legislation was already ruled unconstitutional and is a flawed approach. Empowering parents, not enacting unconstitutional legislation, is the best way to control the games children play."
This will likely not be the last time the U.S. government attempts to enforce some new law on the video game industry. How successful its attempts will be remains to be seen. What do you think of a stricter enforcement of the ESRB ratings? Do you think it would make a difference?
SOURCE: Gamespot
FeralOpossum
January 21, 2013 at 12:51pm
It won't change anything, but it'll make parents/the paranoid masses FEEL better, and it's better than outright censorship. I actually agree that there's no good reason anyone under 17 should play games like COD and Bulletstorm anyway. Not that it's harmful, you understand, but I think they should be kept away from R rated movies and such too. It takes away their childhood, in a sense. Kinda desensitizes.
L3377MA573R
January 19, 2013 at 1:54am
Well, I mean, it's already not supposed to happen, they're just making money off of it instead. It's not going to really stop kids from playing violent games any more than it already does.
stealth202
January 18, 2013 at 3:31pm
hey if this gets a few more 8-13 year olds off of halo 4 i'm all for it.
