gamepolitics: Congressman Sponsors "Truth in Video Game Rating Act"

Game Politics (

gamepolitics) wrote,
@ 2006-08-04 13:10:00

Entry tags:

cliff stearns, congress, esrb, ftc, gao, hr5345, hr5912, jim matheson, legislation, mike mcintyre, north carolina, utah

Congressman Sponsors "Truth in Video Game Rating Act"

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.

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(92 comments) - (Post a new comment)

	startropics 2006-08-04 06:14 pm UTC (link)
	We gotta hurry! We've only got until November to save those kids! (Reply to this)

finaleve
2006-08-04 06:17 pm UTC (link)

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

Okay, so in this case, we may never be able to see the game for a long time since games can take from a couple of hours to more than several days to beat, and that's to just be going through a game. Lets not forget all the sidequests and bonus minigames you could do in a game. Yeah, It's a choice idea for something like music, but since there is an extreme amount of time that can be put in a game, it's impossible, let alone able to find people that would be able to do this.

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

Okay, hot coffee we are going with. First and foremost, it was not entirely part of the game. I could not walk over to the girl, ask her for some coffee, and imediately watch it. No. I had to go out, buy a 3rd party product, then play around with the game. That's what happened here.
Same went with Elder Scrolls.

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

I want to suggest that its referring to the idea of how the ratings are displayed with the desrciptions of whats in it. Like, if a shooter didn't have to term "violence" written on it. Something like that. That seems to be the concept of whats here.

That's my report on this.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

kharne83
2006-08-04 07:00 pm UTC (link)

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

I want to suggest that its referring to the idea of how the ratings are displayed with the desrciptions of whats in it. Like, if a shooter didn't have to term "violence" written on it. Something like that. That seems to be the concept of whats here.

Well, the truth is words can only say so much, with thatin mind I like our current system: All the "bad" things that can happen in a game are grouped together into simple keywords that are helpfully placed on the back of the box. If you don't like violent games, you don't buy games with thinks like "Intense violence" on the back. Simple, right?

Now, this is likely just me being jaded. but I beleive what they want is basically keyword overkill: Instaid of conviently grouping everything together, every possible thing in the game must now be it's own keyword, you couldn't just say "violence" or "sex" anymore, You'd have to list out *every possible form* of violence or sex or whatever the game contains, thus turning some quickly read warnings into a colossal laundry list of highly redundant labels.

The withholding content bit I can sort of understand, while it's true third parties were required to make these thing like hot coffie happen, the fact that it was on the disc to begin with makes handling them a bit tricky: Who's responsibe for this thing when boths sides techinally had a hand in it? It's for the best if we keep these things from happening.

Now Rrating games on only partial content? That just sounds like paranoia. These people just seem hell bent on proveing there's some sort of crazy youth-corruption conspiracy if you ask me.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

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finaleve, 2006-08-04 08:20 pm UTC

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xlorep_darkhelm, 2006-08-04 09:28 pm UTC

	ianc14 2006-08-04 06:18 pm UTC (link)
	Rating games on only partial content: Unlike the present system, the ESRB would be forced to play games in their entirety While i agree this should be the case, this would mean they would take agggges to rate games. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	ss_ebonclaw 2006-08-04 06:41 pm UTC (link)
	Oblivion? Alright, they'll get a team of people to play the core game, which is.. oh, over 100 hours, with the countless sidequests. And then you never really know if the developers have put some sort of easter egg content in, so you'll have to play every inch, every moment of every day for roughly a year. ...Right. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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brerwolf, 2006-08-04 07:02 pm UTC

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g_dog_dre, 2006-08-04 07:06 pm UTC

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muhammed, 2006-08-04 07:17 pm UTC

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g_dog_dre, 2006-08-04 07:43 pm UTC

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muhammed, 2006-08-04 08:16 pm UTC

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g_dog_dre, 2006-08-04 08:36 pm UTC

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barfo, 2006-08-04 07:47 pm UTC

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g_dog_dre, 2006-08-04 08:03 pm UTC

It doesn't take months -

dog_welder, 2006-08-04 08:04 pm UTC

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dutch_gamer, 2006-08-04 09:30 pm UTC

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kajex, 2006-08-05 04:34 am UTC

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gabrielcelesta, 2006-08-05 12:24 am UTC

	cyn1c42 2006-08-04 06:18 pm UTC (link)
	lovely how movies, music, and books are completely more graphic and ignored (Reply to this) (Thread)

	anticron 2006-08-04 06:49 pm UTC (link)
	Silly. Content previous to 1982 doesn't cause murder. (Reply to this) (Parent)

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zewrestler, 2006-08-04 06:54 pm UTC

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terminator44, 2006-08-05 01:38 am UTC

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kajanga, 2006-08-06 07:52 pm UTC

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zewrestler, 2006-08-07 04:06 am UTC

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ianc14, 2006-08-04 07:47 pm UTC

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typhoid, 2006-08-04 08:55 pm UTC

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junaos, 2006-08-04 10:04 pm UTC

	darthfracas 2006-08-04 06:34 pm UTC (link)
	Perhaps not surprisingly, Stearns, Matheson, and McIntyre are all running for re-election in November. "what's the quickest, easiest, cheapest way to win votes?" as for playing the game in it's entirety, raise your hand if you've put at least 40 hours into Oblivion and not finished more than 3 quests in the main plot line. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	dustin1986 2006-08-05 04:35 am UTC (link)
	There's a main plot line? (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

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terminator44, 2006-08-05 02:34 pm UTC

	anticron 2006-08-04 06:47 pm UTC (link)
	- Rating games on only partial content: Unlike the present system, the ESRB would be forced to play games in their entirety No. Completely unreasonable. If this clause exists, the second claus is nullified by virtue of a thorough play-through, and frankly, the second clause is the more important of the two. The other two are good, though, and I can't disagree with them. (Reply to this)

Using GAO?!

timed95
2006-08-04 06:53 pm UTC (link)

Using GAO to investigate a non-governmental agency? Why wouldn't they set the FTC on them? Why aren't they?

I'd hate to bring out my conspiracy cap so early in the morning but I believe this is a wild goose chase and the capabilities of GAO can be used in better ways. I've never heard of this happening before.

This move is a cheapening of the GAO and they should be ashamed of themselves.

(Reply to this)

	brainswarm 2006-08-04 07:02 pm UTC (link)
	How many people here have put hundreds of hours into Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion? Of those people, how many have seen everything in the game? Will this mean months of delays because Rockstar made the next GTA game three times as large as San Andreas, and the ESRB raters are still trying to find the last hidden package in case it unlocks Hot Coffee: Second Cup? (Reply to this) (Thread)

One thing is clear.

cecil475
2006-08-04 09:16 pm UTC (link)

And it's that the more realistic looking these games get the more complaints they will get. I dont thin many complained agout NES and to a point SNES (other than it's a waste of time becuase in my day...) The characters didn't look too realistic. Then Mortal Kombat and Doom (amoung others ended up on the SNES at the middle to the end of its run as well as on the Genesis made the anti-gamers really complain. The Next systems were 3D games which was more realistic and produced one of the most complained about games out there, GTA. But the more realistic looking the games get the more antigamers (Like Jack Thompson) will try to make people believe that pressing a R1 + O on a controller can accurately teach a child how to properly use any firearm on other children.

- Warren Lewis

title or description

cecil475@earthlink.net

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Fun with wording...

andrew_eisen
2006-08-04 07:11 pm UTC (link)

Improvements are always welcome but we seem to be attempting to fix that which isn’t broken.

Play the entire game – not feasible or necessary.

Withholding content to obtain a specific rating – never been a problem in the past.

Gross mischaracterization of content – again, never been a problem in the past.

Check this out:

...unless such person or entity has reviewed the content of the video or computer game in its entirety.

the term ‘‘content’’, with respect to video and computer games, means all of the visual images and sounds that are included as part of the recorded data of the video or computer game;

So, a compellation video of animation routines and sound clips would qualify as reviewing a game in its entirety. Cool. At least that’s somewhat feasible if borderline ridiculous.

Andrew Eisen

(Reply to this)

This would freeze the industry for years...

illspirit
2006-08-04 07:27 pm UTC (link)

Does this mean the ESRB will need to train their staff for a few years on each game (or game engine) to pick them apart for hidden content? Cuz it took us three years of working with the GTA3D engine to even know how to look for anything. After that, it still took us another 4 or 5 months to find HC. To say this could delay game releases would be an understatement....

So, yea, should this pass and survive a court challenge (haha), one should expect the first PS3 games to ship just in time for the PS4 launch. Why, it would almost be like every game is Duke Nukem Forever!

And wtf is up with HR 5345? Has that ever been posted here before? It's the scariest piece of legislation yet. :S

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: This would freeze the industry for years... gamepolitics 2006-08-04 07:43 pm UTC (link)
	we mentioned earlier this year that Matheson was going to be proposing a bill. He slipped it in during E3 week. We have been planning some coverage. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Re: This would freeze the industry for years... -

illspirit, 2006-08-04 08:54 pm UTC

Re: This would freeze the industry for years... -

kajex, 2006-08-05 04:36 am UTC

	jythie 2006-08-04 07:27 pm UTC (link)
	Perhaps not surprisingly, Stearns, Matheson, and McIntyre are all running for re-election in November. Given how often this explination for bad laws comes up, I am starting to understand the shift in fiction where republics are being portrayed the 'lower' forms of government. (Reply to this)

	garbagepa1lk1d 2006-08-04 07:29 pm UTC (link)
	Someone with more legal knowledge than me, please educate me on the constitutionality of this one. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Constitutionality is... zero_beat_x 2006-08-07 03:34 am UTC (link)
	0%. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Hmmmm.... -

gamepolitics, 2006-08-13 05:04 pm UTC

crimson_mage
2006-08-04 07:32 pm UTC (link)

This is the most interesting effort I have seen to date ...

I think this guy has finally gotten it right. While I wish the ESRB would take these steps on its own, I'm not opposed to the feds ensuring that it happens. Are there constitutional issues? ... eeesh. I don't know. Could be.

But as to the feasibility of the requirements ...

Even with a game like Oblivion. You hire 20 gamers, you pay them, they each start playing the game intensively. They keep informed of what the others are doing so they can spread out their efforts and cover the most content in the shortest time. Maybe a week is tacked on to the rating process. Maybe two weeks. Fine.

Would you be willing to wait two extra weeks on the the release of every video game in order that we never have to go through a Hot Coffee incident again? I would.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

dog_welder
2006-08-04 08:16 pm UTC (link)

Okay, if you pay 20 gamers to play Oblivion 40 hours a week for 2 weeks, even with extensive communication to make sure they've seen everything, there's still a pretty good chance they won't see everything. What then? How long do they play to make sure everything is seen and how will they know when everything has been seen?

And you can extend this into other games, many of which include Easter Eggs (well, might as well kiss those goodbye at this point).

And what about MMO games that are constantly updating their content? Do they need to be rerated and replayed in their entireties, or should that just be the new content? As an example, City of Heroes/Villains just added dozens and dozens of hours of new content with their latest content patch? Where does that fall?

And that brings us to Hot Coffee. Even if the ESRB had gone through the system and played GTA: San Adreas all the way through and saw every knook and cranny of the game, they still would NOT have found Hot Coffee. Why? Because it needed a mod to unlock it. This is taken care of in the 2nd part of the law, but the ESRB would still not have seen it.

I have a better idea. How about the ESRB just disband and have the U.S. Government do all of the game rating! I'm sure they'd do just as good a job as they do with the federal budget.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

(no subject) -

illspirit, 2006-08-04 09:03 pm UTC

muhammed
2006-08-04 07:37 pm UTC (link)

This is by far the most wasteful Act I've seen in a while. The time they spend on this could be better spent elsewhere. I'm continually amazed by the heat the ESRB takes. They have virtually the exact same system as the MPAA with the exception of rating games based on the most extreme content and the names of the ratings themselves.

This Act will fall apart simply based on the fact that he wants the GAO to investigate the ESRB. As has already been pointed out, that ain't what they do. The FTC would've been his only choice there. Even if he did, what would they find? Just that the ESRB functions perfectly. They fine publishers who decieve them and in the case of the only two re-ratings they acted fairly swiftly.

Unfortunately Stearns is in the 6th district which isn't mine. Gainseville is in that district, which explains a lot.

(Reply to this)

Universal ratings system?

father_time89
2006-08-04 07:48 pm UTC (link)

Why is he bothering with that? He knows it will never happen and it will become a huge pain if it did let's take for example scenario A.

All forms of media are replaced with a new system of ratings. That means the government now has to educate the public on it's new ratings system and explain why G PG13 and R aren't better then whatever rating system they come up with.

Scenario B, they take an existing rating system and apply it to all forms of media, I think it would be very confusing to have games rated G, Pg13 and R, or movies rated E T and M, doing this would also mean that you might have to change the meaning of some ratings across different media forms, for example how would you differentiate a G and PG movie using game ratings? And where would e10 fit with movies, not to mention the musci industry which has only 1 rating (parental advisory explicit lyrics).

And another thing if every media form gets the same rating system then they would all have to be rated by the same company making an even big pain in the rear. There is also the matter of the thousands upon thousands of games, movies, and whatnot who are already rated by the Ersb or whatever rates movies. If this comes into place does that mean they would have to go back and re-rate everything that's already been out or will they just change the ratings to their new equivalent. Either way going back and re-rating all the old games and movies that are still in stores is going to cost a lot and who do you expect to pay for it? The other option is to leave the movies and games with all their old ratings meaning that if you ever want to buy an old game you have to learn ye olde ratings system.

(Reply to this)

Contradicting self-ownage

father_time89
2006-08-04 07:56 pm UTC (link)

Ok so the game makers are supposed to withhold info and the ESRB is suppose dot play through the whole thing, doesn't anyone else see some overkill in this (so to speak). Think of it this way why would the ESRB play a game instead of watching clips that were provided to them by the game makers? To make sure they aren't hiding anything. But wait now game makers aren't allowed to hide anything. So gonig through a game to find hidden material that a game maker is not allowed to have is a complete waste of time. Why not just show them clips like before now that it's a federal crime to hide material. Guess some politicians don't think things all the way through.

(Reply to this)

In case anyone is wondering about this GAO stuff...

andrew_eisen
2006-08-04 08:00 pm UTC (link)

http://www.gao.gov/about/what.html

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an agency that works for Congress and the American people. Congress asks GAO to study the programs and expenditures of the federal government. GAO, commonly called the investigative arm of Congress or the congressional watchdog, is independent and nonpartisan. It studies how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars. GAO advises Congress and the heads of executive agencies (such as Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, Department of Defense, DOD, and Health and Human Services, HHS) about ways to make government more effective and responsive. GAO evaluates federal programs, audits federal expenditures, and issues legal opinions. When GAO reports its findings to Congress, it recommends actions. Its work leads to laws and acts that improve government operations, and save billions of dollars.

Hint: The ESRB is not the federal government.

Andrew Eisen

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: In case anyone is wondering about this GAO stuff... typhoid 2006-08-04 08:23 pm UTC (link)
	Thank you, that cleared up a lot of my confusion. (Reply to this) (Parent)

Re: In case anyone is wondering about this GAO stuff... -

muhammed, 2006-08-04 08:26 pm UTC

	silly question. neolube 2006-08-04 08:12 pm UTC (link)
	So does the whole "gross mischaracterization" also mean that MMO's would have to get a bump up in its rating based on the fact that "mature" themes sometimes come up in general chat? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: silly question. pixelante_ninja 2006-08-05 06:10 am UTC (link)
	No because on every game you can go online with it has the notice saying that content may change when going online or something like that. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	gone! l0que 2006-08-04 08:29 pm UTC (link)
	If this passes, the game industry is gone. Shutdown. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: gone! boffo97 2006-08-04 09:11 pm UTC (link)
	You're right, so the game industry will fight it on the basis that it has the direct effect of killing freedom of speech. And win. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

Re: gone! -

jowmagian, 2006-08-05 03:53 pm UTC

Re: gone! -

terminator44, 2006-08-05 06:57 pm UTC

Re: gone! -

boffo97, 2006-08-05 07:39 pm UTC

automancer
2006-08-04 09:05 pm UTC (link)

While I find this an interesting approach, the majority of this act doesn't sound very feaseable, like a majority of you have already pointed out playing a game in it's entirety in many cases is a futile task. What this tells me is that Congress appears to be filled with people who know very little about video games. I'll bet they think all games are short enough to complete in one sitting. They have put this together with limited knowledge of video games in general.

-Auto

(Reply to this)

Multi FAIL

yukimurasanada
2006-08-04 09:32 pm UTC (link)

Just to chill you all out, lemme give you a quick run down of why Both Bills are fuckzored.

1. HR 5345: Puts force of law behind ESRB ratings, AUTO Fail: 14 amendment, 1st amendment, common sense.

2.HR 5912: attempts to force government control on Private entity that judges and verifys content: Auto fail 1st amendment, 14 amendment. Does not apply same standards to other media, Auto fail Equal Protection under law clause.

Totaly chance of either bill survivings constitutional Challenge? 0.0 Percent.

Thank you for playing, we have some loving parting gifts for Chairman Rep. Cliff Stearns, including a dunce cap, a smack to the face with a cricket bat for acting like a braindead zombie, and hopefully, a swift legal beatdown by the ESA.

There now, will all of you Calm down.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: Multi FAIL

illspirit
2006-08-04 11:11 pm UTC (link)

Don't stop there. 5912 also violates the 4th, as it would inevitably require developers provide access to their source code and stuff, thereby being an unreasonable search of their private (albeit intellectual) property without probable cause. Hell, the whole search for hidden content itself is without probable cause. Therein, it also violates the 5th, as it would require them to incriminate themselves should there be anything in the source they didn't declare.

Next, it violates the 6th, as searching through an entire game isn't exactly a speedy trial. Nor is it being done with any charges against them. And let's face it, this law would essentially turn the ratings process into a criminal trial, seeing as there are fines and stuff should they be found "guilty" by the ESRB. As such, it's also violating the 7th, as the ESRB is not a jury.

Not so sure if it violates the 8th. Although, the whole thing is excessive and unusual. And, of course, as you said, it violates like everything in the 1st and 14th. Seems laughable that Congress would even think they could have (or give) this power given Article I, but, then again, they piss all over that all the time.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

This issue ignores party lines

verbinator
2006-08-04 09:41 pm UTC (link)

Chances are, I would agree with most of Representative Stearns points of view on the world (his views as expressed on his website Q&A pretty much fall in line with mine). Were he my representative, I would, under other circumstances, be compelled to vote for him. But based on this hounding of a non-issue as a means to make himself look even more pro-family than he probably already is, I would recommend that the voters of Florida not return him to office.

The game industry and its trade organization are doing a fine job of making sure content is rated appropriately. If anything, the ratings rules currently in place are causing game companies to remove or tone down content to make it more audience appropriate.

As noted earlier, the GAO apparently has no jurisdiction regarding the ESRB, which is part of a trade organization, not the government. The sponsors of this bill should know that. That's part of their job. Funding studies to determine whether underage children can buy M-rated games is yet another way to grow government and waste taxpayer money one something that pales when compared to world terrorism issues or the future of energy production and use in this country.

Guys and Gals in Congress, we have far more important issus that need your attention. If you can't get re-elected based on your standings on those issues, perhaps you don't belong in office.

'nuff said.

(Reply to this)

	Forget "Truth in Video Game ratings" terminator44 2006-08-04 10:35 pm UTC (link)
	Where the fuck is the "Truth in politiking" act? I for one would like to see a law against bending the truth like these idiots do on a regular basis. (Reply to this)

jdmdsp911
2006-08-04 11:01 pm UTC (link)

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

whether content ratings systems should be peered-reviewed; whether an independent ratings system would be better

Based on these 2 quotes, if this new mark of stupidity passes, does that mean that we will have to wait 8 years instead of 4 to play games like Kingdom Hearts 3 due to having to wait for someone to get through "everything" just to rate it? What about a game like Oblivion. If we had to wait for the ESRB to completely play through Oblivion before it shipped We would be playing it on the XBOX 1440 or something like that.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

ss_ebonclaw
2006-08-05 04:36 am UTC (link)

Funny thing. Even of GTA and Oblivion were played through 100% with everything done and seen, they would have both still been passed through as they were, only to be hit up after, because the content was locked away in a method that required an external program to access.

Meaning, the content wasn't in the game, it was on the disc. It took external apps to access it and insert it into the game.

In any case, this is a whole load of bull, because it wouldn't fly.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Here's a better idea...

nightwng2000
2006-08-04 11:03 pm UTC (link)

"Truth in Legislation Act"

Government officials and any witnesses during any legislative process/hearing should be required to be bound by the Oath (Swear to Tell the Truth, The Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth). Any provable violation of that oath won't be a charge of purjury but rather Fraud.

As defined by dictionary.law.com, Fraud is, in part:
"the intentional use of deceit, a trick or some dishonest means to deprive another of his/her/its money, property or a legal right."

Since a legislative process/hearing is used for the protection or creation of bills to protect the rights of individuals, then clearly lying during such a process/hearing would be an act of Fraud to deprive individuals of legal rights.

A year in prison for every lie. There ya go! And that includes self-appointed "experts" and other witnesses.

Even though the above is clearly not even a rough draft, I can hear the politicians scream "NO NO! That violates our Freedom of Speech! We have the Right to lie and deceive!"

nightwng2000

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	Re: Here's a better idea... illspirit 2006-08-04 11:31 pm UTC (link)
	Screw that. Any legislator found guilty of lying under your proposed oath in an attempt to subvert the Constitution should be then tried for Treason. Or, at the very least, federal criminal charges for trying to deprive people of their civil rights while acting under the Color of Law. (Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)