14 DAY TRIAL // The scandal around the sex scenes in GTA San Andreas has been the subject of many articles, analyses, opinions, debates and so on. It has passed beyond the border of simple problem of morality, and became something of a national problem in the United States. We?ve kept you updated, since the scandal broke out, on the latest developments on this issue, but there is one element that we haven?t fully approached, and that?s exactly the subject of this article.
You?ve probably heard about ESRB, one of the most important institutions involved in this case, and about the fact that, in the end, following the pressure it has been subjected to by the politicians, media and so on, it had to change the rating of GTA San Andreas from Mature to Adults Only. But, in order to see whether the ESRB is as guilty as some say (like attorney Jack Thompson, but he?s picking on everybody, so this is not the best of examples), we should know some more about this group?s activity and the way it rates the video games.
What is ESRB
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is an independent rating system which was established in September of 1994 by the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), the leading trade association for the interactive entertainment software industry. The ESRB is a voluntary rating system which was developed to give parents and consumers information about the content of video and computer games so that they can make informed purchase and rental decisions. As of January 1998, the ESRB has rated over 5,000 titles submitted by over 300 publishers, making it by far the leading entertainment software rating system in the country and the only one which has rated software for all platforms, including personal computers, CD-ROMS and video game cartridge consoles.
On July 29, 1994, the ESRB rating system was presented to Congress and the media and received a great deal of praise. Senator Joseph Lieberman characterized the ESRB rating system as the "most comprehensive system of any entertainment medium in this country." More recently Senators Lieberman and Cole and the National PTA released a report card assessing industry progress in establishing rating systems and gave the industry an "A" for creating the ESRB rating system.
How the ESRB Works
The ESRB rating system is based on the prior review of actual product content and other materials by three raters randomly chosen from a pool of over 100 demographically diverse individuals from all walks of life. All raters undergo extensive training. These raters assign a rating and appropriate content descriptors after reviewing a range of materials including the most extreme content of the product. Thus, ESRB ratings represent the views of typical consumers with no ties to the industry, exercising their independent judgment on how a title should be rated.
The ESRB has five age-based rating categories, and is unique in that it also supplements the ratings with short phrases, called descriptors, which further explain the content of the product. The rating categories are: Early Childhood (ages 3+), Kids to Adults (ages 6+) (effective 1/1/98 the K-A icon will be changed to "E" for Everyone), Teen (ages 13 +), Mature (ages (17 +), and Adults Only (limited to those ages 18 and older). The descriptors fall into several categories, including: violent content, sexual themes, language, and others such as drug use and alcohol use. No other rating system provides both age and content information to consumers.
The ESRB rating system is informative, user friendly, and has been applied to interactive entertainment software products available on all platforms. The ratings and descriptors are clear and easily understandable and are displayed on packaging and in advertising. The ISDA has adopted an Advertising Code of Conduct which establishes mandatory rules governing the use of rating icons and content descriptors. The Advertising Code of Conduct addresses the size, color and placement of icons and content descriptors on packaging and in television and print advertising.
What happens when politicians get involved
For the time being, there is no federal law regarding the video games. However, some states have already passed some bills on the subject, as the Californian one introduced by Assemblyman Leland Yee. But this type of action could expand to a federal level, since one of the most important political figures involved in this whole scandal, namely Senator Hillary Clinton, has decided to author a bill to create a federal law that would "put some teeth into video game ratings? and "prohibit the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors", making such actions a federal offense. Clinton said the penalty for violating the law would be a mandatory $5,000 fine.
Clinton?s initiative strikes at the heart of what the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has long sought to avoid: federal oversight of game ratings and federal policing of sales to specific age groups based on those ratings.
The ESA's response to Clinton's proposed legislation was to claim the Senator's theories were based on flawed legal theory. "The legislation proposed by Senator Clinton is unconstitutional on its face as it amounts to government enacted restrictions on creative and artistic expression protected by the First Amendment," ESA president Douglas Lowenstein said in a statement, then adding that "this is not just our view, but the view of every Federal Court which has rendered final judgment on similar laws enacted by states in recent years, including appellate courts in the Seventh and Eighth Circuits, and the Western District United States District Court."
The ESA concluded that the Senator had the wrong set of goals, based on shaky legal grounds: "[W]hile we understand Senator Clinton's motivation, in the end her solution will never pass constitutional muster and thus will do nothing to help parents raise their kids," Lowenstein said.
It's up to Mom and Dad
Mr. Lowenstein does have a point, because, in the end, that?s what this is really all about. It doesn?t matter whether there is a law against some type of game or not. What really matters is the way in which parents decide to educate their children regarding these types of problems. The education every kid receives at home is much more important than some law, which won?t really prevent the kids from accessing whatever types of materials they want to. It?s all about making them understand the difference between the games? world and the real world, and this is not a task for the American Congress to carry out, but for each Mom and Dad across the world.