Posted on 02/14/2007 12:40:38 PM PST by JohnSheppard
A U.S. Senate Republican with presidential ambitions has renewed his push to slap new regulations on the video and computer game industry, including a ban on "deceptive" labels by ratings outfits.
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) on Tuesday reintroduced the Truth in Video Game Rating Act, first proposed last September. It calls for requiring video game rating organizations to play all games "in their entirety" before issuing labels and prohibiting game developers from withholding any "hidden" game content from raters. It would also punish ratings groups that "grossly mischaracterize" any game's content.
"The current video game ratings system is not as accurate as it could be because reviewers do not see the full content of games and do not even play the games they rate," Brownback, who is expected to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, said in a statement.
The proposed regulations represent another reaction to a high-profile scandal surrounding the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. In July 2005, reports surfaced that a readily downloadable modification could unlock sexually explicit scenes in the best-selling game, prompting bipartisan outcry from Capitol Hill and a federal investigation.
The Entertainment Software Association, which lobbies for the video game industry, did not respond to requests for comment about Brownback's bill on Wednesday. A representative for the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the video game industry's primary self-regulatory body, said the organization had no comment at this time.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...
How about banning deceptive politicians.
He oughta fit right in with the other nanny state RINOs running in 2008.
Cynical and lame.
Another elephant turns into a donkey. Well, maybe this will put an end to the debates here about evolution :-).
Go away Sam.
Wake me up in a year. Everybody now sucks. The ESRB has a very good system. Anyone who could access the "Hot Coffee" bit in GTA:SA could find porn 1000 times easier on the internet, no matter the filter. It wasn't something you could "stumble upon". You had to be seeking it out. And mod your system, if it was on a console. Never voting for this guy. Don't trust people who justify that their laws are "for the children" unless they're building a children's hospital or an orphanage.
Nanny state crap from the right is no better than nanny state crap from the left.
Jack Thompson, pick up the white courtesy phone!
Agree wholeheartedly. If I wanted my rights taken away to protect the children from "evil videogames" and such, I would have voted for Joe Lieberman.
With all of the serious issues facing the United States.This clown has nothing more to worry about than video games.What a dope.
Is this REALLY what we pay these people to do - think up new ways to torpedo our freedom and personal responsibility? The selection of a video game is up to the individual making the selection. If the cover shows lots of blood and body parts flying in all directions, it probably isn't a good choice for a 6 year-old.
I'm sick to death of nanny-staters and, if these people don't have anything better to do (like the responsibilities left them by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights), then here's a suggestion - GO HOME!!!! If Congress is out of the people's work in the middle of February, then Pelosi should adjourn the Congress so they can all GO HOME and get real jobs!!! In other words (let me be succinct here), GO HOME!!!!
More evidence for the following:
- Senators are useless
- No Senator should be permitted to run for POTUS
- Count on a politician to jump on any story involving sex if he can look righteous.
"And therefore we must take control of it.
By the way, Microsoft and Exxon are not as profitable as they could be, so we'll take those, as well.
And your children aren't as well-monitored as they could be, so we'll be doing that from now on.
In fact, the American economy is not as efficient as it could be, so we'll make every individual's purchasing options for them.
And weather forecasters aren't as accurate as they could be, so we'll be controlling the weather from now on, while we're at it."
"After all, we're from the government, and we're here to help."
Wasn't it Tipper Gore who pushed this rating system in the first place?
The fact that Brownback doesn't get this is a clear indication that he is a political nitwit.
Yes it was -- originally about music lyrics. Back then Gore was actually fairly conservative. IMHO one reason he now comes off as a phony continually trying to re-invent himself is that he decided to totally change his expressed views to get the 'rat nomination in 1988 and even more so in 2000. No wonder TN didn't vote for him in 2000.
Tipper took a lot of heat for her position, and I don't think the gummint should be that involved, but now there are a lot of voices decrying rap lyrics and they stemmed from some older lyrics that were also not particularly respectful of women.
Tipper's rating system allowed a industry that was once cautious about the content of their lyrics, to now put any graphic BS they want to on a record and simply put the "ADULT" label on it as a disclamer. It sort of backfired.
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