Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Joe Lieberman escalated their efforts today to pass the [i]Family Entertainment Protection Act[/i].
?I have developed legislation that will 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,? said Senator Clinton.
In today?s press release, Senator Clinton says that video games are fun and entertaining and that she does not support any limitations on the production or sale of games to adults, but says that her and Senator Lieberman?s proposal is about protecting children.
The centerpiece of this bill is the restriction of sales or rentals of Mature, Adults-Only, or Ratings Pending video games to minors. California, Michigan, and Illinois have recently enacted video game legislation along these lines. Senator Clinton?s bill would also require an annual independent analysis of the ESRB and their rating practices. What group will be in charge of this oversight was not mentioned, nor what steps would be sanctioned if this group found the ESRB to be deficient.
Also, the Federal Trade Commission would be required to investigate game production and content directly to ensure that hidden code, like that found in GTA: San Andreas, is not a pervasive problem in the industry. Again, it was not mentioned what actions, or limitations on developers, would be taken or allowed if such a pervasive problem was found.
The press release containing information on the proposed bill can be found [a]http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=249368&&[aa]HERE.[/a]