Law Would Enforce ESRB Game Ratings

While game developers and retailers have, for the most part, voluntarily fallen in line with the Entertainment Software Rating Board  (ESRB) in branding adult games and restricting their sale to minors, some on Capitol Hill still feel Uncle Sam should play enforcer. A new bill before Congress would mandate ID-checking with the sale of M- and AO-rated video games, and slap $5,000 penalties on retailers who fail to comply.

The Video Games Ratings Enforcement Act, introduced on Wednesday by Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE) and Jim Matheson (D-UT), aims to preserve the existing ESRB rating system, but to pile the weight of the law behind it. Besides forcing retailers to check ID with adult game sales, the law would require them to post charts within their stores explaining the ratings to parents.

“Too many children are spending too much time playing inappropriate video games that most parents would find shocking and objectionable,” said Matheson in a statement.  “As a parent, I know that I’m the first line of defense against my kids playing Mature-rated video games. But parents can’t be everywhere monitoring everything and some reasonable, common sense rules ought to be in place to back parents up.”

Although previous attempts at regulating video game sales through law, including a similar attempt introduced by Matheson, have failed, the sponsoring congressmen hope the latest version will skirt the issue of defining objectionable content by leaving it up to the ESRB.