Video game aficionados might have to enter a credit card or find another way to verify their age before playing a networked game, thanks to a new push from advocacy groups who say they want to protect minors from in-game advertising messages. Not only young children are at risk, but the FTC "should seek ways to provide protections to teens," the coalition recommends.
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, has claimed that "Grand Theft Auto 3 portrays the brutal murder of women, minorities, the elderly, and police officers."
Video games can contribute to "physical and mental-health problems," the American Academy of Pediatrics has warned.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that older minors do enjoy First Amendment rights of their own. In general, the justices ruled in a 1975 case, speech "cannot be suppressed solely to protect the young from ideas or images that a legislative body thinks unsuitable. In most circumstances, the values protected by the First Amendment are no less applicable when government seeks to control the flow of information to minors."
Free speech advocates--the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology, and Szoka's group--have assailed expanding the scope of existing federal regulations that cover minors younger than 13 who use the Internet.
Gamers release personal information when registering their accounts. In addition, behavior is tracked as they play games.
Read more here.
