Doug Lowenstein, the president of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), has made his official response to the Family Entertainment Protection Act unveiled yesterday by senators Hillary Clinton and Joe Lieberman.
In the carefully worded and largely non-confrontational statement Lowenstein claims that the ESA "...shares Senator Clinton’s commitment to effective enforcement of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings by retailers, and we appreciate the fact that she has sought to draft a more thoughtful proposal in this area than most others."
However, Lowenstein also indicates that the ESA strongly opposes the bill, believing the that existing ESRB ratings, parental education, voluntary retail enforcement of ESRB ratings and recent announcements that all next generation video game consoles will include parental control systems makes the bill unnecessary.
"There is now a continuum of tools from the store to the home enabling parents to take charge of the video games their kids play. It is now up to them to do their jobs as they see fit, not up to government to do it for them", states Lowenstein.
Lowenstein goes on to maintain that the bill is unconstitutional, on the grounds that it would give a private party governmental powers as well as infringing the creative rights of the video games industry. His statement ends by again implying that the bill’s attempt to enshrine the ESRB ratings in law is a vindication of the system's importance, and suggests that the ESA is keen to work together with Senator Clinton in the future.
