The first bill, in an attempt to tighten regulations governing the video game industry, has been introduced to the floor of the House of Representatives earlier this week by Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT). The bill is known as H.R. 287 or the Video Games Ratings Enforcement Act and this is basically what it boils down to:
1) To ship, distribute, sell or rent games that have not been rated by the ESRB would be deemed illegal.
2) Retailers would be required to display ESRB ratings chart so parents can easily see how the games are ranked and what is age appropriate for their children.
3) If you try to sell, or actually sell, an “Adults Only” or “Mature” game to a minor, you can face a fine of up to $5,000 USD.
Now this piece of legislation may not sound bad, but it seems like this is a little premature. This is basically criminalizing video games before anything can be proven one way or the other. Let us know what you think below, is this legislation fair?