RSAC is an independent, non-profit organization that empowers the public, especially parents, to make informed decisions about electronic media, by means of an open, objective content advisory system. RSAC's mission is very simple: the empowerment of parents to make appropriate choices as to what their children see and experience on the Web and in computer games, while simultaneously protecting the rights of free speech of Internet participants and computer game makers. RSAC's open, objective content ratings system is used in both the computer software game market and on the Internet, and is actively involved in current US discussions about ratings for television, to be used in combination with the v-chip.

RSAC Origins: Computer Software Market

The original RSAC rating system was developed in September 1994 by a team of academics, psychologists and educators, in direct response to the threat of congressional legislation in the United States that sought to control the levels of violence in the computer game market.

The RSAC rating system used by the computer game market relies on a quick, easy-to-use questionnaire that runs through a series of highly specific questions about the level, nature and intensity of the nudity/sex, violence or offensive language found within a computer game. Once the questionnaire is completed and submitted to RSAC by the game's author, the system then generates an RSAC rating label to be adhered to the software game's packaging that uses specific symbols to indicate the level of potentially offensive content as well as providing more specific information about each category .

To date, RSAC has more than 400 rated titles with over 100 software game companies.

Rating on the Internet

Protecting Consumers And Free Speech RSAC decided to adapt its proven computer software ratings system to the Internet to create RSACi -- or RSAC on the Internet. Launched in February 1996, RSACi was developed in response to the passage of US federal legislation prohibiting the transmittal of offensive, or indecent, materials over the Internet, in order to provide consumers with objective detail regarding Web site content. RSACi was developed with the express intent of providing a simple, yet effective rating system for web sites which protect both children, by providing and empowering parents with detailed information about site content, and the rights of free speech of everyone who publishes on the World Wide Web.

Parental Controls

Much like the physical labels that adorn the outside package of a computer game, RSAC's tried-and-tested content advisory system for the Internet is one that is easily understood and set by parents at either the browser level (e.g., using Microsoft's Internet Explorer 3.0) or blocking device (e.g., using MicroSystems Software's CyberPatrol). Parents, educators and other interested individuals are able to physically SET THE LEVELS at the growing number of browsers and software devices that read the RSACi labels to indicate where they draw the line at offensive content they wish to have their children experience on the Internet.

Protecting Free Speech

RSACi is an enthusiastic member of a number of initiatives that would support the protection of free speech on the Web, working closely with PICS (the Platform for Internet Content Selection), in support of the PICS standard format which allows the RSACi rating system to be read by browsers and selection software around the world.

RSACi is a fully-automated, paperless system that relies on a quick, easy-to-use questionnaire that the Web master completes at RSAC's home page. The questionnaire runs through a series of highly specific questions about the level, nature and intensity of the sex, nudity, violence or offensive language (vulgar or hate-motivated) found within the Web master's site. Once completed, the questionnaire is then submitted electronically to the RSAC Web Server, which tabulates the results and produces the html advisory tags that the Web master then places on their Web site/page. A standard Internet browser, or blocking device that has been configured to read the RSACi system can recognize these tags, enabling parents who use the browser to either allow or restrict their children's access to any single rating or combination of ratings.

To date, RSACi is a recognized rating system used by such leading browser and blocking software solutions as Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0, CyberPatrol, and SurfWatch, with others to be announced in the coming days and weeks.