Recreational Software Advisory Council Blasts Potential New Rating System For U.S. Television

Decision to Use Age-Based Rating System for Television Rates `Zero' With Leading Content-Advisory System Provider

Lexington, MA, December 4, 1996 _ The Recreational Software Advisory Council (RSAC), a leading provider of content advisory ratings systems for the computer game industry and Internet, today blasted the potential adoption of an age-based ratings system to categorize TV programs in the U.S. Leading industry experts also voiced their concerns over the reported decision to forego a rating system that provides some level of content-based information.

Recent news leaks to the press have indicated that television industry executives have agreed to adopt an age-based system based primarily on the categories used by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for new movies. Currently, the MPAA uses letters and numbers such as G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 - with a corresponding age restriction associated with each -- to indicate a television program's suitability for viewers. Whereas this kind of broad age-based ratings system makes judgments about who should and should not be exposed to certain material by virtue of their age, a content-based system gives consumers specific detail regarding programming content that allows them to ultimately make the final decision about what is best, or most appropriate, to view.

"We are very disappointed by the indications that the TV ratings system will be an age-based system like the movies, despite numerous expert opinions that clearly indicate that some amount of content-labeling and rating would be desirable," commented Stephen Balkam, executive director of RSAC. "The decision to implement an age-based system denies consumers the ability to make an informed choice when determining what TV entertainment is appropriate for their children."

"My concern is that we're under-utilizing this technology," commented V-chip inventor, Tim Collings, Professor of Engineering at Simon Frasier University in Canada. "Today's consumers want technology to provide them with information, and not just opinion, which is what they get with an age-based system. Consumers want technology to allow them to decide for themselves what kind of content is appropriate instead of having some arbitrary organization make that decision for them."

Collings also noted that news of the potential U.S. adoption of an age-based TV ratings system will have ramifications on the current hybrid content- and age-based rating system now in place in Canada.

A survey conducted last month by the National PTA, the Institute for Mental Health Initiatives and researchers from the University of Wisconsin revealed that parents want TV ratings that provide information about the content of a program's sex, violence and language, rather than merely indicating whether a program is suitable for children and teens of specific ages. The results of this study were forwarded to the TV industry panel devising the rating system for TV.

"The best kind of ratings describe, but don't judge information," said Joel Federman, Co-director of the Center for Communications and Social Policy at the University of California at Santa Barbara and author of the industry's standard reference text in the field of media ratings, Media Ratings: Design, Use and Consequences. "For example, a `PG-13' or `R' rating makes a judgment about whether a film or TV show is appropriate for certain child-aged audiences. But, what is appropriate for some families may not be for others. A typical conservative will tend to have very different viewing preferences concerning violence, language and sex than an average liberal. A less judgmental approach to ratings would allow very different consumers to make choices appropriate to their own values and tastes."

"The decision to go with an age-based system does a disservice to consumers because it keeps them from the very information they need, providing them only with another's judgment. All research to-date indicates this is precisely what consumer don't want," commented Dr. Donald F. Roberts, Chairman of the Communications Department at Stanford University and RSAC Board Member. "Research also indicates that children use ratings to identify those movies they'd like to see - arguably those that they're not supposed to - so there's a kind of forbidden fruit effect. In this sense, children probably pay more attention to ratings than adults. By contrast, content-based systems instead provide detailed information that lets both children and parents make their own decision."

A leading provider of content-advisory rating systems for computer games and the Internet since 1994, RSAC is an independent, non-profit organization based in Lexington, Massachusetts, that empowers the public, especially parents, to make informed decisions about electronic media by means of an open, objective, content advisory system. RSAC's system provides consumers with information about the level of sex, nudity, violence, offensive language (vulgar or hate-motivated) in software games and Web sites.