News: FTC studying minors in online games - Report

[News Bot]

Federal lawyers scrutinizing access to adult content in MMO games for Congressional report due in December.



The last piece of gaming legislation seeking to limit minors' access to games was vetoed by the governor of Utah, but lawmakers haven't taken their eyes off of the issue of children and gaming entirely. According to a report on Virtual Worlds News, the Federal Trade Commission is set to deliver a report to Congress on the issue this December.


The FTC wants to find out if any kids are crashing this hot-tub party.


The study is intended to inform lawmakers on what types of content are accessible to minors in online worlds such as Habbo Hotel and Second Life, and what the operators of those worlds are doing to limit that access. The article suggests that the report will also include recommendations to Congress on how to address the issue.

The author of the article, Virtual Worlds News editor Joey Seiler, says he told the attorneys that the danger of virtual worlds relative to other online activities was "minimal," noting that age-verification steps can often be circumvented. And though that holds true for online games, it also is the case for hardcore pornography sites, and any other online destination inappropriate for children.

"That's not to say there aren't legitimate concerns and that more companies should follow [Second Life developer Linden Labs'] example and take proactive measures, but I think I'm right that the danger of virtual worlds is minimal compared to other online properties," Seiler said.


Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"FTC studying minors in online games - Report" was posted by Brendan Sinclair on Tue, 12 May 2009 14:34:31 -0700


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[Ze-Tomb]

Once again, people are limting the amount of things that can be veiwed by minors, but like it or not, minors will see what they want to no matter what, now, or later when it is actually legal for them to.

[Vitas Antronius]

Ze - I understand that Aussies are much less "uptight" about sexuality as a normal human activity (which it is.) However, this topic isn't about normal human sexuality.

Online venues have no legal borders per se and pedophiles have been known to spend tons of money to do whatever it takes to get at the children that they want to destroy.

Which means that the USA crafts such laws (that this article is about) to protect children from these predators.

If there is a better solution than the OP then I'm sure it will be considered - however, I'm not sure there is a really good solution to this scourge.

In the case of 2L, I have witnessed 'child' avatars on the adult grid. Whether it was an adult playing a child or a real child... I didn't get close enough to see if I could tell. But it doesn't really matter - role-playing a child for the purposes of sexual activity is sick regardless.

This was after LL supposedly instituted steps to stop pedophilia on the adult grid.



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