II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 568 

To prohibit deceptive conduct in the rating of video and computer games, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 13, 2007 

Mr. BROWNBACK introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To prohibit deceptive conduct in the rating of video and 

computer games, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Truth in Video Game 

5 Rating Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) CONTENT RATING.—The term ‘‘content rat9 ing’’ means any rating of the content of a video or 

10 computer game provided to notify an individual of 


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1 content in such video or computer game that may be 

2 offensive to an individual or may not be suitable for 

3 an individual of a certain age, including such con4 tent as violence, graphic sex, nudity, or strong lan5 guage. 

6 (2) HIDDEN CONTENT.—The term ‘‘hidden con7 tent’’ means any playable content of a video or com8 puter game that may be disabled or blocked from a 

9 user of such game so that it can be accessed only 

10 by inputting a code or command or by altering the 

11 software of such game with a modification, patch, or 

12 similar tool, utility, or method. 

13 (3) PLAYABLE CONTENT.—The term ‘‘playable 

14 content’’, with respect to a video or computer game, 

15 means any scene, visual image, sound, or word that 

16 a user of such game can access after installing the 

17 game on a computer, console, telecommunication de18 vice, or similar technology. 

19 (4) RATING ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘rating 

20 organization’’ means the Entertainment Software 

21 Ratings Board or any other independent organiza22 tion that assigns a content rating to a video or com23 puter game. 

24 (5) VIDEO OR COMPUTER GAME.—The term 

25 ‘‘video or computer game’’ means any product, 


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1 whether distributed electronically or through a tan2 gible device, consisting of data, programs, routines, 

3 instructions, applications, symbolic languages, or 

4 similar electronic information that enables a user of 

5 such product to interact with a computer-controlled 

6 virtual environment for entertainment purposes. 

7 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON DECEPTIVE RATINGS OF VIDEO 

8 GAMES. 

9 (a) RATING GAME ONLY ON PARTIAL CONTENT.— 

10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, effective 1 

11 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, a rating 

12 organization may not assign a content rating to any video 

13 or computer game that is to bear a label containing such 

14 content rating when sold or distributed in interstate com15 merce unless such rating organization has reviewed the 

16 playable content of the video or computer game in its en17 tirety. 

18 (b) WITHHOLDING CONTENT FOR RATING.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

20 provision of law, effective 1 year after the date of 

21 the enactment of this Act, a person who produces, 

22 sells, or otherwise distributes a video or computer 

23 game in interstate commerce, may not withhold or 

24 hide any playable content of such video or computer 

25 game from, or in any other manner fail to disclose 


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1 any playable content of such video or computer game 

2 to, a rating organization. 

3 (2) HIDDEN CONTENT.—Notwithstanding any 

4 other provision of law, effective 1 year after the date 

5 of the enactment of this Act, a person who, in the 

6 course of obtaining a content rating, submits to a 

7 rating organization a video or computer game that 

8 contains hidden content shall provide such rating or9 ganization with the necessary codes or methods of 

10 accessing such hidden content. 

11 (c) GROSS MISCHARACTERIZATION OF CONTENT.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

13 provision of law, effective 1 year after the date of 

14 the enactment of this Act, a rating organization may 

15 not provide a content rating that grossly 

16 mischaracterizes the content of a video or computer 

17 game. 

18 (2) GROSSLY MISCHARACTERIZE.—Not later 

19 than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this 

20 Act, the Federal Trade Commission shall promulgate 

21 regulations that define the term ‘‘grossly 

22 mischaracterizes’’, as such term is used in para23 graph (1). 


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1 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 

2 (a) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT OR PRACTICE.—A 

3 violation of a prohibition described in section 3 shall be 

4 treated as a violation of a rule defining an unfair or decep5 tive act or practice described under section 18(a)(1)(B) 

6 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

7 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

8 (b) ACTIONS BY THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS9 SION.—The Federal Trade Commission shall enforce the 

10 provisions of this Act in the same manner, by the same 

11 means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and duties 

12 as though all applicable terms and provisions of the Fed13 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were 

14 incorporated into and made part of this Act. 

15 SEC. 5. STUDY BY THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OF16 FICE. 

17 (a) STUDY.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

18 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of 

19 the United States shall conduct a study to determine the 

20 following: 

21 (1) The efficacy of the Entertainment Software 

22 Ratings Board ratings system in assigning appro23 priate content ratings to video and computer games, 

24 including ratings for online or Internet-based games. 


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1 (2) Whether content ratings systems, like that 

2 used by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board, 

3 should be peer-reviewed. 

4 (3) Whether an independent content ratings 

5 system, developed and administered by persons with 

6 no financial interest in the video or computer game 

7 industry, would result in more accurate and effective 

8 content ratings for video or computer games than 

9 the content rating system used by the Entertain10 ment Software Ratings Board. 

11 (4) The efficacy of a universal ratings system 

12 for visual content, including films, broadcast and 

13 cable television and video, and video or computer 

14 games. 

15 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

16 of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General shall 

17 submit to Congress a report on the findings of the study 

18 conducted pursuant to subsection (a). The report shall 

19 contain recommendations regarding effective approaches 

20 to content ratings that address the unique ratings chal21 lenges of online and Internet-based video games. 

Æ 


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