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Chrome Shack Community Guidelines Chatty Search
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First, I'm going to post the ESRB ARC section about age gates in reply.
Second, I'm going to ask the Shack what, if anything, they would change about age gating to make it work better.
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Trailers/demos/videos for "M" or "AO"-rated games (or “RP†games anticipated to receive a rating of "M" or "AO") can be placed for exhibition on the Internet only if the following conditions are met:
(1) the demo/trailer/video (or, at company’s option, the game website) is appropriately age-gated;
(2) the demo/trailer/video is not placed on websites where 45% or more of the visitors are under 17 years of age;
(3) the demo/trailer/video does not contain excessive or gratuitous content (see ARC Principles and Guidelines for Responsible Advertising at Section II, setting out types of content to be avoided when creating demos/trailers/videos); and
(4) when displaying a demo/trailer/video on a third-party website, a company must use its best efforts (as outlined below) to ensure that the third-party website displays a compliant age-gate. If the third party does not display a compliant age-gate, then the publisher must provide such third party with an edited version of the demo/trailer/video that is suitable for a general audience.
Please Note: If content is likely to cause serious or widespread offense to the average consumer, the fact that it was displayed behind an age-gate will not prevent ESRB from issuing an enforcement action for a violation of ARC Principles and Guidelines. ESRB strongly recommends that publishers pre-clear all trailers for games rated “M†and “AO†as well as “RP†trailers for games anticipated to be “M†or “AOâ€.
Please Note: If an online demo/trailer/video has a Rating Pending status and a company anticipates a Mature or Adults Only rating for that title, then the company must use an online age-gate before a consumer can access the Rating Pending demo/trailer/video.
a. Implementing an ARC-Compliant Age-Gate
Websites that provide online demos/trailers/videos for Mature-rated and Adults-Only-rated games must use an online "age-gate" before access is provided to a web user. The following guidelines for implementing the Age-Screen Rule are based on best practices recommended by the Federal Trade Commission in the context of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which, in certain circumstances, requires age verification before collecting information online from children. Companies are required to adhere to the following best practices to limit access of inappropriate content to children under the age of 17 (18 in the case of Adults-Only titles).
(i) Online age-gates must ask the age of the web user in a neutral manner and must employ reasonable steps to prevent users under the age of 17 (or 18) from changing their age to be older once they have initially been prevented access to the website.
(ii) Acceptable forms of age verification include inserting an age or date of birth field on the webpage where access is provided to a demo/trailer/video, or collecting credit card information in connection with a transaction prior to allowing access to the demo/ trailer/video. When asking for a user's age or date of birth, companies must provide either an open text field in which consumers can type their age or date of birth or a drop down bar with a full selection of ages or years.
(iii) Allowing the user to only enter their age starting with age 17 (or 18) is not permitted. In addition, categorical age verification is not permitted. This happens when a user is asked to select one of two categories (e.g., User Under 17 or Adults) or asked whether they were born “on or before†or “after†a certain date, leading the user to think that there's a significant difference in what they select. Similarly, check boxes, such as "Click here if you are at least 17 years old," are not acceptable.
(iv) As part of the neutral age-screening process, web sites cannot mention the minimum age required for access to the demo/trailer/video, either on the age-gate page itself or in a message appearing after age information has been submitted. Language such as "Error: You must be 17 years old or older to view" is not within the spirit of the Age-Screen Rule and is only likely to encourage a child to falsify his/her age. It is required that a company takes reasonable measures to prevent users from clicking back and re-entering an older age (e.g., redirecting the user to the homepage, dropping a session cookie or disabling the back button).
Please Note: Where a game has been assigned an “M†or “AO†rating, or where it is “Rating Pending,†the rating icon may not be displayed on the same page on which the age-gate appears. Rating information for “M†and “AO†games should be displayed only after a user has passed through the age gate.
b. “Best Efforts†in Connection with Age-Gates on Third-Party Websites
If a demo or trailer for a game rated “Mature†or “Adults Only,†or anticipated to receive a rating of “Mature†or “Adults Only,†is to be displayed on the website of an unrelated third party, over whom company exercises no control (e.g., a third-party that is not a co-publisher, licensee or agent), company must use its best efforts to ensure that the trailer or demo is displayed behind a compliant age-gate. Transmission of a standard form letter request, without further follow-up or subsequent efforts, may not be sufficient to qualify as “best efforts.â€
Please Note: When providing a demo or trailer to a third-party website, a company must use their best efforts to ensure that the third-party website displays a compliant age gate as outlined above. If the third party will not display a compliant age gate, then the demo or trailer must be suitable for a general audience and conform to the Principles and Guidelines. See Section II.
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