FEPA



The United States Family Entertainment Protection Act (FEPA)was a bill introduced by Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and co-sponsored by Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Tim Johnson (D-SDd) and Evan Bayh (D-IN) on November 29, 2005.

The bill called for a federal mandate enforcement of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) ratings system for video games in order to protect children from inappropriate content. The FEPA would have imposed fines of $1000 dollars or 100 hours of community service for a first time offense of selling a "Mature" or "Adult-Only" rated video game to a minor, and $5000 or 500 hours for each subsequent offense. The bill proposed several laws which were:

I. Prohibition on Selling Mature and Adults Only video games to minors
The centerpiece of this bill is a prohibition against any business for selling or renting a Mature, Adults-Only, or Ratings Pending game to a person who is younger than seventeen.

II. Annual Analysis of the Ratings System
Since the bill relies on the video game industry to continue rating the appropriateness of games for minors, this bill requires an annual, independent analysis of game ratings.

III. Authority for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to Investigate Misleading Ratings
This bill requires the FTC to conduct an investigation to determine whether what happened with GTA: San Andreas is a pervasive problem. It also includes a Sense of Congress that the Commission shall take appropriate action if it determines that there is a pervasive problem.

IV. Authority to Register Complaints
This bill requires the Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) of the FTC to ensure that consumers can file complaints if they find content to be misleading or deceptive and requires the BCP to report on the number of such complaints to Congress.

V. Annual Retailer Audit
This bill authorizes the FTC to conduct an annual, random audit of retailers – sometimes referred to as a secret shopper survey – to determine how easy it is for young people to purchase Mature and Adults Only video games and report the findings to Congress.

Result
Despite the heavy support to Hilary Clinton, mainly from parents and a few moral guardians, the bill did not become law and it was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and expired at the end of the 109th session of Congress without further action.