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| Long title | Family Entertainment Protection Act |
|---|---|
| Acronyms (colloquial) | FEPA |
| Announced in | the 109th United States Congress |
| Sponsored by | Hillary Clinton (D-NY) |
| Number of co-sponsors | 3 |
| Legislative history | |
| |
The United States Family Entertainment Protection Act (FEPA) was a failed bill introduced by Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and co-sponsored by Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT), Tim Johnson (D-SD) 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.[1]
The FEPA would have imposed fines of US$1000 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 also called for a FTC investigation into the ESRB to ascertain whether they have been properly rating games.[2]
Similar bills have been passed in some U.S. states such as California, Michigan and Illinois, but were ruled to be unconstitutional[3] in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Ass'n, 564 U.S. 08–1448 (2011).
This bill did not become law; it was referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation and expired at the end of the 109th Congress without further action.[4]
- ^ "Senators Clinton, Lieberman Announce Federal Legislation to Protect Children from Inappropriate Video Games". Archived from the original on July 31, 2008. Retrieved December 18, 2005.
- ^ GameSpot. "Game-restriction bill submitted to congress". Archived from the original on December 19, 2005. Retrieved December 18, 2005.
- ^ Patrick R. Byrd. "It's All Fun And Games Until Someone Gets Hurt: The Effectiveness Of Proposed Video-Game Legislation On Reducing Violence In Children" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
- ^ Govtrack.us. "S. 2126 [109th]: Family Entertainment Protection Act". Retrieved 2007-08-31.