Research: Parents Want a Universal Ratings System for Entertainment

In the abstract, I can see the appeal of a universal content rating system--everyone only has to learn one system, and it could (in theory) be consistent across all forms of media.

When I consider applying the idea, however, it strikes me as...impractical, at best.

1) In order to provide sufficient detail to satisfy parental units, the system would have to be rather complex and unwieldy, because people have different standards for different media. A description of violence in a song is often perceived very differently from a graphic depiction of violence, for example. The actual "appropriate age" rating could remain fairly simple, but it would be even more arbitrary than in the current rating systems, and people would have to rely heavily on the fine-print reasons for the rating.

This is not an insurmountable problem, by any means, but it seems to somewhat undermine the advantages of consistency and simplicity of a single system.

2) A multi-industry ratings body would have to be formed to develop a consensus on proper ratings and apply them. The industries involved are often in direct competition with each other for entertainment dollars. I foresee extensive political jockeying and attempts to manipulate the system for the benefit of one media type or another, at the cost of fairness and validity in the ratings system itself.

3) The scope alluded to in the article is insane. You could probably overcome enough other hurdles to produce a system to cover games, movies, and music. After all, there are systems and rating bodies already in place for each, and they work reasonably well on their own. You could shoehorn them together somehow.

The real scope problem arises when you look at this bit: "web sites...and games played on handheld devices". Suddenly, we're not talking about the corporate media model the ratings bodies are designed to handle. We're talking about material that anyone can create and publish--personal blogs, games written by a lone programmer hacking around with a phone, photo sharing sites, and so forth. This is content being produced at an incredible pace, and which can change radically in a single day.

Who's going to review and rate it all? How relevant could the rating be by the time it's applied? You would have to rely on some sort of automated system--with which we've already seen problems in nanny software blacklists, and which is wildly impractical for images at present--or we'd have to rely on people to rate their own material as they publish it. So much for consistency and reliability.

A uni system would be nice, base levels on context and members are randomly picked every 2 years as so the ranrting levels can be updated or tweak so that classic country and modern rap are on the same level contextually if they sing about drugs,violence,womanizing and other adult things. THis dose not mean they should be for adults only it needs soemthign more than bad or light use of adult trems to be risen to the level where its 17+ only.

I have a dream, break the chains of copy right oppression! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/cigital-disobedience/

Kinda like the idea of a universal rating system. Provided the don't start basing laws on it that is.