The European Commission, a group that provides oversight and advice to the European Union, is urging European governments to agree on regulatory, voluntary standards for the sale and creation of violent videogames.
“Such partnership could for instance explore the usefulness of and necessity for a voluntary code of conduct on the production of interactive games for children,” EU Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini. He also discussed applying common rules and labeling on videogames for all countries in the European Union.
Friso Roscam Abbing, a spokesman for Frattini, claims that Frattini does not want to prohibit violent games so much as he wants to encourage the videogame industry to exercise self-restraint. “One of the latest games recently available on the European market relates to a young girl who becomes submitted to psychological and physical violence. This has shocked me profoundly for its obscene cruelty and brutality,” Frattini said, referring to Rule of Rose.
The Commission has requested that the issue be placed on the agenda for the next EU interior and justice ministers meeting in early December, followed by a conference with the videogame industry in early 2007.
Source: Reuters
