INDEPENDENT COUNCIL WILL RATE COMPUTER GAMES

SPA Proposal Now Being Reviewed by Experts

July 19, 1994 (Washington, D.C.) -- The Software Publishers Association
(SPA) and four other software organizations today announced formation of
the Recreational Software Advisory Council, an independent non-profit
organization to administer a game ratings program for the personal
computer software industry. They also announced the application form and
ratings categories to be used in the program are now being reviewed by
experts and soon will be available for parents and other consumers.

The independent game ratings program is a joint effort of virtually the
entire personal computer software industry. It includes several software
industry associations and over twenty-five individual software companies
publishing consumer and educational software. The leading architects of
the program include SPA, The Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP),
the Educational Software Cooperative (ESC), and the Shareware Trade
Association and Resouces (STAR). Together, they represent nearly 3,000
software developers and publishers.

SPA and its partner organizations established the Recreational Software
Advisory Council (RSAC) with the mission of providing parents and other
consumers the information they need to make wise decisions about the
recreational software they bring home. RSAC will assign ratings to
software titles before they are shipped to retailers and investigate
consumer complaints about products believed to be misrated. RSAC will
include parents, teachers, and concerned experts from various disciplines.
It will not be controlled by the software industry, but instead will be a
separate, independent organization.

"Wehn SPA committed itself to creating a game ratings program, Congress
told us the program should be independent and ratings should not be
assigned by software publishers," said SPA Counsel Mark Traphagen. "SPA
heard that message, and with the support of its members and partner
organizations, it can now deliver a program that meets those
requirements."

"Independent of the governing body is essential for the credibility of the
ratings program," added Robert Roden, General Counsel of LucasArts
Entertainment Company and co-chairman of the joint effort. "We have
deliberately organized RSAC's board of directors to give parents,
teachers, and other concerned groups more votes than the software
industry. To ensure independence, RSAC will be incorporated outside any
software industry trade association."

SPA and its partner organizations also announced they have nearly completed
work on the comprehensive ratings application and ratings categories, and
will introduce a rating program in time for the holiday retail season.
"The ratings application will inform RSAC of potentially objectionable
content in individual software titles and provide the basis for placing
those titles in specific ratings categories," said Glenn Ochsenreiter, SPA
special projects director. "We created a high degree of objectivity in the
application to provide a consistent basis for ratings."

The proposed ratings application and categories are now being reviewed by a
variety of concerned experts. "One of our guiding principles has been that
parents, educators, and other experts should actively participate in
designing and administering the ratings program," said Karen Crowther,
representative for the shareware associations. "Their participation is
critical to ensuring that the independent game ratings program meets the
needs of parents and other consumers."

"While the vast majority of recreational software is suitable for children
and adults of all ages, many developers and publishers support an
independent ratings program," said Phil Adam, Vice President of Interplay
Productions and co-chairman of the joint effort. "As responsible business
persons, many of whom are parents, members of the personal computer
software industry remain committed to a goal -- giving parents and other
consumers the information they need to make wise decisions about the
recreational software they bring home."

SPA is the principal trade association of the personal computer software
industry. Its 1,100 members, range from industry leaders to hundreds of
small companies involved in the development and marketing of consumer,
education, and business software. SPA has offices in Washington, D.C. and
Paris.

Software Publishers Association
1730 M St, Northwest, Suite 700, Washington, D.C. 20036
202-452-1600,  Fax: 202-223-8756

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