CRI听力:Rating System for Online Games Needed in China

According to figures from the China Internet Network Information Center, China's online gaming population is around 330 million, and approximately 150 million of China's Internet users are believed to be below the age of 19. Statistics from reformatories for juvenile delinquents show that nearly 70 percent of their inmates were involved in violent crimes and 80 percent were encouraged by online games.

Actually, Shanghai and Beijing rolled out an online game rating system in 2010, requiring major online game companies to describe and label their products into categories suitable for people aged above 12 and those aged above 18. Though users have to provide name and ID card number to register for the latter category, many teenagers manage to find a random adult's ID card information to get around it.

Vice President Fang Chang of the Beijing-based online game company Gamebar, says that though the system doesn't work as expected many large online game companies have developed self-discipline to avoid violent and bloody content in their games.

"It's wrong to use violence and pornography to target and attract players in the first place. We've been trying to avoid intense scenes in our games. Instead of splashing blood, we use a flash of light or other kinds of light effects in intense fighting scenes."

The rating system released by Peking University and Huazhong Normal University basically concerns with whether or not the game involves violence, sex and obscenity, but the definition of "violence" and "pornography" is very ambiguous in China.

In America, it is the Entertainment Software Rating Board or ESRB, a non-profit, self-regulatory body that assigns computer and video game content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines and helps ensure responsible online privacy practices for the interactive entertainment software industry. The third-party body is made up of experts from multiple areas, including players, education and psychology.

Experts believe the rating body can also work in China but with government participation. Chen Shaofeng is deputy director of the cultural industry research institute at Peking University.

"I think that China can adopt a double-footed rating model. Experts from multiple areas as well as online game developers assign computer and video game content ratings while the government establishes relevant laws and regulations to supervise the whole industry."

For CRI, I'm Wang Wei.