AOL Joins ESRB Ratings

Along with commerce partners eToys and Beyond.com, America Online has announced its intention to support the games rating system created by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. AOL has decided that only rated games will be available for play on AOL, and marketing partners selling games on AOL will prominently display the rating of games and will not sell any games which have not been rated. Games carrying an 'Adults Only' rating will not be available for play or for sale. "Parents need help from business to make sure their kids are playing only those games that are right for them. Today's announcement by AOL is an extremely important contribution to our efforts,'' commented ESRB executive director Arthur Prober. America Online expects all of its partners to be in full compliance by March 2000.