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FTC Confirms Hot Coffee Investigation Closed

Officials from publisher and Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive have announced that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalized its decision not to t...

David Jenkins, Blogger

July 21, 2006

1 Min Read
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Officials from publisher and Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive have announced that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalized its decision not to take further action over the infamous “Hot Coffee” incident. According to the company, following the thirty day period for public comment, during which politicians and members of the public were free to oppose the decision, the FTC has unanimously approved the Consent Order and Agreement with Take-Two. This means that all outstanding matters have been settled and no penalties or fines have been issued. Although this finally brings an end to the high profile Hot Coffee affair from an FTC perspective, the Consent Order demands that Take-Two does not again misrepresent a video game's rating or content, and that it implements a system to ensure that all game content is reviewed in connection with submissions to ratings authorities. There are still a number of civil suits and state-related investigations pending regarding the modification, according to the latest information available on the matter. Paul Eibeler, president and CEO of Take-Two, stated, "We are extremely pleased that the FTC has concluded its very thorough investigation, and that the matter has been resolved. We recognize the importance of maintaining public confidence in the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating system and helping the ESRB educate parents and consumers about the rating system. We look forward to putting this behind us and focusing on what we do best - creating video games."

About the Author

David Jenkins

Blogger

David Jenkins ([email protected]) is a freelance writer and journalist working in the UK. As well as being a regular news contributor to Gamasutra.com, he also writes for newsstand magazines Cube, Games TM and Edge, in addition to working for companies including BBC Worldwide, Disney, Amazon and Telewest.

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