CONGRESS DECLARES WAR ON US SOFTWARE COMPANIES

WHOLESOME CHILDREN'S AND EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS ENDANGERED

US Representative Tom Lantos (D-Calif) has declared war on small American
software businesses. In a public hearing held in San Francisco on May 21,
Lantos reaffirmed his support for the establishment of an expensive
bureaucracy for the purpose of applying ratings to computer games, even if
it means the destruction of hundreds of small companies. This plan would
be administered by the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), an
organization created by Nintendo, Sega, Phillips, Sony and Electronic
Arts, all of whom are giant video games companies. The IDSA plan would
require the publishers of computer games to produce and submit videotapes,
pay processing fees of $500 or more, and await review by a secret
committee before they could release products in the marketplace.

In contrast to this plan, four major trade associations, representing over
3,000 businesses, are in the process of developing a standardized ratings
system that could be quickly and accurately applied to software as part of
the development process, and which would impose no fees on the publishers.
Although the IDSA plan has been heavily criticized by the trade
associations, and has not yet started operation, Lantos, along with
Senators Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn) and Herbert Kohl (D-Wisc), has already
sent letters on Congressional letterhead to major retailers, urging them
to purchase software only from businesses that submit to the IDSA plan.

According to industry spokesperson Karen Crowther, the costs and delays of
the IDSA plan would be devastating to many entrepreneurial and small
software businesses which produce children's and educational software.
Lantos' response was that "protecting our children" is more important than
the survival of these companies. Ironically, Nintendo and Sega,
billion-dollar companies and major proponents of the IDSA plan, publish
"Mortal Kombat", the game most often cited by Lantos in his campaign
against "filthy and disgusting" video games.

Rosemary West, president of the Educational Software Cooperative (ESC),
representing over 50 companies, said "If implemented, the IDSA plan would
actually prevent distribution of many wholesome, educational games,
because the smaller developers simply cannot afford these unnecessary
costs." Crowther added that the IDSA plan would assist foreign-owned
Nintendo and Sega in "crushing their smaller, U.S. competition" and asked,
"Why are the Congressmen supporting an anti-competitive ratings system
instead of one developed by our own games publishers?"

David Snyder, President of MVP Software, a small developer of low-cost
games and educational software, said, "As currently proposed, the IDSA
plan will severely limit the ability of small software businesses to
compete, will halt the downward pressure on software prices, and will
create a strong anti-competitive pressure in the market in favor of the
multi-billion dollar IDSA-member companies. It is not surprising that a
few powerful companies seek to force a system on the market that benefits
only themselves at the expense of small companies and consumers. However,
it is shocking that members of Congress are supporting this blatantly
unfair system."

"Ironically, MVP has a policy against human-on-human and graphic violence
in its products and has never produced a game that anyone would consider
violent. In fact, MVP has always supported development of an
easy-to-understand software rating system that would allow parents to make
informed purchasing decisions. However, it is hard to understand why
Lantos, Lieberman and Kohl support a system designed by the very companies
who publish the most graphically violent material on the market today."

Snyder noted that the legislation drawn up by Congressman Lantos that is
being used to pressure the industry to go along with the IDSA plan
explicitly includes anti-trust exemptions that play into the hands of the
multi-billion dollar companies. "I am mystified why anyone thinks an
anti-trust exemption in the video games industry is in the best interests
of either consumers or the small companies such laws are designed to
protect," Snyder said.

MVP Software
1035 Dallas SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49507-1407
616-245-8376,  fax 616-245-3204,  CIS: 70363,15

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