Aaron McGivern

Introduction  This PowerPoint presentation is about the gaming industry.  I will talk about the following; Representation of gender, representation of religious beliefs, accessibility; professional body codes of practice, Broadcasting Act 1990, Race Relations Act 1976, Privacy Law, copyright and intellectual property law, libel law.

Representation of gender  This has become a major issue within the gaming industry. There has been a lot of people, mainly girls have made complaints to gaming companies about there only being males characters in games.

Representation of religious beliefs  In gaming, religious beliefs has to be handled responsible, because of the obvious reason some people will get offended.  In 2012 Call of Duty modern warfare 2, a YouTube video was uploaded and called "Message to Infinity Ward From Muslims - رساله ل الشركه " saying that in a bathroom on the map, there is a picture frame above the toilet with writing that says "Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty".  In Islam it is forbidden to say anything about Islamic religion in a bathroom.

Accessibility; professional body codes of practice  PEGI is professional body of gaming in the UK and Europe. Gaming companies have to follow codes of practice, such as advertising and promotion, where if a game is rated 18, they have to make that clear in the advertising and promoting of the game, so parents/guardians will know that it’s for the older gamers and not for kids.

Race relations Act 1976  There are many games out there that are racist, for example Grand Theft Auto. In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, there was outrage about killing Cubans and Haitians, and it didn’t stop Rockstar from calling a mission in GTA San Andreas ‘Kill the cholos’, where you had to kill Mexican gang members.

Privacy Law  In October 2012 USA Navy Seals breached a secert when they told Electronic Arts (EA) secrets about Osama Bin Laden. For telling this secret they lost their chances of being promoted.

Copyright and intellectual property law  Copyright is very important in anything nowadays, especially gaming to make sure that they don’t use any other companies characters etc.

Libel Law  In June 2013 Lindsey Lohan filed a lawsuit against Grand Theft Auto 5 because she accused them of using on of her photo’s taken in 2007.

Conclusion  While I was doing this task I found out all different legal and ethical's conditions to do with gaming. I discussed ‘Representation of gender, Representation of religious beliefs, Accessibility; professional body codes of practice, Race relations Act 1976, Privacy Law, Copyright and intellectual property law, Libel Law’.