AdmundfortGeographer
Getting lost in fantasy maps
If you haven't heard, last year Congress passed nearly unanimously, and the president signed into law, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008. Briefly, the law says that anyone who makes a product that is intended for use by children 12 and younger must be tested for lead (and other toxins), and anyone who sells such products can be held legally accountable. The law comes into effect Feb 10th, 2009.
The law is retroactive, meaning inventory manufactured before the date must be certified as lead-free, or be removed from shelves. Books are not excluded. Plastic figures are not excluded. Dice are not excluded. CDs are not excluded. Playing cards are not excluded. Organic sustainable knitted booties are not excluded. All must be tested. All variants must be independently tested. Even if the components are certified as lead-free, the assembled product must be tested itself.
GAMA is asking members to call and write Congress to get the law fixed.
Newsbriefs for January 20, 2009 - Game Manufacturers Association
The US government agency, The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), under pressure from affected industries, ruled that it will hold off enforcing the act for a year, however US law holds all 50 states' Attorneys General with enforcing the law and none have announced they will not enforce the law.
The mom-and-pop independent game makers will surely crumble under the burden of testing their games for lead. Hasbro will easily glide through because of its economies of scale. Small European game makers have already withdrawn from shipping games to the US market because of this law.
But what about RPGs?
D&D's self-applied threshold for age-appropriateness happens to be 12. But do all RPG's apply the same threshold? Will the government, with a zeal to save children from toxins, allow an industry to decide by itself what correctly 12 and over? D&D once had 10 and up stamped on its boxes after all.
How are the small RPG makers preparing for this law? Are they stamping age ranges on their future products?
The law is retroactive, meaning inventory manufactured before the date must be certified as lead-free, or be removed from shelves. Books are not excluded. Plastic figures are not excluded. Dice are not excluded. CDs are not excluded. Playing cards are not excluded. Organic sustainable knitted booties are not excluded. All must be tested. All variants must be independently tested. Even if the components are certified as lead-free, the assembled product must be tested itself.
GAMA is asking members to call and write Congress to get the law fixed.
Newsbriefs for January 20, 2009 - Game Manufacturers Association
The US government agency, The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), under pressure from affected industries, ruled that it will hold off enforcing the act for a year, however US law holds all 50 states' Attorneys General with enforcing the law and none have announced they will not enforce the law.
The mom-and-pop independent game makers will surely crumble under the burden of testing their games for lead. Hasbro will easily glide through because of its economies of scale. Small European game makers have already withdrawn from shipping games to the US market because of this law.
But what about RPGs?
D&D's self-applied threshold for age-appropriateness happens to be 12. But do all RPG's apply the same threshold? Will the government, with a zeal to save children from toxins, allow an industry to decide by itself what correctly 12 and over? D&D once had 10 and up stamped on its boxes after all.
How are the small RPG makers preparing for this law? Are they stamping age ranges on their future products?
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