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Software V-Chip for PC Games?
63N1U5 writes "CBS news is reporting that SMARTGUARD software is releasing a new application that will allow parents to control their children's PC gaming, a-la the V-Chip for television. The new software, called WallFly, uses the ESRB ratings database to determine if a game can be launched by the current PC user, based on the parents' preferences. Parents can also use this software to set limits on when and for how long their children can play PC games."
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What makes it tick?
...Is self-learning and automatically updated so that existing policies and restrictions will apply to even the newest software without additional administration. ...Is hacker resistant. Attempts to tamper with or disable WallFly will cause an alert to be emailed to the parent. Renaming files or installing new games does not fool WallFly."
.exe file "metadata" matches a blocked title, which would be easy to 'fix'.
"Wallfly:
So it learns by itself what the files are? The ESRB doesn't publish the rating for a given md5sum (and even then, games could be patched with a NOP at the beginning or end, or games that update themselves would evade the checksum).
Unless it checks to see whether the title in the
Just some thoughts... any ideas?
I agree as long as they dont legislate a requirement for its inclusion & there is no state monitored list of whats approved, this seems fine & dandy for parents on the go today.
Go Away! Not for Sale
Really nice picture on the product page of a father and son using an Apple iBook...
Shame the software is for Windows.
Personally I would suggest not buying games for a child that are rated above his/her age...
Also how does it stop a kid from playing Flash games in a web browser instead of researching homework...
Or that the kid probabally knows more about the computer than ma or pa.
When you're a hormone driven teenager porn is something that will somehow mysteriously find it's way to you. 2 out of 5 machines that were brought into my shop TODAY were here because of damage to the system. 1 was a 15 year old, the other 16. Both had P2P and "other" items on it. One machine literally had 90gigs of porn! Take about having his stroke material all planned out. Granted, I'm talking about the blockster and not the wallfly, but either is a great thing. it would even be better if they were in a package together since they both are kind of the same overall purpose.
Anyway, both parents were extremely upset as they had BOTH told their kids no P2P network crap but they did it anyway. Of course, if they didn't let them have their computers in their room that might have been a bit different, but what do I know?
Anyway, this is a great idea, in my humble opinion. I receive calls all the time from parents wanting to know how to stop their kids from getting into that kind of crap.
When I was 10 (12 years ago), if my parents told me I couldn't play Mortal Kombat (one of the most violent games of the time) I would play it behind their backs. Most kids I know would do something similar. My parents could have instead not bought me the game, but nowadays anyone can just download games off the internet.
I take it most of you have forgotten what being a child is like - children won't behave perfectly if you "talk with them." Parents cannot (and should not) watch their children 24/7.
This technology will allow strict parents, who know they can't control their kids through normal means, to easily enforce rules. I personlly would not use it, but I can see why many parents would.
My oldest just turned 9.
We monitor his game usage pretty much all the time he is using it, and the computer is set up in such a way that anyone can see what's on the monitor at almost any time, as it is set up in the main living room.
He is only allowed to play games which:
1) I have played.
2) I do not feel is too violent or sexual in nature.
3) Which I feel will not alter his behaviour in an undesirable way.
I feel that #3 can be important. If you do not pay close attention to the way your child acts after they play a video game, the results could surprise you. He was playing what I had at the time thought of as a rather non-violent game - a space conquest game that is basically just a strategy game. There are no characters, no people of any kind in it at all, but it actually seemed to have a detrimental effect on him and he became more violent. Almost as soon as I cut his access off, his attitude and behaviour improved.
At another time, he was playing what I considered to be a graphically violent game, but it did not affect him adversely at all. In fact he ended up identifying with the characters and gaining compassion because of it.
I think that the ESRB ratings are a pretty good system, although they could still use improvement (what couldn't?).
As a parent, I have seriously considered getting the software in TFA, not because of the ratings system that it uses, but because it helps me regulate the amount of time he gets to use it for. It would be very useful to have an objective system by which I can "pay" him for doing his chores by granting him an extra hour a week to play. Trying to monitor his time on the computer is a lot harder without a tool like this.
I have complete control over my home computer, so it's not a matter of access to games, but of access for the TIME to play them. I would much rather punish my son by reducing his weekly allotment of computer play time by 1/2 an hour than standing him in time-out or making him do extra chores.
To me this is a tool to be used to help me parent effectively, not as a substitute for my parenting.
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d Capitalization really works: i helped my uncle jack off a horse
As a friend to a lot of other parents who don't know the difference between M,T, and E ratings, only the video game makers are to blame for this. The self-regulating ratings are a joke.
/noblood /nosex etc. options (Duke3D, Mortal Combat)?
I don't believe in censorship for video games (government or otherwise). I regulate (censor) what my kids see/do, but thats my right as a parent.
I think another rating system is in order for the clueless who buy eight year old Johnny Doom III because he asks for it.
Whatever happend to
Food for thought,
Enjoy.
It's just the normal noises in here.
A) Why not just not buy them the games?
Because maybe you _didn't_ buy them the games, but they borrowed them from friends, or bought them with their own money; or maybe the games are for you, not for the little tykes;
B) Why, when I was a kid and they tried to do this to me, I hax0red the PC to let me do it anyway! Any average kid will be able to do this in about 5 minutes!
I call bullshit, and would like to see cite. "A person I know did it" is an anecdote. An anecdote is not the singular form of evidence. Sure, some kids will be able to get around this; some kids won't bother and will do something else. It's not like you're betting your life on their inability to hax0r the system.
C) Parents should just pay attention to their kids!
Right. Because the correct answer is for the parent to always watch over the kid's shoulder. That'll help the kid develop well.
Look, I'm not an advocate of this tool, and I wouldn't use it with my kids -- I grew up in a household where my dad's firearms were easily accessible to me with no lock in the way. Instead of hiding them from me, my dad taught me how to use them safely and said "whenever you'd like to shoot them, I'll go with you." Not quite the same thing with porn, but that's because I didn't ask. But some parents would like to do what they can to make it so their kids don't have access to these sorts of games, and while this isn't a panacea (hey Bobby, can I come over and play UberViolence? Thanks!), it can be helpful.
As long as their kid is a computer illiterate, and so socially inept as to not have any smarter friends.
How hard is it to hit enter a few times in the NT Offline Registry Editor and reset the Admin password?
Or, maybe make a copy of Bloody_Game.exe as Reader_Rabbit.exe (or notepad.exe, so it doesn't count as 'game time'), and execute that?
Or, try renaming the WallFly directory and reboot so that it can't be found and autostart?
When I was a teen, I was disassembling C=64 warez to see how the copy protection worked. Kids today aren't any stupider and won't even have it that hard! They'll simply do a Google search and find a dozen workable ways around it.
The time installing/updating the software would be better spent just unplugging the kids computer and moving it to a family area where you can watch what they're doing.
Most of us should be cheering for this one!
This sort of technology -- software meant to restrict freedoms -- will simply redirect the time the child wants to spend on the computer playing games into time learning how to break through the software.
He'll learn how weak the Windows operating system is for security, perhaps even take a crack at his parent's passwords.
Obviously, once he grows up and realizes as a twelve year old he could break into Windows, he'll make sure to consistently use a flavor of Linux to protect his interests.
All this because he wasn't playing some mindless point and click shoot-em-up game.
Parents these days have no backbone. I work as a swim instructor/lifeguard and you have no clue as to how many times I see 3 year old children bossing their mom around (And yes it is primarily the mother).
;) ), and discipline your kids.
What parents need to learn how to do is say no and stick to it. Punishment seems to be out of style when it is a necessary part of educating the children.
So to all the parents out there. Take your advice from a 17 year old. Stand up, grow some balls (or whatever works for you ladies
Probition worked for adults.
Prior to prohibition: average american adult consummed 8 gallons of 200 alchol (that's pure) per year
during prohibition it went to 1 gallon
after prohibition it went to 1.5 gallons where it stayed
The evidence is that prohibition changed American culture with respect to alchol consumption.
The admin at a BBS I post on handled the situation very cleverly with his kids. He and his wife were concerned about their 10 year-old (or so) son playing violent videogames with the other kids. They didn't want to ostracize him from his peers, nor did they want him to take videogame violence lightly. So the father sat down with him and watched Black Hawk Down, completely uncensored. Afterward, they talked about it and how scary violence can actually be.
The key isn't to shield your kids from violence; it's to instill a healthy respect for the damage that humans can do to each other.
Unless parents use this kind of software /hardware we will not help train the next generation of hackers. :)
If you try to ban this or that kids first reaction is to see what all the fuss is about, instead let them know you're unhappy with their choice of game if you don't approve. As a parent I always try all my kids games ( good excuse to the wife for those 6 hr all- night gaming sessions 'it's for the kids!!!)
I often don't agree with classifications anyway, as the parent my views are much more important than some faceless commitee full of 'special interest' and 'friends' of the great and the good, probably with delinquent kids and several failed relationships anyway.
I believe my kids respect my opinions because I play the games, thus I can steer them towards the games I approve of.
Computer: You are not authorized to play this game
...
l33t h4xor: OK.. (firing up google or favorite P2P searching for s/w crack)
... a few minutes later
Computer: Let's Rock!