Apple Not Party to CTIA's New Mobile App Rating System

[Michael Essany]

On Tuesday, CTIA - The Wireless Association and the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) announced a newly-developed rating system that six mobile application storefronts will "voluntarily support" as part of their application submission process.

Guess who is conspicuously absent? That's right - Apple isn't among the voluntary supporters for the time being. On the other hand, AT&T, Microsoft, Sprint, T-Mobile USA, U.S. Cellular and Verizon Wireless are the founding members of the rating system, and other storefronts have indicated their interest in joining.

Apple, however, wasn't the only big name to opt out. If you'll notice, Google is nowhere to be found on the list of participants either.

“We’ve put a lot of effort into Android Market’s rating system, which now works well globally,” Christopher Katsaros, a Google spokesman, told Bloomberg. “While we support other systems, we think it’s best for Android users and developers to stick with Android’s existing ratings.”

According to details presented during the announcement, the CTIA Mobile Application Rating System with ESRB will utilize the well-known and trusted age rating icons that ESRB assigns to computer and video games to provide parents and consumers reliable information about the age-appropriateness of applications.

"As technologies and build-out schedules differ by each storefront, full implementation timelines will vary; each storefront may make its own announcement on when the rating system will be available for their customers," the Wireless Association said.

Source: Bloomberg

[BenderRodriguez]

We should be able to rate No Stars

[ami2510]

This is not about Stars, this is about ESRB ratings - like M for mature, R for Restricted or PG13 ...

[Imdesignr]

This is not about Stars, this is about ESRB ratings - like M for mature, R for Restricted or PG13 ...

^ lol

[BenderRodriguez]

This is not about Stars, this is about ESRB ratings - like M for mature, R for Restricted or PG13 ...

The guy above me said this cause no one cares about ratings and all u have to do is hit yes unless restrictions are in place

[ohthatguyagain]

The guy above me said this cause no one cares about ratings and all u have to do is hit yes unless restrictions are in place

So imagine when the ESRB takes over - like they did with console games a few years back - and you have to start entering a valid DL # for all restricted purchases. This could be a pain for minors who enjoy games that are misrated, or for individuals who hate entering codes every time they purchase crap.

[BenderRodriguez]

So imagine when the ESRB takes over - like they did with console games a few years back - and you have to start entering a valid DL # for all restricted purchases. This could be a pain for minors who enjoy games that are misrated, or for individuals who hate entering codes every time they purchase crap.

Hackers would get around it so who really cares

[Tashawn]

I agree with Google. I'm sure Apple is thinking the same.

[BenderRodriguez]

I agree with Google. I'm sure Apple is thinking the same.

It says above that Google is not in going to do this(unmentioned)
But it's curious cause YouTube is now hosted by Google and that is smart but with that in mind logically Google would do the rating system, yeah I realize YouTube was not created by Google and the restrictions were there before they took it over but it's now more strict with no TV shows and such

[Tashawn]

It says above that Google is not in going to do this(unmentioned)
But it's curious cause YouTube is now hosted by Google and that is smart but with that in mind logically Google would do the rating system, yeah I realize YouTube was not created by Google and the restrictions were there before they took it over but it's now more strict with no TV shows and such

I believe it was in reference to Google's Apps Marketplace.

[BenderRodriguez]

I believe it was in reference to Google's Apps Marketplace.

So was mine