The Entertainment Consumers Association is not getting involved in the US elections.  According to its president Hal Halpin, not only does supporting a particular candidate goes against the gamers’ best interests but it is also illegal.

According to him:

The ECA is a 501(c)(4) non-profit membership org - an IRS designation that classifies the type of entity that we are and business that we do. It’s significant because that same classification prohibits us from backing any one party or politician. The rules have been further tightened recently, restricting us from promoting anyone (again, relevant because of our publications: GamePolitics, GameCulture, ECA Today, etc. which cover them when newsworthy).

But I don’t know that I would want us to [endorse a candidate] even if we could. The ECA represents ALL gamers, each with their own ethics, morals and perspectives. So apart from educating members about a candidate’s position as it relates to gaming, I’m not sure that it would be our place.

It’s a good idea overall to stay clear regarding issues such as these.  Although some of their sites may be considered political in nature, the ECA must ensure that they remain objective in their views and present the facts as is and not skewed towards or against a particular party. 

This entry was posted on Monday, February 11th, 2008 at 8:43 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.