Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle
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Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (German Voluntary Monitoring Organisation of Entertainment Software) or USK, is Germany's software rating organisation. Since the modification of the Jugendschutzgesetz (Youth Protection Law) in 2003, it is now compulsory for all titles that are to be sold to the wider public to carry a USK mark.
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[edit] Ratings
Software can receive one of the following ratings:
Freigegeben ohne Altersbeschränkung gemäß § 14 JuSchG (Without age restrictions)
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Freigegeben ab 6 Jahren gemäß § 14 JuSchG (Restricted to those below the age of 6)
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Freigegeben ab 12 Jahren gemäß § 14 JuSchG (Restricted to those below the age of 12)
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Freigegeben ab 16 Jahren gemäß § 14 JuSchG (Restricted to those below the age of 16)
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Freigegeben ab 18 Jahren gemäß § 14 JuSchG or Keine Jugendfreigabe gemäß § 14 JuSchG (Restricted to those below the age of 18)
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[edit] The Index
Games that are refused classification are referred to the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien (Federal Verification Office for Youth-Endangering Media) and can be placed on the Index (a process known in German as Indizierung), upon which the titles may only be sold on request to adults over the age of 18, and are not to be advertised in retail stores or other media. It is permitted to use these titles in private but not to supply them to minors. Games that are on the index are marked with JK/SPIO-Gutachten.
[edit] Censoring and banning
Games with a USK 18 rating or those placed on the index are not necessarily uncut, although as a general rule they are, with a number of exceptions. It is still possible for games to be banned in Germany - as is the case with titles such as Manhunt (violence) and the English version of Wolfenstein 3D (Nazi symbolism), which are not even available "under the counter" per the Index.
As of 2003, entertainment software sold in Germany does not have to be USK-rated but without the rating it is automatically forbidden to be sold to minors below 18 years old. Microsoft, for instance, chose not to sell Gears of War in Germany as the USK rejected to give it an official rating, which means the same as the rating 18+ but also gives the BPjM the right to test whether to put the game on the Index or not - which they did shortly after.
The ban on endorsing Nazism or displaying swastikas outside of a historical context applies to all titles. To avoid legal issues, many developers remove the reference to swastikas altogether, although the symbol of the 3rd Reich' s Army is still permitted. It is also permitted to feature a function in which one can assume the role of the German army in World War II as in games such as Sudden Strike and Axis and Allies, although this is a subject of controversy.
[edit] See also
- CERO, the Japanese computer and video game rating system
- ESRB, the United States and Canadian computer and video game rating system
- ELSPA, the former British computer and video game rating system, replaced by the PEGI system.
- PEGI, the European computer and video game rating system
- OFLC, the Australian media rating system
- OFLC, the New Zealand media rating system.