Please support this site by visiting it's sponsors
Questions & Answers:
Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Internet Web Rating System
 |
When did the rating system get started? |
 |
The Rating system went into effect on
August 1, 2002. |
|
What is the purpose of the rating system? |
|
The internet web rating system is a
voluntary system sponsored by independent web site designers to provide
parents with advance information on web sites, enabling parents to make
judgments on web sites they want or do not want their children to see. |
|
Do the ratings indicate if a web site is offensive to it's visitors? |
|
Yes, we work hard at visiting all web
sites in our system on a regular basis to make sure that the web sites
you and your children surf are not offensive and/or adult oriented. All
web sites that contain offensive and/or adult content are given a rating
of W-A, which requires a
user to login to access that web site. |
|
Who gives web sites their ratings? |
|
Parents give the web sites their
ratings-men and women just like you. They are part of a specially
designed committee called the internet web rating board. As a group they
visit each web site and, after a group discussion, vote on its rating,
making an educated estimate as to which rating most parents would
consider the most appropriate. |
|
What criteria do they use? |
|
The rating board uses the criteria you
as a parent use when deciding what is suitable viewing for your child.
Theme, language, violence, nudity, sex and drug use are among those
content areas considered in the decision-making process. Also assessed
is how each of these elements is employed in the context of each
individual web site. The rating board places no special emphasis on any
of these elements; all are considered and examined before a rating is
given. |
|
What are the rating reasons? |
|
Accompanying ratings are reasons for the
ratings given that can be found in many web site reviews, in magazines,
advertisements and on this Web site (by clicking on the "Rated Web
Sites" button on the left menu area). |
|
What do the ratings symbols mean? |
|
 Web-
Everyone - General Audience. All ages admitted. This signifies that the
web site rated contains nothing most parents will consider offensive for
even their youngest children to see or hear. Nudity, sex scenes, and
scenes of drug use are absent; violence is minimal; snippets of dialogue
may go beyond polite conversation but do not go beyond common everyday
expressions.
|
|
Is the rating system a law? |
| No, the rating system is strictly
voluntary and carries no force of law. |
|
|
Can a rating be changed? |
|
Yes, the rules permit web site owners to
re-edit their web site and re-submit them in hopes of receiving another
rating. Web site owners may also appeal a rating decision to the Rating
Appeals Board, which is composed of men and women from the industry
organizations that sponsor the rating system. A two-thirds secret ballot
vote of those present on the Appeals Board may overturn a rating board
decision. |
|
Do all web sites have to be rated? |
|
No. Submitting a web site is purely a
voluntary decision made by the web site owners. However, the
overwhelming majority of web site owners do in fact submit their web
sites for ratings. All four Classification and Rating Administration
rating symbols have been trademarked and may not be self-applied. |
|
Who enforces the ratings? |
|
While the decision to enforce the rating
system is purely voluntary, the National Association of Web Site Owners
estimate that the majority of theaters observe the Classification and
Rating Administration's guidelines. |
|
What else can parents do? |
|
Parents are urged to learn as much about
a web site as possible before they permit their children to visit that
site. Visiting the web site will allow you to get further information
about what content is being displayed. You can search this Web site for
web site ratings and their reasons by clicking on the "Rated Web
Sites" button on the left menu area. |
|
Whom do I contact for more information? |
|
Please write to:
The Internet and Web Rating Association |
