[RFC] X-Content-Rating key for .desktop files.

[Simon McVittie]

On Sat, 03 Dec 2011 at 11:33:15 +0000, Peter Brett wrote:
> For example, a .desktop file for the iD Software game "Quake 4" might
> contain the following line:
> 
>   X-Content-Rating=BBFC:18;ESRB:M;OFLC:MA15+;PEGI:18+

If you're proposing this on the XDG list, and people like it enough to add
it to the spec, it might as well be "Content-Rating" without the "X-".

This looks like a good way to pass on advisory content ratings
without opening the "which content gets which rating?" can of worms, by
delegating the actual choice of content rating to groups that already exist.

> Obviously, many games and other applications will not be rated by one of
> the official rating authorities, and I don't have a complete solution
> for that yet.

OpenArena used to publish a http://www.tigrs.org/ rating ("Adult Content" in
OA's case) on their website. I'm not sure why they don't any more; possibly
because TIGRS uses (non-free) copyright/trademark licensing to enforce use
of their logo as intended?

I seem to remember seeing some sort of effort in the direction of a voluntary
rating system from Fedora, too?

I would hope that the TIGRS people wouldn't consider "TIGRS:Family",
"TIGRS:Teen", "TIGRS:Adult" appearing in Content-Rating to be in contravention
of their trademark; it's a simple statement of the publisher's opinion
("the publisher of this work considers it to have this TIGRS rating"), much
like the recommended uses of their logos.

They also have a vocabulary of more specific rating labels ("Mild Language",
"Nudity", "Intense Realistic Violence" etc.) without falling into
the trap of trying to define which orthogonal labels are more or less "adult",
or which label should produce which age rating, both of which vary by
culture.

    S