Protecting minors in relation to interactive software

AutorDavid López Jiménez - Eduardo Carlos Dittmar - Jenny Patricia Vargas Portillo
CargoFull Professor. EAE Business School, Madrid, Spain - Associate Dean. EAE Business School, Madrid, Spain - Assistant Professor. ESIC Business & Marketing School
Páginas20-39
20
Protecting Minors in Relation to Interactive Software (p. 20-39)
JIMÉNEZ, D. L;
DITTMAR, E. C; PORTILLO, J. P. V.
Protecting Minors i n Relation to Interactive Software
.
The Law, Sta te and Telecommunicat ions Review
, v. 13, no. 1, p. 20-39, May 2021.
PROTECTING MINORS IN RELATION TO
INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE
Submitted
: 26 Februar y 2020
David López Jiménez*
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7013-9556
Eduardo Carlos Dittmar**
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8087-2444
Jenny Patricia Vargas Portillo***
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0226-3053
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26512/lstr.v13i1.29743
Revised
: 15 April 2020
Accepted
: 29 April 2020
Article submitted to peer blind rev iew
Licensed under a Creative Common s Attribution 4.0 International
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this work is to analyze minors’ par ticipation in inter active
software.
Methodology/Ap proach/Design
The Spanish regu lations in effect on this matter will be
analyzed. Similarly, applicable best practice instruments that have been adopted will b e
analyzed.
Findings
The interactive software industry’s self -regulation coul d be a thought -
provoking too l to complement legal reg ulations to protect mi nors.
Practical Implications
The implications of this research analysis can b e useful for the
interactive sof tware industry, civil societ y, and the public sector.
Originality/Value
Thi s research article shows the risks that mino rs face i n the d igital
world. It provides a perspectiv e that highlights th e harmful and illegal content affecting
minors.
Keywords
: Digital Econ omy. New Technolog ies. Regulation. Video G ames. Minors.
INTRODUCTION
At present, minors play an extraordinarily important role in the
consumption environment. This group is the recipient o f advertising practices
implemented by service providers that increasingly resort to new media, such as
*
Full Professor. EAE Business School, Madrid, Spain. Fe llow at the University of Brasilia
Center on Law and Regulation. Address: C. Joaquín Costa 41, 28002 Madrid, Spain.
Contact: dlopez@eae.es.
**
Associate Dean. EAE Business School, Madrid, Spain . Address: C. Joaquín Cos ta 41,
28002 Madrid , Spain. Contact: ecdittmar@eae.es.
***
Assistant Professor. ESIC B usiness & Marketin g School. Addr ess: Av. Valdenigra les,
28223 Pozue lo de Alarcón , Spain. Contact: jennypatricia.vargas@esic.edu.
Protecting Minors in Relation to Interactive Software (p. 20-39) 21
JIMÉNEZ, D. L;
DITTMAR, E. C; PORTILLO, J. P. V.
Protecting Minors i n Relation to Interactive Software
.
The Law, Sta te and Telecommunica tions Review
, v. 13, no. 1, p. 20-39, May 2021.
the Internet, which is visited increasingly more often by younger people. It is also
important to consider the products that we will refer to as interactive software ;
such products are involved in how this group entertains itself, through video
games, and are the subject of Internet advertising.
We are faced with an interactive product related to what young people use
as a form of entertainment. While the use of some video games can offer specific
advantages for educational purposes and the development o f certain skills and/or
abilities, this is not always the case. In fact, sometimes, they may include a
different type of harmful content that is clearly inappropriate for such a group.
Given this situation, it is advisable for Spain’s legislators to approve a list of legal
standards that will guarantee the pro tection of minors in various spaces that are
either directly or indirectly connected to new technologies. Thus, for our
purposes, minors must be given special attention in various fields with
implications for e-commerce, understood in a broad sense, including contractual
capacity, privacy, and the advertising content or activities present online Article
3a of Law 34/1988, o f November 11, General Advertising Law (LGP), Article 4
of Law 1/1996, of January 15, on the L egal Protection of Minors, Article 96.4 of
Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007, of November 16, which approved the
Consolidated Text of the General Law for Consumer and User Protection, and
other complemen tary laws (TRLGDCU). These users, accustomed to using the
Internet as a resource for entertainment and education, surf the web with
remarkable ease and skill. In turn, howev er, they are the most vulnerable and
influential recipients of advertising messages present online (HÖRNLE et al.,
2019). Video games hold a leading position among these advertisements.
Regulations attempt to protect minors in numerous areas, but they app ear
to be quite limited and noticeably outdated in relation to the rapid advances of the
Internet in general. One scenario where this occurs is with video games that
increasingly allow more user in teraction, as online gaming is encouraged and
users plays with other users based in different parts of the world. Unfortunately,
these products include content that is sometimes especially harmful to minors. For
example, the content often promotes the game, which could eventually lead to
gambling, and other content can be very violent or sexual.
The limitatio ns that legislators cannot or do not want to address can be
partially overcome, alth ough they depend on the entertainment software
industry’s degree of true commitment by resorting to the phenomenon of self-
regulation. The statements within legal documents present con tent adapted to the
problems that arise with video games, potentially due to the principle of free will
of agents who interact in this field where self-discipline is evident. In addition to
being comprehensive, they are continuously and rapidly updated.

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