I was unable to write anything of substance this week, and this was why. On top of having to write a report and presentation on an interest group, our class also had a unit test, and I was busy with other work as well.

But, since the ECA is technically video game-related, I thought I'd post it here, instead of letting it go to waste. If you doubt the fact that I actually showed these slides to my class, I guess I can't convince you; just take my word for it.

Finally, I'm not 100% sure that everything here is true, but I did do a fair amount of research, considering we only had a week and change to put this whole thing together.

[Ed: We included a response from the ECA below]

The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA for short) is a single-interest group dedicated to voicing the concerns of consumers of electronic media, specifically video games. They also serve as benefits group, providing members with a discount at various retailers and stores. Most of their income comes from membership fees, as well as partnerships with the retailers whose prices they discount.

The ECA was founded in 2006 by Hal Halpin, who had formerly founded the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA). The IEMA was also an interest group, but this one was focused on assuring that the people who made games had more control in both their content and their distribution.

Seeing that the IEMA had been extremely successful in its efforts to give video game publishers more control over their products, Halpin felt the need to for a similar interest group, but one that focused primarily on the consumer¹. Though organizations such as the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and Environmental Media Association (EMA) and Halpin's own IEMA had made great strides to allow video game publishers and developers greater creative and economic freedom, Halpin, a veteran felt that there lacked an equivalent for consumers; though most any sort of game could be made, consumers were restricted in what they could buy, and how they interacted with their products.

Halpin's other goal with the ECA was to create a twenty-first century advocacy group². This new sort of advocacy group would use the resources of the new millennium – such as the message boards, social media outlets, and other internet resources – to advance the group's goals, rather than rely on the slow methods of older groups.

The ECA uses these new mediums to further their agenda, which consists of giving “gaming consumers a voice and ensure that state and local politicians hear their concerns and appreciate their demographic power³.”

The ECA primarily focuses on issues of consumer rights in the realm of video games. They aim to empower the average consumer in their ability to purchase the entertainment they choose, regardless of content. Believing that allowing people to buy the things they want is protected by the first amendment, the ECA seeks to fight legislation that in any way gets in the way of that right.

There are a number of issues that they've been involved in, with varying degrees of success. The most famous issue involves both the classification of certain video games and their distribution to minors.

The ECA's first big political battle was lobbying support of the Fair Use Act, which would limit the power of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)⁴. The DMCA criminalizes the circumvention of any sort of Digital Rights Management (DRM) on any sort of of electronic or digital media. DRM is installed on many video games, music CD's and digital downloads to ensure that illegal copies are not made. The Fair Use Act would allow consumers to get around DRM on certain conditions, such as research or personal archiving.

Though the Act has not yet been passed (it was first introduced in October of 2007), it has sparked much debate over how much ownership users have over the things they have. Though most agree that users should be able to freely distribute the products they own to other users – an act that essentially cuts the game publisher out of a potential sale – many question to what extent a company can limit this control, since many DRM setups can be invasive to the user's privacy, with programs such as SecuROM damaging computers and making themselves impossible to uninstall⁵. Many also question the ability of such DRM to actually prevent the creation of illegal copies, and posit that they make the people who buy the product legitimately seem like criminals while the pirates will undoubtedly find ways to bypass these protection software⁶.

The ECA is also committed to helping improve the quality of broadband connections across the United States. Joining forces with Connected Nation, a similar interested interest group, to launch the Universal Broadband movement, which aims to increase of the quality of life through better technologies and internet access⁷

Finally, the ECA supports the concept of Net Neutrality⁸. Net Neutrality is the legal ideology that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should not be allowed to control the flow of their users' internet access; without Net Neutrality, an ISP is able to change the amount of money it can charge you depending on how much internet you use. For example, if a users the internet for a certain amount of time in a given month, without Net Neutrality, the ISP could discontinue your use of the internet for the rest of the month if it believes you've used more internet time than you're paying for.

The ECA has also had a number of issues within its own group. Many members have complained about the difficulty in canceling their membership. Currently, the only way to cancel a membership with the ECA – which is $20 per year – which is is to send a letter to their accounting office with your cancellation notice. Before December of 2009, there existed a much easier option which let users cancel their membership online. The ECA has stated that stated that the web solution was never supposed to exist in the first place⁹.

The ECA is relatively small group withing the interest group spectrum, though it has nonetheless made progress in its goal to allow the consumer the right to choose his or her own entertainment.

Editor's note: The ECA reached out to us, concerned about some inaccuracies in Suriel's report. The following notes and references come direct from Jason Andersen, director of public relations for the ECA:

Statement: “Most of their income comes from membership fees, as well as partnerships with the retailers whose prices they discount.”

• From the official ECA FAQ (http://www.theeca.com/faq): The ECA presently receives 100% of its funding through membership dues, and all of those revenues go to support the running of the organization. It is entirely possible that we will introduce new products/services going forward that would provide us advertising or underwriting income, but not at present. The ECA does not receive funding from the games industry and is not supported by the publishers. ECA is a grassroots org, meaning that we have no financial ties to the business.

Statement: “Currently, the only way to cancel a membership with the ECA – which is $20 per year – which is is to send a letter to their accounting office with your cancellation notice.”

• From the ECA FAQ, regarding membership fees: The annual dues for membership in the ECA are $19.99 per year for normal membership, and $14.99 for student and military members (with a valid dot edu or dot mil domain extension).

• Regarding cancellations: The ECA has online cancellation functionality since December 24, 2009, following requests by members. Users can cancel their membership by either sending a letter or by logging into and customizing their account settings on the website.

Statement 1: “Before December of 2009, there existed a much easier option which let users cancel their membership online. The ECA has stated that stated that the web solution was never supposed to exist in the first place.”

Statement 2: “In December of 2009, the ECA removed the option of canceling its membership on its website, which was then the most actively used way of canceling.”

• To clarify... the online cancellation feature was never visible on the site or functional until December 24, 2009. It was a new feature added at the behest of ECA members.

Statement: “Many members were forced into renewing their membership, regardless of whether they wanted to or not.”

• From the ECA FAQ, regarding auto renew: At the time of your registration, you are asked to provide a major credit card so that on your anniversary date you can be automatically renewed for the following year as standard practice – not dissimilar to parallel membership organizations or major online gaming services. Nearing your anniversary date we remind you that your term is coming to an end so that you can take action to update your credit card information or cancel your membership. As of December 2009, an auto renew feature was added to the site so that members can choose to auto renew or not, when their anniversary date is up. The time between when members requested the new auto-renew function and when it went live was 21 days.

Statement: “The IEMA was also an interest group, but this one was focused on assuring that the people who made games had more control in both their content and their distribution.”

• From the EMA About Us section (http://www.entmerch.org/about_ema.html): The IEMA was the non-profit trade association which represented the interested of retailers of computer and video games. The mission of IEMA was "to serve the interests of the category's leading retailers and act as their unifying voice while enabling them to better serve the wants and needs of their customers in a responsible, intelligent, and informed manner."

• The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) was and is the trade group which represents the rights of game publishing corporations and the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) focused/focuses on representing the rights of game developers and development companies.

Statement: “Seeing that the IEMA had been extremely successful in its efforts to give video game publishers more control over their products, Halpin felt the need to for a similar interest group, but one that focused primarily on the consumer”

• The word “publishers” may have just been a typo, as the reference should be “retailers.”

Statement: “This was around the time that they stopped giving a discount at retailer Amazon.com, which made it seem as though they planned it.”

• Retail partner, Amazon.com, halted their promotion in October 2009, as a direct result of some users exploiting their software and coupon codes.