Remember earlier this month when the Entertainment Software Association threatened us with legal action for reporting a story about that funny as hell "Your Mom's Rated E for Everyone" t-shirt?

At the time we tried to be cordial but essentially ended the conversation with an eloquently stated go to hell after ESA obtusely refused to recognize that not only could they not control editorial content of a website but they probably couldn't stop the creation of a t-shirt that parody's their rating system.

That seemed to end the conversation until we received this, an apology:

The ESRB Rating Icons are valuable trademarks of ESA, and we must be vigilant in protecting them against unauthorized commercial uses, lest our trademark rights become diluted. At the same time, we also understand and respect the First Amendment rights of those who, like Kotaku, disseminate news and information.

That said, we have taken a second look at this incident in light of the concerns you raised. We have concluded that Kotaku was reporting on a product in the marketplace, and is not involved in distributing or marketing this product, and thus did not engage in any conduct sufficient to trigger the issuance of the cease and desist letter we sent. Please accept our apologies, and please feel free to post this so your readers are aware of it. I am happy to discuss this with you further if you so desire.

Sincerely,

Gail Markels
Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Apology accepted, now I've got a flag to burn. Brian Crecente

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