This morning the Federal Trade Commission found that Take-Two Interactive was deceptive in the way it marketed Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas but did not fine the company or order that they return any of their profits from the game, the commission announced today.

"According to the FTC, the companies, in advertising the Entertainment Software Rating Board ("ESRB") rating for the game, did not tell consumers that the game discs contained potentially viewable nude female characters and a potentially playable sex mini-game. Although San Andreas players could not access or view this sexual content during normal game play, sophisticated players posted a program on the Internet, dubbed "Hot Coffee," that revealed this content on the PC version of the game," FTC officials said.

While the company was not fined, they have been placed on notice that if they again violate the ratings, they will be subject to a civil fine of up to $11,000 per a violation.

Calls into Take-Two Interactive, the Entertainment Software Association and Senator Hillary Clinton had not been returned as of press time.

Today's findings come after a nearly year-long investigation into the publisher, developer Rockstar Games and the infamous Hot Coffee content found in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Hot Coffee, a bit of hidden sex found behind the apartment doors of the game, was discovered last July after a modder released a hack for the game that unlocked the previously hidden content.

At the time Rockstar first denied the claim that the content was in the game and then later said it was a piece of unused programming left on the disc, but not meant to be seen or played.

On July 20, the Entertainment Software Rating Board rescinded the game's rating and asked retailers to stop selling the game.

Take-Two agreed to a recall and rereleased the game with the content removed. According to the FTC, Take-Two incurred $24.5 million in losses associated with the GTA recall.

The recall came a week after Sen Hillary Clinton called for the FTC to investigate Take-Two interactive for deceptive marketing practices. That was followed by a similar request by the House of Representatives, which passed a resolution asking for an investigation.

While neither Clinton nor the House have the force of law to require the FTC to launch the investigation, it did certainly help the commission decide to look into Hot Coffee.

When I spoke with FTC spokeswoman Claudia Bourne Farrell last year she told me that the investigation would only be made public if enforcement action were taken. She added that in general, if the FTC were to find wrongdoings in an investigation, they have the ability to require a defendant to "give up their ill-gotten gains."

The FTC found that Take-Two and Rocksta Games violated the FTC Act by "representing that San Andreas had been rated "Mature" and assigned certain content descriptors by the ESRB, but failing to disclose to consumers that the game discs contained unused, but potentially viewable, nude female images and disabled, but potentially playable, software code for a sexually explicit mini-game that the ESRB had not rated."

Instead of fining the company, the FTC proposed a concenst agreement that requires the company to disclose all hidden content on their packaging that might be relavent to the rating, unless it was disclosed to the ESRB during the rating process. They also are requiring the comapany to develope a system to ensure that all content in a game is considered and reviewed while preparing to submit a game to the ESB.

Take-Two agreed to the proposal and the commission voted 5 to zero to accept it.

While Take-Two got off with a slap on the wrist, the greater issue at stake here is Clinton's claim that the ESRB's rating system is currently ineffectual at enforcement. Clinton would rather have a government run rating system than one run by the industry.

As this unfolds, nearly a year after Hot Coffee scalded the industry, congressional hearings are gearing up to examine both the impact gaming has on childen and the effectiveness of the ratings board. Coincidentally, just hours before the FTC announcement, Clinton put out her "Media Guide for Parents." The guide, she says, is to help parents make sure that when their children are on the Internet, playing video games or watching TV, it's safe and age-appropriate."

I've said it before and I'll say it again, this is video games own Seduction of the Innocents. Welcome to the Fourties

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