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When I popped in Mirror’s Edge to take a stab at some of the Time Trials, I was greeted by a new EA Online Terms & Conditions agreement. Frequent BitMob’ers and all-around ‘Jon’ fans will remember my recent article about EA effectively hindering my step-son’s Xbox Live account due to him being under 13. Their current Terms & Conditions agreement makes it clear that all children under 13 are not permitted to have an EA Account, which is required to play an EA games on Xbox Live.
This meant he couldn’t play any Battlefield, Burnout, Need for Speed, or Command and Conquer online. Your possible feelings on my parental judgment aside, I was pretty upset that mere moments after activating a card good for a years worth of Xbox Live on my son’s account, Microsoft was powerless to refund the card to let us create a new account per EA’s instructions: Just make it appear as if he is over 13.
When I saw these new Terms & Conditions, the first thing I wanted to see is if they had changed their stance on this policy–and it sounds to me like they may have.
“If children 12 years old and under in such jurisdictions wish to participate in online activities that require or permit the disclosure of personal information, we will request that they provide their parent or guardian’s email address to notify the parent, obtain prior permission or other verifiable consent from the parent or guardian as may be necessary to participate in the activites of the site.”
Given the context in which I saw this message, it makes sense to me that this is referencing all EA accounts–including the accounts that exist in conjunction with Xbox Live.
UPDATE: EA’s official response is below:
Unfortunately, not all EA products and services require or permit the disclosure of personal information or participation of children at this time. Our Terms and Conditions were revised to address how we treat children for a limited number of products and services where such participation may be permitted. We hope to expand those products and services in the future.
Until that time, parents and guardians are not prohibited from allowing their children to use the parent or guardian’s own account for online game play under their supervision. We urge parents to instruct their children to never give out their real names, addresses or phone numbers without permission and observe the products or services terms & conditions when using the Internet. Parents must also keep in mind that any violation of EA terms & conditions may cause an irreversible revocation of their account. We should all endeavor to educate young users regarding online safety. For more information, consult resources such as www.webwisekids.org and www.wiredsafety.org.
So, no. The restriction remains, and I get a canned “go here to learn more” tacked on the end.
Here is the new agreement.