The U.S. Senate has just passed the CAMRA Act (The Children and Media Research Advancement Act) sponsored by Joseph Lieberman, Hillary Clinton, Dick Durbin, and Republicans Rick Santorum and Sam Brownback. The Act includes Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) investigation into video game and other electronic media use.

The focus of the research has something to do with the role and effects, positive and negative alike, of all kinds of electronic media on children. These include TV, movies, videogames, and Internet, from where kids receive the biggest exposure when it comes to entertainment. Grants would also be provided to learn about the impact of certain factors such as the format, length of exposure, age of viewers, nature of parental involvement, and venue in which media is viewed.

The CAMRA Act does remind us of the online poker ban, which is currently undergoing Congressional reviews in the U.S. Although some bills have already been passed concerning this ban, player alliances are still outraged over the representatives' move, knowing that the largest population of online poker players are located in the U.S. The same trend occurs in videogames, where statistics tell us that the largest markets are in the U.S., Japan, Europe, and Australia.

Whether the CAMRA Act poses a threat on the videogame industry (note that Lieberman, Clinton, and Durbin are popular videogame critics) or not, it sends an implication that the CDC's aim is to prove that videogames are doing us more harm than good. Or are they? We believe that violent behavior usually associated with playing videogames always have something to do with the upbringing of children. Kids who are raised well know that videogames are just games, and somehow they are the best outlet for the venting of violent behavior.

The CAMRA Act is apparently a subtle advocacy towards proving what videogame critics had been trying to tell us all along. But we like to keep an open mind because we believe the investigation will shed new light on the very role of electronic media in the lives of children. Still, we can't help but raise a questioning eyebrow.