You know, the more I look into the whole Hot Coffee fiasco, the more I thinkthat the ESRB caved in to political pressure more than anything else.

Gamespot: My read of your statement yesterday suggests that the ESRB is directing its energy toward modders, not publishers, and is, in effect, saying it’s worse to unlock adult-rated content than to put it in the game in the first place.

Patricia Vance: We’re not saying that all. What we’re saying is that if you, as publisher, produce content that’s pertinent to a rating, and leave it on a disc—risking that it might be accessed by a modder—then it’s your responsibility. And if it undermines the accuracy of the rating, it’s your responsibility.

It’s up to publishers to take action against third-party modders, not ours. Our only obligation is to make sure that the rating is accurate. The publisher is responsible for creating content. If they then leave it on the disc and it undermines the effectiveness of the rating, then we have no choice but to take action. We’re actually putting responsibility solely in the publishers’ hands.

The rest of the interview can be found here