The Entertainment Consumer Association today celebrates 24 months of consumer advocacy on behalf of gamers nationwide. The ECA was actually formed back in July of 2006 by industry veteran and former president of the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association Hal Halpin, but I guess they were just dicking around for those first couple of months. Over the past two years the ECA has been sticking their noses everywhere on our behalf, from fair use to violent game studies, piracy to government video game legislation, with varying degrees of effectiveness. It's kind of nice to have them there.

Along with a lengthy list of everything they've accomplished over the past couple of years, the ECA used some of their press release space to announce the eventual availability of membership cards online via Walmart.com and Amazon.com,along with a partnership with MMO service provider K2 Network to help raise awareness of their various services, and indeed their very existence. Hit the jump to see what the ECA has done for you while you weren't looking.

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In a move I would like to think was spurred on by my startling revelation about the giant ice spider threat yesterday, the Entertainment Consumers Association has announced that they ware opening up memberships to Canadian members. The consumer advocacy organisation, which already provides numerous opportunities and benefits to its U.S. members, will soon unveil plans targeted specifically towards consumers based north of the American arctic arachnid defence grid.

"With a thriving gaming community already present and growing in Canada, we are proud to extend the opportunities and benefits that our U.S. ECA members have been enjoying over the years," said Hal Halpin, president of the ECA. "Canada is an important area of growth for us and we are excited to welcome Canadian gamers who are interested in community and any issues that affect gamers."

Interested Canadians can head over to the official ECA website to sign up for membership. Good luck and god speed, brave neighbours to the north.

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The Entertainment Consumers Association, an advocacy group representing gamers, has joined up with nonprofit Connected Nation in support of universal broadband. The effort benefits gamers, says the ECA, because high-speed internet access for everyone supports access to online games and the growth of that industry.

Jennifer Mercurio, the ECA's government affairs director, said that it created the Gamers for Universal Broadband initiative in response to "member outcry" over internet access limitations interfering with games.

Through the joint initiative, the ECA joins Connected Nation's advisory committee. Full details follow the jump.

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The ESA are in a pickle. E3 ain't what it used to be, and high-profile members like Activision, Lucasarts and id have up and left the organisation. Can things get any worse? You bet! Hal Halpin, boss of the Entertainment Consumers Association, has told the Washington Post that he knows of a further two companies planning on leaving the ESA, while adding that there are "several others that are unhappy but remain with the organisation". Like a marriage gone bad. "Pass the salt, would you dear", etc etc.

Fewer Players in the Gaming Group [Washington Post]

Technology columnist Mike Musgrove got Entertainment Software Association CEO Michael Gallagher on the horn (we got him first!) to talk about, what else, ESA's membership losses. Everyone here should be familiar with the story and the pressures that realigning E3 have brought to bear on membership dues, believed to be the motivation for so many big name publishers flying the coop. ESA refers us to the companies to get the reasons for leaving, and so far none have, really.

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The Entertainment Software Association, already suffering from an exodus of member companies, took on Game Politics today over a post the Entertainment Consumer Association-backed site wrote calling into question the choice for the upcoming E3's keynote speaker.

You better sit down, this gets really confusing really quickly.

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The Entertainment Consumers Association will now support chapter organisations created by its members, it announced today. The ECA hopes to create new networks by which consumers within the same area can connect with one another, participate in ECA-sponsored LAN parties, fundraisers and other events.

The ECA has also stepped up to advocate a social network for politically-minded gamers, taking over the National Association forthe Protection of Video Games group on Facebook and hosting a new "action center" on Read More »

Nonprofit advocacy group The Entertainment Consumers' Association is hailing the results of a recent Federal Trade Commission study that showed 80 percent retailer compliance with the ESRB's ratings system, a continual year-over-year increase that puts games ahead of other media in self-regulating mature content.

ECA President Hal Halpin called the results, which improved significantly over 2007, "an extraordinary accomplishment," praising retailers' commitment to keep M-rated games out of kids' hands. "Perhaps most impressive is the incredible reversal in their failure rate over such a short period of time and with a comparatively new rating system," Halpin said.

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Hal Halpin, head of the Entertainment Consumers Association, has issued a statement following the tragic events at Northern Illinois University, events which our dear old friend was so quick to seize upon and blame on videogames. The statement reads:

We'd like to extend our condolences to the families, friends and classmates of those who were affected in the school shooting at Northern Illinois University. Separately, we are disgusted, but no longer shocked, to find that anti-game activists are again rushing to conclusions about what drove Stephen Kazmierczak, the clearly disturbed 27 year old who police say was responsible for this tragedy, to commit such an act.

Blaming video games for the behavior of the mentally-challenged is vile on many levels. And, as Generations X and Y mature, it is extremely likely that just about all of us have played at least one video game at some point in our lives. Drawing a parallel between games and violence without any substantive proof is sensationalism for its own sake. This is a sad event, made worse by the irresponsible actions of attention-seekers and the media that has given them a platform for their reckless venom.

You read that right, the Entertainment Consumers Association, an organisation dedicated to promoting consumer advocacy with concerns to political issues involving gaming, has cut military spending by 25%. Granted the discount only applies to military personnel who wish to join the ECA, and it only comes out to five bucks off the normal fee of $US 19.99 a month, but hey, it's something! It's all thanks to GamePolitics.com regular and ECA member Robert Kalal, stationed in Turkey with the Air Force, who wanted to promote the association to his fellow servicemen.

"We're excited to extend our 25 percent Student Discount for annual membership dues to all active service men and women with a valid dot mil domain extension," said Hal Halpin, president of the ECA.

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