PC Gaming has been under fire from politicians and other groups practically since its inception. While the initial criticism was that video games somehow rotted your brain, in recent years they have been called "murder simulators," with numerous failed attempts to ban their sale to minors. In what can only be viewed as a radical step, Activision now requires visitors to their website to enter their date of birth and a valid credit card number in order to simply view the pages of M-rated titles (the company states that no charges will be made to the card and no expiration information is required). 

This level of verification used to be reserved for truly adult content (i.e., porn) and rightfully so. Activision's move to require a credit card just to look at a game page, which may not contain any actual offending information, now puts M-rated titles on the same level. In my opinion this is over-reaching and far too invasive into the privacy of customers for a variety of reasons:  the potential for identity theft, the potential for credit card theft, what Activision's actually doing with your credit card number, what such checks could do to your credit rating, etc. Plus M-rated means that a game isn't recommended for those under the age of 17; leaving those over 17 who don't have a credit card out in the cold.

What are your views on this issue?