Should it not be down to the auction site to impose restictions. I assume auction site they mean "Ebay".

I'm sure there is no way a ebay seller can confirm the age of the buyer. As ebay just provide names and addresses, as ebay introduce the buyer to the seller, and dont give the age details to the seller, surely ebay are at fault not the seller?

@DM: Exactly. I don't think the title is suiting to this article. "UK retailers" had me thinking GAME and GameStop but if its eBay then like DM said its eBay who should put something in place.

Not a big fan of how they've worded this article as it keeps mentioning UK retail and then (what i'm assuming to be eBayers) as "traders". Seems like someone has went out of their way to mask the real headline "kids buy 18 games on eBay".

It's interesting that once again the focus is on games. Why not 'recruit' these kids to attempt to buy 18-rated films too?

'Harmful' media stretches beyond games.

But you have to be 18 in order to use ebay (check the t&c s); so the crime is the initial registration or use of an ebay account by someone under the age of 18.

BAN INTERNET SHOPPING!

is this a non story? I hear bears poop in the woods too

Ban internet shopping?

I presume your aware the levels of extra funding e-commerce puts into the economy?

I assumed this was about high street retailers too, but only because I'd seen it first hand. I had a Game released about 2 weeks after San Andreas Launched and on the opening weekend I was milling about in high street retailers seeing if anybody bought it. Most people were buying San Andreas of course and on several occasions staff told parents that it was an age resticted game and on every occasion the parents bought it anyway with two parents actually getting angry about "being told how to bring up their kids" The truth is that parents don't care. While I dont think it's right for the Games industry to have to censor our output, I think that we have to think long and hard about how we tackle a retail sector that is either unable or unwilling to enforce age ratings

Mike, I think he was joking. Although his news of bears pooping in the woods was news to me, I assumed they used politicians and newspaper journalists, which would explain articles like the above.

I'm getting less inclined to read MCV every day, with 'news' written like this...

I thought it was the pope pooped in the woods...

Just to put things into perspective though I managed to get hold of every horror movie, porno, high body count action movie on grainy VHS back in the days before the internet and it never did me any harm, kids will always find a way to get this stuff

the industry just has to look like its making an effort

Hopefully you'll be less inclined to post as well.

They have posted this story because the mainstream media is running down our industry again and we need to know.

Where's the banhammer when you need it

mcv didn't write the news, they found it and are simply bringing it to the attention of the rest of us. You can't really blame them for it being badly written.

the only way I can think of this is putting your date of birth of deibt & credit cards and this is verified when you make a purchase.

I remember i was buying 18 dvds of webites when i was about 15, and porn sites you just had to put a what 'year you were born' and that was that.

So the scandal here apparently is that 18 rated video games can be sold on internet auction sites? Curse those evil game developers, how will they corrupt us next?

Clearly the fact that under 18's have unrestricted access to a credit card and an online auction account is of no consequence whatsoever. That is if this really happens at all, since it's a situation entirely manufactured by trading standards. Haven't heard anyone complaining about this in the real world.

This is further proof that the UK's ratings system is unworkable, outdated and obsolete.

The system works fine when a small number of studios are releasing pre-approved works to a small number of retailers.

However, when every man and his dog can open a storefront on eBay and post their own, original content to YouTube, or put down fifty whole pounds for a domain name and some hosting and go it alone, it stops working.

It's time we re-thought our attitude to the age rating issue.

Yeah like Johnsteels i too have been witness to under-age games sales with parents queuing with children as young as maybe nine or ten at my local GameStation to buy their copy of GTA San Andreas and i said to the guy behind the till is'nt it illegal for you to sell it to the parents as they are obviously going to supply to the child and all he said was he can't stop the parents from buying it. Ultimately tougher penalties should be level against retailers and parents if caught and should not be solely levelled at the developer who have followed the ratings procedure.

Definetely. I can never understand legal jargon but it would be interesting to hear from someone who does where the law stands on this. I mean its illegal for a shop to sell an 18 rated game to a minor ... but what if i do it on eBay? Does that still constitute me as a vendor and them as a consumer or is it a gray area?

Seems like the law is continually one step behind the internet age, which is a shame because they've had about 10 years to "get with it".

if I remember rightly, under the law it is illegal for an adult to actively show or allow a minor to witness material that is unsuitable. I know it definately it wrong to show them sexual material deliberatly or to allow them access to it.

Maybe the same law could be used to stop parents buying for their kids. If a parent says they are buying for their kids, or the store has a suspition that they are, have social services come a knocking!

So did trading standards give the kids access to a Credit Card to make the purchases? Is that not entrapment as seller has to assume if a credit card is being used then person is over 18.
Probably all government crap, prove that kids are buying 18 Cert games can show that knife crime is not the governments fault - blame retailers.

@18: The problem there is that that prevents the parent from making their own decisions as to what is and is not suitable for their own child.

Knowing the content of (say) GTAIV myself, if I decide that my fifteen year old *can* handle it, why shouldn't I be allowed to let him play it?

Similarly, when parents find their children smoking, they sometimes make them smoke the full packet to put them off smoking- why should the law stop me from using Manhunt 2 to do the same thing with violence?

Just heard this on the radio over here and when doing the usual ask people in the street one bloke said "Where did a kid get a credit card from? The card holder must know what they are buying"

Im sure they said kids were using postal orders the things you get from any open post office (rare these days I Know)
could we therefore blame the post office and thats more reason to shut more down ? I dont think so.

At the end of the day to use ebay it is the responsibility of the ebay account holder who has to be over 18 to open an account and they shouldnt share their account details with their kids even though many do, or kids are lying to ebay about their age to open an account in which case is it not ebays fault for not doing the proper checks ?

I think the Welsh trading Standards have skewed this story slighty, knowing that most auction sites require a credit card and paypal account in order to purchse would automatically stop underage children buying these game. However I really doubt that these kids even have any idea about how to get and use a postal order (As and Ebay seller I know many adults dont have a clue) or how to set up and verify and Ebay account so I suspect WTS gave them the ebay account and the postal orders and did all the posting, what did the kids actually do just push the buy it now button?!

I think this title was a little ahead of itself. There's another story just up about GAME and Woolies selling a game to a 15 year old girl. This title would suit that story a lot better.

no one's noticed kids can buy games from Amazon and Play without checks too. It's unfair to dump on GAME and the rest when these 2 big guns.."hope nobody notices the loop hole"

@20: So if you caught your kids looking at a lad's mag you would show them hardcore Porn DvD's to put them off?

The law I was thinking of was to stop adults from deliberatley corrupting kids. Yes parents should punish kids for doing something they shouldn't, but I personally think getting your child to smoke a whole pack of fags to put them off is stupid. Nicotine is chemically addictive, and they would become dependant.

If I had a 15 year old, I would not let them play half of the games out there. I love horror games and violence, but the restrictions are there for a reason, as a developing mind can have trouble differentiating games from reality, and I think that any parent who actively allows their kid to play a game not suitable is a bad parent and needs their kids taken away from them.

I remember I used to love aliens and predator as a kid, despite only knowing them from action figures and seeing various posters at my Dad's friend house. I got into the comics and everything. My parents would not allow me to see Aliens (the secone one) until I was 18, and when they let me watch the first film, it was with them in the room. It was a shocking film (I was 17 at the time) but I was also glad they made me wait until I could understand it was only a film and be able to process what was on screen.

For ages I wished I could have seen it when I was younger, but after watching it, I realised why they didn't want to show me too young.

This is the same with games, but more so. I am not some silly parent or unintelligent politican who goes "Games corrupt kids", but nor am I for allow kids to see everything, as restrictions need to be in place AND upheld by all authoritive members (parents, schools, shops, cinemas).

As you have to be 18 to register for ebay, whos account were these youngsters using? That person is resposible for any and all activity on there account.

And in next weeks breaking news headlines...

"10 year olds can buy cars on EBay before they can drive, death on the roads is one click away"

As someone has correctly pointed out, you can't be a buyer on EBay under 18 years of age, so in fact, the story should be...

"Buyers allowing under age children to illegally use their accounts"

But that wouldn't make such dramatic headlines I guess.

in my opinion its BS that people want to stop people getting their hands on Games, imagine if your 15 now and a law like that was inplace so no-one could buy games other than with ID in stores and parents didnt for you etc. you would be stuck with Family games, kids games racers and 1 or 2 FPS's..

im 15 currently and almost all my game collection is 16+ apart from the odd 15 and the odd 3+ (racers)

my film collection there is mainly 18's. There is nothing wrong with it.. if the parent doesnt supply it to their kid if they see their kid as Mature enough then let them be. If Violent video games "turn" kids into mass murders as jack thompson says why doesnt violent films do the same? they essentially are the same exept you can control when you want things to happen

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