Video associations welcome DEB

Despite all the controversy surrounding both the debate and content of the Digital Economy Bill, two UK trade bodies have welcomed its passing through Parliament.

This is an important moment for video games classification in the UK,” Laurie Hall, the director of the Video Standards Council, which is responsible for ensuring that games comply with PEGI’s regulations prior to granting licenses for them to be sold within the UK, stated.

The Act creates a new, improved, single system for age-rating all games using the PEGI system. It gives new powers to the VSC as the sole rating agency for games and this will strengthen child protection on the Internet.

Using the PEGI system for all games offers strong, Europe-wide protection for children and their parents when choosing games.It gives all game players clearer information on the age suitability of games. It creates a flexible, future-proof rating system which can adapt to the changing nature of games and the increasingly online playing environment.”

The director general of the British Video Association Lavinia Carey added: The BVA is delighted to see the Digital Economy Bill successfully passed with clauses in place to protect copyright holders from peer-to-peer file sharing as well as from illegal sites offering copyright material for free.

As a nation we should be enormously proud of our home entertainment industry which produces a wealth of extraordinary material to be enjoyed by millions. Illegal consumption of this material is effectively stealing and squeezes the industry’s budgets, which in turn stunts the creativity of content and innovation we have come to enjoy.”