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ELSPA: Legal loophole won't delay rollout of PEGI ratings
ELSPA is assuring the UK public that the plan to make the new PEGI ratings legally enforceable won't be affected by the fact that there is currently no law with which to enforce them. ELSPA director general Mike Rawlinson told MCV that the government told the organization "that the timetable for the introduction of PEGI as the legal system of video games classification will not be adversely affected by this error." ELSPA expects legislation to be passed in the general election following the Queen' speech this November, in order to fix the loophole that renders the Video Recordings Act unenforceable. In the meantime, "ELSPA will therefore advise our members to continue to forward games to be rated as per the current agreement while the legal issues are being resolved." Until then, nothing keeps retailers from selling anything to kids but common sense.
Legal blunder leaves UK game ratings unenforceable
A recently discovered error means that the 1984 Video Recordings Act, which regulates the classification and sale of videos, never actually passed into law in the UK. The Times, which shrilly claims in its headline that children are now "unprotected," reports that "Officials in the Home Office had failed to notify the European Commission of the existence of the Act as they were required to do so under an EU directive." Of specific interest to gamers: the law regulates the classification and sale of video games as well. It is this law that would give the PEGI rating system its legal backing. That means that, right now, the UK ratings system has as much legal force as the ESRB ratings system -- no legal force. ELSPA says that publishers should continue rating games as normal for now. If we see a spike in GTA sales next week, we're going to call your parents.
