28 May 2008
A voluntary scheme set up by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is to be launched to create a rating system that applies to downloadable movies and video games.
The independent regulator said that it will now rate a vast amount of online content as part of this new initiative, although the aim of it was not to ‘censor the Internet’ and will not rate online games such as World of Warcraft.
The new service, named BBFC.online has attracted large corporations such as 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros, and Walt Disney Studios, and has already issued more than 600 ratings certificates.
The head of policy at the BBFC, Peter Johnson said that BBFC is already in talks with all major companies who produce such online content to sign up with this new ratings system.
He said:
If a company is delivering a game or a movie via the Internet instead of using the more conventional forms of delivery such as mail order, then it can sign up for the ratings system; however, the new system is not applicable to games hosted online.
David Cooke, Director, BBFC, added:
The BBFC will have to work collaboratively with PEGI Online in order to provide a better rating system for online games.
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