Games industry faces self-regulation
Speaking at the ISFE (Interactive Software Federation of Europe) conference, which took place in Brussels on June 26-27, European Commissioner for Information Society and Media Viviane Reding has said that Europe needs a strong interactive games industry, as the pastime is one of the favourite activities of Europeans and is worth, in financial terms, more than cinema.”
At the event, the Commissioner praised the official launch of PEGI Online, a classification system for online games developed with the financial support of the European Commission (Safer Internet programme).
The advantage of the system, according to Commissioner Reding, is that the classification of works is not based on categories of age but on content description (violence, sex, language). It is a system of self-regulation, one that the Commission supports today although they cannot discharge, especially retailers and games halls, of their responsibilities concerning minors. The industry also has a duty today to communicate, informing parents about these classification systems.
Commissioner Reding confirmed her intention to submit a report to the Parliament and the Council concerning the development of classification of computer videos and games before the end of 2007. The last quarter will also see the publication of a communication on media education, with an emphasis on good practice, with possible initiatives in this area.
Meanwhile, in coming weeks the MEDIA Programme will publish a specific call for proposals in order to develop interactive works on all media, both online and off, including games templates for computers and consoles.
(Translated from French)
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