flameboy Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 It's always been considered illegal to sell adult-rated videogames and movies to minors in the UK, ever since the Video Recordings Act of 1984. However, it's been discovered today that the required paperwork was never put through properly, meaning that it's actually been legal to sell adult entertainment to children for the past twenty-five years! In order for a law to be formally passed in the United Kingdom, it has to be forwarded first to the European Union. Nobody ever actually did this when the law was drawn up over two decades ago, meaning it was never officially in place or legally enforceable. Those already convicted under the law aren't going to have their sentences reduced or ignored. However, those about to be prosecuted now have to be let off the hook and can't be held on any charges. The government is going to have to scramble to create an "emergency legislation" so that children can be protected under laws that were thought to have already been in place. Until this legal loophole is closed, it's currently completely legal to sell any kind of videogame to any child. Hell, not even videogames. You want to sell an eight-year-old boy some hardcore pornography? You can DO it! Even stuff previously banned in the UK is now perfectly acceptable while this loophole exists. What an absolute mess. Still, great news for the porn merchants of Britain. http://www.destructoid.com/today-it-is-legal-to-sell-adult-games-to-kids-in-the-uk-145917.phtml People selling adult videos, including pornography, to children are to escape prosecution after the discovery of a Whitehall blunder that means that the 1984 law regulating the video industry was never enacted. The disclosure that for 25 years the Act governing the classification and sale of videos, video games and now DVDs was never brought into force is a big embarrassment to both Conservative and Labour governments. It also leaves the industry in disarray with the classification system designed to protect the under-18s from violent and explicit material no longer officially in operation. Lavinia Carey, director-general of the British Video Association, which represents 90 per cent of the industry, said: “What a ludicrous situation to find ourselves in after all this time.” Police and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs are to be told to stop bringing any prosecutions until the Government brings in emergency legislation to re-enact the 1984 Video Recordings Act. Until then people will be able to sell videos, including violent and pornographic ones, to under-18s without fear of prosecution. The video industry was stunned by the Government’s admission that the Act was not properly enacted 25 years ago. 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. The mistake was not spotted on two subsequent occasions, in 1993 and 1994. It was finally discovered during plans to update the law and introduce a new video-game classification system. Barbara Follett, Minister for Culture and Tourism, said last night: “Unfortunately, the discovery of this omission means that, a quarter of a century later, the Video Recordings Act is no longer enforceable against individuals in United Kingdom courts.” In a letter to representatives of the video industry, Ms Follett said: “As the then British Government did not notify the European Commission of the VRA’s classification and labelling requirements, they cannot now be enforced against individuals in UK courts.” The Department for Culture, Media and Sport said that it had received legal advice that people who had previously been prosecuted and convicted would be unable to overturn their convictions or seek compensation. The Act was passed when Leon Brittan was Conservative Home Secretary and then amended under Michael Howard’s period at the Home Office. A Home Office spokesman said that it was likely the error had occurred because the European Directive was new at the time the Act was passed. “The important thing is that we close this loophole as quickly as possible,” a spokeswoman said. No one should see this as a green light to act unlawfully. We will continue to prosecute breaches vigorously once this technical loophole is closed,” a spokeswoman said. The British Video Association said that it is urging members to continue submitting work to the British Board of Film Classification and to continue labelling them under the system. The Association represents 90 per cent of the industry with an annual turnover of over £2 billion and selling 250 million videos a year. Jeremy Hunt, Shadow Culture Secretary, said: “Much of the problem would have been avoided if they had sorted out the classification of video games earlier, as we and many others in the industry have been urging them to do.” http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6808592.ece Just shows the BBFC can't do anything write...thank god for PEGI in some ways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolan Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Genius. A little dumb that people wrongfully incarcerated will not be receiving any amendments to their sentences though. Of course, I don't know diddly about the UK justice system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tellyn Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 I'd imagine shops will still refuse to sell 18-rated products to minors, unless they brought some decent evidence with them that proves that it's actually legal for the shop to sell the merchandise to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flameboy Posted August 25, 2009 Author Share Posted August 25, 2009 I'd imagine shops will still refuse to sell 18-rated products to minors, unless they brought some decent evidence with them that proves that it's actually legal for the shop to sell the merchandise to them. I'd imagine the vast majority of under 18's won't hear about this news and your average high street retail assistant may not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesley Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Shops will still refuse on the basis that they reserve the right to refuse sale to anyone. This is just... odd, but, nothing really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 I'd imagine shops will still refuse to sell 18-rated products to minors, unless they brought some decent evidence with them that proves that it's actually legal for the shop to sell the merchandise to them. Not a lot of them did this when I was younger. I remember my mate being ten years old and he bought a pack of cigarettes for his dad and they didn't even know him. Plus my cousin bought GTAIV in town a few weeks back and he's 11 years old, lol. But still, I can imagine that most shops (or towns) would not do this, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnas Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Just shows the BBFC can't do anything write...thank god for PEGI in some ways. I love irony Anyway, this is just one of those obscure sides of the law that few people know. I bet the whole "shooting scots in York with a bow" thing is more well known. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolan Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 I love ironyAnyway, this is just one of those obscure sides of the law that few people know. I bet the whole "shooting scots in York with a bow" thing is more well known. I just assumed he did it on purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbob Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 If i gave my 12/13 year old cousin a copy of this news article and asked him to purchase a copy of Rambo from a top DVD store, i reckon he'd get it. It's a silly law, i've been able to buy 18 rated movies online since i was 15, no way to prove you are 18 at all. They should make it harder to purchase age-related stuff online and in stores, work on the law that exists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoolFunkMan Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Haha, this is hilarious. You've gotta love silly loopholes. Seriously though, the law does bugger all to prevent minors from purchasing 18 rated products anyway. Like Jimbob, I've been buying 18 rated games since I was well under the age limit. I even went in store to buy games with no problems. There really does need to be a decent system put in place to prevent this (maybe some kind of gaming/movie IQ? ....Okay, forget that, probably wouldn't work. ) Hopefully this loophole will open the government's eyes to the situation a bit more, although that's doubtful. :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbob Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 Haha, this is hilarious. You've gotta love silly loopholes. Seriously though, the law does bugger all to prevent minors from purchasing 18 rated products anyway. Like Jimbob, I've been buying 18 rated games since I was well under the age limit. I even went in store to buy games with no problems. There really does need to be a decent system put in place to prevent this (maybe some kind of gaming/movie IQ? ....Okay, forget that, probably wouldn't work. ) Hopefully this loophole will open the government's eyes to the situation a bit more, although that's doubtful. :/ We have to put a hope on that, but it won't happen. They will probably just put something in place properly to make sure there is no loop-hole anymore like this current one. Honestly, there should be something in place to prevent under-age sales. And it should be more tougher than the current one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rummy Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Hahaha, how genius! I don't really think this'll do much tbh, except for dudes who maybe work in shops and want to sell their mates something they can't buy and how rare is that anyway cos it's just silly so no. Though I do kind of wish I worked somewhere that I could just totally flaunt this, anarchy woo! As for all this jumped up shit about going out and buying porn, kids who do know probably still won't have the balls to try it, and even then why the hell would you, you basically can't avoid porn on the internet, so it's damn bloody easy to find on it. (yeah, this is also my comment on the mainsite, I just wanna be a part of things here too ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cube Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Bah. I had a lot of trouble getting Gears of Wars 2 a few months ago as I didn't have an "official" form of ID on me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayseven Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 You guys want more laws? Dudes - Do you feel scarred because you bought and watched movies 'underage'? If not, then why do you think it's better for others to have less choice than you? This whole charade has just shown the difference between laws and morality -- if there was never a law, just a 'suggestion' that only people of a certain age are suitable for this game or that movie, then there would never be this weird 'glee'-- "OMG I CAN BREAK THE LAW AND GET AWAY WITH IT!!!" --I mean, jeez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ike Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 GAME wouldn't let a 13 year old buy a 12 game 2 days ago, which is pretty funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S.C.G Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 GAME wouldn't let a 13 year old buy a 12 game 2 days ago, which is pretty funny. Haha that is pretty fail, I mean come on, what kind of 'corrupting content' is gonna appear in a 12? :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 It's legal to sell kids an 18 movie in the same way that it's still legal to kill a Scotsman with a crossbow. Technically true, but in reality it's bullshit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoogleViper Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 It's legal to sell kids an 18 movie in the same way that it's still legal to kill a Scotsman with a crossbow. Technically true, but in reality it's bullshit. SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! *readies bow* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 SHUT THE FUCK UP!!! *readies bow* You misunderstand. It's the Scotsman that needs to have the crossbow. If a Scotsman is in possession of a crossbow, it is legal to kill him in England somewhere. Can't remember where. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellmeister Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 I thought it had something to do with an Irishman on a hill under a full moon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoogleViper Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 (edited) I know the one about killing a Welshman with a bow in Chester. You misunderstand. It's the Scotsman that needs to have the crossbow. If a Scotsman is in possession of a crossbow, it is legal to kill him in England somewhere. Can't remember where. Are you sure? I thought it meant you could kill him but only with a bow. EDIT: I've just checked, and you can kill a Welshman in Chester if you use a bow. But you can only kill a Scotsman in York if HE is carrying a bow and arrow. Edited August 26, 2009 by MoogleViper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McPhee Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 (edited) This makes no real difference. All it means is that shop staff can't be prosecuted for selling videogames to underage kids. Pretty much every company under the sun will continue to enforce the policy though and anyone caught selling games to minors will still be subject to the company's disciplinary procedure. Sadly until the government get around to sorting this out we'll have loads of kids trying it on and insisting that we can no longer stop them buying the games... I've just checked, and you can kill a Welshman in Chester if you use a bow. But you can only kill a Scotsman in York if HE is carrying a bow and arrow. Both laws are irrelevent though, you have to be a Scottish (or Welsh) national in order for them to apply. I do hope the government don't forget to lift this law if Scotland ever gains independance though, it could get messy Edited August 27, 2009 by McPhee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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