1. Regulatory Bodies
OFCOM:
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors.
It has a statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting
competition and protecting the public from harmful or offensive material.
Ofcom is the communications regulator in the UK. We regulate the TV, radio and video on
demand sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over which
wireless devices operate.
The Office of Communications (Welsh: Y Swyddfa Gyfathrebiadau), commonly known
as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the
broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Ofcom has wide-ranging powers across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectors. It
has a statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting
competition and protecting the public from harmful or offensive material.
Some of the main areas Ofcom presides over are licensing, research, codes and policies,
complaints, competition and protecting the radio spectrum from abuse (e.g. pirate radio
stations).
The regulator was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002 and received
its full authority from the Communications Act 2003.
BBFC:order to preserve its independence, the BBFC's income is derived solely from the fees it
charges for its services, calculated by measuring the running time of films, DVDs/videos and other
works submitted for classification. The BBFC is not organised for profit, and its fees are adjusted
only as required to cover its costs.
2. The BBFC's financial affairs are administered by the Council of Management. Members of the
Council are drawn from the manufacturing and servicing sections of the film industry, as well as
from banking, corporate accountancy, TV broadcasting and production and the charity sector.
Council of Management members are excluded from classification decisions and policy making.
There must be no actual or perceived conflict of interest, while at the same time members have to
command the confidence of our customers. The Council of Management is also responsible for the
senior appointments at the BBFC. An example of BBFC being used is films and games etc. This is
shown to make sure there is a strict age restriction on all types of genres of film. BBFC is needed to
ensure the audience of what age group is allowed to watch films/ play certain games.
PEGI:
How does the rating process function?
Prior to release of each version of a game, publishers complete an on-line content assessment and
declaration form. The first part of the form deals with legal provisions in certain European countries.
1. The publisher then completes the second part of the form relating to the content assessment of the
game and taking into account the possible presence of violence, sex and other sensitive visual or
audio content.
2. According to the declared content, PEGI allocates a provisional age rating along with content
descriptors to indicate why the game has been allocated that age category.
3. The PEGI administrator (NICAM or VSC depending on the provisional age rating given) are sent an
examination pack which contains all of the information and material required to double-check the
provisional rating against the PEGI criteria.
4. The publisher is then issued with a licence authorising the use of the age rating label together with
the related content descriptor(s) for the game.
