Game & DVD age restrictions undermined after UK legal blunder

Retailers in the UK are currently under no legal obligation to observe the age classifications on violent or sexually-explicit video games or DVDs, thanks to a legal blunder.  The issue is being blamed on an administrative oversight by the Conservative government 25 years ago, where they neglected to inform the European Commission about the 1984 Video Recordings Act.

As a result, no retailer can be prosecuted for selling titles to underage children; however the UK government is claiming that those previously prosecuted will not be able to overturn their convictions.  It will, however, take at least three months before a new law can be pushed through, and in the meantime retailers have apparently agreed to observe the rules voluntarily.

[via Guardian]