VSC restructures for gaming future

Ahead of the implementation of the government’s new video games ratings regime outlined in The Digital Economy Bill later this year The Video Standards Council has outlined a number of high-level staff changes designed to position the regulator for the challenges ahead.

The former chief constable of Lincolnshire Police Tony Lake has become the VSC’s second vice-chair and Mary MacLeod, the former director of the Family and Parenting Institute, is now a member of the board. She is joined by Chris Atkinson, formerly of the NSPCC.

The VSC has also established an Expert Advisory Panel who will assist the board in implementing its new responsibilities – and none other than Dr Tanya Byron, author of the famous Byron Report on violent video games, is named as one of its members.

Other panellists include Australian author and TV host Geoffrey Robertson QC and media violence specialist Dr Guy Cumberbatch.

The newly established VSC Expert Advisory Panel will play a key role,” VSC chair Baroness Gillian Shephard stated.

The VSC will have the ability to effectively ‘ban’ a video game from supply in the UK if it infringes the limits set out in the law. Any such decision will not be taken lightly and will involve a number of legal, clinical and psychological issues.

The VSC will now be able to call upon some of the most eminent experts in these fields and ensure that all relevant factors are properly taken into account before any decision is reached.”