WHSmith fined over violent PC game

In what is believed to be the first case of its kind, high street retailer WHSmith has been fined for selling a violent computer game.

The retailer was found guilty by Harrow Magistrates Court following a trial for an offence under Section 9 of the Video Recordings Act 1984, of supplying an unclassified computer game which contained scenes of "gross violence" to humans from its St Anns Centre store in Harrow.

The company was fined £5000 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £1000 to the London Borough of Harrow Trading Standards Service. The case involved a computer magazine, PC Zone, on sale last summer, which had a cover-mounted CD-Rom containing a demo version of a game called Kingpin.

The disc and magazine carried no age-restriction warnings and the game was not classified by the British Board of Film Classification, the court heard.

Any game that contains scenes of gross violence to humans or animals is required to carry a classification.

The magistrates were shown video excerpts from the game which depicted ultra-realistic computer generated human characters which were capable of talking to the game player.

These characters were systematically clubbed, shot, dismembered and left bleeding or dead as the game progressed, according to a statement issued by the London Trading Standards Service.

WHSmith blamed the publishers of the magazine and said it was impractical for them to check all the magazines on display on their shelves. They said the company relied on the goodwill and reputation of the publishers to ensure that the games supplied on cover disks were legal.

A representative from the publishing company told the court she had checked the game before its distribution and did not consider it to be excessively violent.

However, the magistrates ruled against WHSmith, saying the company had not taken steps to ensure that games of this nature were classified before being offered for supply.

John Taylor, director of trading standards for the London Boroughs of Brent and Harrow, said: "This prosecution is unique as it is the first time the magistrates have had to rule on whether computer generated images in games are sufficiently lifelike to be classed as human and therefore subject to the restrictions on violence under the Video Recordings Act."

"I am particularly concerned about the violence in this game, as it was available without age restriction with a magazine priced at £2.99 and therefore well within the financial reach of children," he added.

See also:

WH Smith suffers from video nasties

WH Smith's was fined £5000 last week as a smack on the wrist for distributing a violent computer game, but analysts have questioned whether the landmark case really has any significance with the increasing number of similarly controversial games available to download from the internet.  12 Oct 2000

Video games promote aggressive behaviour

Playing violent computer games can make people more aggressive, according to new research.  26 Apr 2000

Governments tackle kids' access to cybersex

A joint US and UK government initiative aims to tackle the danger posed to children by pornographic websites.  18 Apr 2000

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