The Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) Anti-Piracy Unit was very busy in Camden, in London, England, on January 29, 2009. The Camden Trading Standards, Metropolitan Police and an ELSPA investigator raided a business in Camdon last week that resulted in the seizure of over 50,000 game copying devices and counterfeit console peripherals. Also found were packages with devices required to copy games, ready to be shipped throughout Europe.

The company which was behind the illegal operation was warned and had received notices from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) about haulting its activities. Despite that, the company still continued to maintain its website, selling and distributing the devices. This was confirmed by ELSPA investigators actually accessing the website and making purchases…

The UK’s Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) have just announced a new “traffic light” system to rate video games and offer up for consideration for the UK government before it finishes consulting on video games on November 20, 2008. This new system uses colors and numbers to help parents and guardians instantly decide if a game is appropriate for their children.

This proposed rating system is also inspired by Dr. Tanya Byron, a child psychologist the British Government asked to study children who play video games and use the internet and write a report on. Dr. Byron found parents had trouble understanding the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) rating system. The PEGI system was first established in 2003 and now is the predominant video game rating system in Europe.

Normally I’d be rolling my eyes at the need for a color coded rating system like this, but then I went to look at the PEGI site…

The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) hosted a panel discussion at the BAFTA venue in London earlier this week (October 9, 2008) during which a series of church and charity leaders discussed the ways in which video games can be a “force for good in today’s society.”

Mike Royal, the national director of the Lighthouse Group (a charity that specializes in helping young people who have been, or are at risk of being excluded from the school system), noted that games are useful in educating children about “boundaries” and the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.

Martin Houghton-Brown, The Children’s Society’s deputy director of new business, explains that children in the United Kingdom now see gaming as a…