Movie Ratings Now Available In Porn Form!

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is the UK's equivalent of our MPAA, tasked with wagging a finger at naughty movie producers and then sticking a rating label on their films to let teenagers know which films they should sneak into to see naked boobs and people getting murdered. In an effort to be more accessible, they recently announced a "scheme" to extend those ratings to online videos--including those on hardcore porn sites. The system is currently voluntary, but websites and content producers can sign up (for a reasonable fee, of course) and will then get to stamp a big blue sticker on their products showing the official approval (or disapproval) of their movies.

So why would an adult company sign on when all their films are clearly restricted and won't be shown in theaters anyway? Because having a official BBFC rating is pretty much the only way to guarantee that you won't get arrested for trying to sell your movie in censor-happy Great Britain. In other words: "Pay to join our club and you (probably) won't go to jail. You're welcome!"

· bbfc - the official website of the bbfc (bbfc.org.uk)
· British Film Board OKs Using Ratings for Movies Online (xbiz.com)
· Midnight Madness (via strictlybroadband.com; PDF press release about joining the scheme here.)