TopTV's approach to age-restricted films brought new dimension to regulation, says Broadcasting Complaints Commission.

The South African pay TV operator TopTV that started in May 2010 and their particular approach to age-restricted films has brought a new dimension to regulation of South Africa's TV airwaves, says the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) in its annual review of 2010/2011.

The BCCSA in its annual report is commending TopTV for the pay TV operator's innovative approach when it comes to the encryption and encoding to make age restricted movies inaccessible for children and to protect them against films and material classified as 18 and R18.

''TopTV has introduced a novel procedure to protect children against 18 and R18 films: the films are blocked out and are only accessible by way of a subscriber's pin. Although this is not a requirement, the BCCSA has recognised the value of this approach. The BCCSA has emphasised the importance of subscription channels ensuring that age restrictions are indeed effective in so far as the parental control mechanism is concerned.''