Netherlands Institute for the Classification of Audiovisual Media (Nederlands Instituut voor de Classificatie van Audiovisuele Media) is the institute responsible for the content given for review for the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

motion picture rating system A motion picture content rating system classifies films based on their suitability for audiences due to their treatment of issues such as sex, violence, or substance abuse; their use of profanity; or other matters typically deemed unsuitable for c ...

, Kijkwijzer, and the software given for review for the

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video game content rating system A video game content rating system is a system used for the classification of video games based on suitability for target audiences. Most of these systems are associated with and/or sponsored by a government, and are sometimes part of the local ...

PEGI.

History

The first call for regulation within the audiovisual world came from the government at the end of the 1980s, to protect younger audience from possible bad influences. With an explosive growth of audiovisual media, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

called for action, which resulted in the "not for all ages"-governmentnote in 1997. This note pleaded for an independent institute, which would have to serve as a guiding institute for selfregulating within the audiovisual branch. In 1999 the ''Nederlands Instituut voor de Classificatie van Audiovisuele Media'' was founded, in close cooperation with the ministries of Education, Culture & Science (OCW), Public health, Wellbeing and Sport (VWS) and Justice. NICAM began with an initiating and coordinating role in the founding of Kijkwijzer, which was officially accepted by the government in 2000, and became a law on February 22, 2001. In April 2003, the NICAM was given the task of evaluating computer- and videogame software for the newly founded ''Pan European Game Information''. The British

Video Standards Council The Video Standards Council (VSC), also known as the ''VSC Rating Board'', is an administrator of the PEGI system of age rating for video games. It was established in 1989, originally with the purpose of enforcing the Video Recordings Act 1984 a ...

acts as an

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in the

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for NICAM due to "high concentration of videogame publishers (that) are found in the UK".PEGI Annual Report 2007 Page 4: http://www.pegi.info/en/index/id/178/nid/media/pdf/211.pdf In 2004, the work of the NICAM was evaluated by the Dutch government. Although the evaluation found points that could be improved, it was concluded that the NICAM was functioning well.

Organisation

The independent governing board president of NICAM is Mrs. Hedy d´Ancona. Over 2,200 companies and organisations are directly or indirectly associated with the NICAM. The governing board consists of representatives of both public and commercial broadcasters, film distributors and cinema operators, distributors, video rental stores and detaillists. * Dutch Association of Producers and Importers of video- and audio-carriers (NVPI) * Dutch Video Detaillist Organisation (NVDO) * Dutch Association of Gramophone record Detaillists (NVGD) * Dutch Federation for the Cinematography (NFC) * Dutch Broadcasting Foundation ( NOS), representing all Dutch public broadcasters * Association for Satellite Television and Radio Programme Broadcasters (VESTRA)

External links

Official website
(English and Dutch)

References

{{Pornography legality, state=collapsed Entertainment rating organizations 1999 establishments in the Netherlands Organizations established in 1999 Film organisations in the Netherlands