Australia to pursue game censorship

Robert Hallock (Thrax)

June 25, 2009 4:29 PM ET in News, ,

gdayThe Australian Federal Communications Ministry has confirmed that they will use the country’s fledging internet content filter to block the download of games that have refused classification by the country’s game ratings board.

The south pacific nation is the only developed country that does not offer a classification for games suitable for those over the age of 18. Instead, the system requires that all games be suitable for those ages 15 or younger; games that fail to meet this criteria are banned until they are modified to comply.

The draconian system has only applied to brick and mortar sales, but a spokesperson for Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has confirmed that the ban will soon apply to downloadble games (Steam), web sales and even flash games.

The impending change to the country’s ambitious and reviled filtering system will make it impossible for adults to enjoy mature content. It is expected that the move will incense the country’s vast population of gamers which boasts an average age of 30 years.

3 Comments:

  1. chrisWhite
    25 Jun '09, 8:37 pm

    wtf is with Australia indeed. That's horrible news, I had no idea they were already restricting brick and mortar games already. This is bad news for a gamer and it's also really bad news for developers; not only will they not be able to sell their games in Australia but this will help encourage piracy as the only way to get around these stupid laws. Very few over-18 gamers are going to stop playing their games, they're just going to have do it illegally now.

    I'll bet they love Zero Punctuation in whatever government office made this decision.

  2. ardichoke
    25 Jun '09, 9:00 pm

    I seriously cannot wait to hear Yahtzee's reaction to this one. Wanna bet next Wednesday's ZP ends up being about this?

  3. chrisWhite
    25 Jun '09, 9:15 pm

    Oh man do I sure hope so

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