Here’s another reason to want to kick Senator Conroy in his manjunk – According to a report by Asher Moses in the SMH, he’s apparently decided to turn his already stupid compulsory web filter against gamers by blocking websites hosting or selling games that are rated above the maximum MA15+ for games in Australia.
Highlighting the stupidity of the current lack of an R18+ rating for games is the fact that even though games can only be rated to MA15+, pages on the internet itself can be rated R18+.
According to the SMH piece, the filter will block sites selling or hosting games that are RC (which is anything above our MA15+) based on a complaints system to the ACMA. The scary part is that this could mean sites like Amazon, which sell games restricted to adult purchase in the US, but might be RC here in Australia, could be blocked. It also puts question marks over online games like World of Warcraft and Second Life.
As always, you should feel outraged by the Government’s plans to filter the internet. Rather than being a tool to fight child pornography, this is quickly becoming an Orwellian crusade to control the freedoms of Australians everywhere. Make sure the government hears your voice denouncing their plans – it’s the only way we can hope to overcome this idiocy.
[SMH]