Australia's Bizarre Classification System For Internet Censorship

stavros-59 writes "Australia's internet censorship watchdog, ACMA, uses an internet classification system originally intended for children's PC filters. ACMA has now made what must be the most amazing recent decisions of the whole bizarre censorship debate. The Register today has a story about ACMA's decision to force Apple to withdraw their ITMS gift feature from Australia on the basis that MA+ (over 15 and maybe sex) rated movies could not be given to children using the gift cards. The films are also banned on the internet but not at local video/DVD stores as detailed in this Whirlpool Forum post. At the same time, the photographic work of Robert Mapplethorpe (not for the fainthearted) has been classified as PG (Parental Guidance) by the Classification Board — which is not part of ACMA, but an agency under the Attorney General's Department."

Comments

great

[Anonymous Coward]

Great, so now we have goatse links in the fucking articles themselves.

Re:Don't click the last link then scroll to the en

[Verdatum]

Artsy goatse...Try saying that 5 times fast...right now...and don't worry, your cubicle neighbors won't question it.

Re:Don't click the last link then scroll to the en

[LordAndrewSama]

nice one. How many people are going to wonder how goatse can possibly be 'artsy', and click the link to find out, I wonder. you've doomed thousands. I'm just glad i'm at work so I can't possibly click on it, and i'll forget all about it by the time I get home.

Thanks for the warning though, this story needs an NSFW tag.

Re:Don't click the last link then scroll to the en

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Perhaps it means that the kids should perform such activities only under parental guidance. *ducks*

Re:ignorant politicians

[happy_place]

"One of my favorite examples is when the Church banned crossbows. How'd that work out for them?"

Oh, I dunno. Just how many crossbows do you possess? See! It works! ;)