AU Classification Board To Censor Mobile Apps

bennyboy64 writes "The Australian Classification Board is seeking to censor mobile phone applications under its National Classification Scheme. 'I recently wrote to the minister [Minister McDonald] regarding my concern that some so-called mobile phone applications, which can be purchased online or either downloaded to mobile phones or played online via mobile phone access, are not being submitted to the board for classification,' Australia's Classification Board director Donald McDonald told a Senate Estimates committee. I wonder if they know that there are over 80,000 applications on the iPhone platform alone?"

Comments

Go censorship!

[cbope]

Just think, it will likely take them YEARS just to catch up with all the iPhone mobile apps. The best thing we can hope for is their heads will implode from all the "reviewing".

Just when I thought the nanny state of the UK could not be topped...

Re:Go censorship!

[LordAndrewSama]

My thoughts exactly. I wonder if they will just trust Apples review process? probably not... they don't trust ESRB ratings do they?

Re:Go censorship!

[slacker22]

I'd hazard that the only things to be censored will be a few isolated but popular (newsworthy) apps which have the potential to be politically embarrassing.

Re:Go censorship!

[Hasney]

Australia have got so hot on censoring everything these days they're more of a great grandma state at this point.

With all the digital distribution options as well, I don't think they really know how easy it is to bypass regional restrictions on places like app stores.

Re:Go censorship!

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

The current trend in digital distribution options might actually make things harder to circumvent, not easier.

With brick and mortar boxed software sales, stopping commercial-scale imports at the border is pretty easy; but there is pretty much nothing stopping you from having friends/family overseas mail you a disk in generic wrapping. The wide availability of warez makes importation even easier. Once you have a copy, it'll run on your computer as well as anywhere else.

By contrast, with an iPhone, the app store is your only option(short of cracking the device, and that isn't getting any easier). It would be pretty trivial for Apple, if put under legal pressure, to implement geographic restrictions there. Other smartphones aren't quite as dire, since they have other ways of loading applications; but the level of carrier control is still far higher than equivalent vendor control on the PC side.

Re:Go censorship!

[commodore64_love]

a few isolated but popular (newsworthy) apps which have the potential to be politically embarrassing.

AbiMap - tracks troop and train movements so users can see where the Aborigines are being exported for "resettlement"

Conroy - "Censor it! Censor it now!"
UniformedThug- "Yes sir!"
Conroy - "And terminate the programmer of this app with extreme prejudice."

Re:Go censorship!

[nneonneo]

You can still download apps off iTunes, and it is possible to create free accounts in other countries without needing a credit card (you simply need to switch stores and download a free app).

So, if you proxy iTunes, and use a foreign (e.g. American) account to purchase apps, there's not a whole lot censorship can do.

This is bad, how?

[wvmarle]

This is not censorship: this is rating, like done with movies and so already. And this kind of rating can be a great help for parents to rate suitability of some game/movie for their kids. So I don't see this as a bad thing, and it is definitely not censorship as the content in question remains available.

Now how they are going to process and rate the tens of thousands of games available (tfa talks about games, not all applications) that is another matter. They may need to hire some extra staff.

Still I think it is basically a good thing, as long as it is just rating, allowing the buyer to get a better idea what they want to buy. Just like going to the movies, the rating gives you an extra clue on the kind of movie you are going to watch, or in this case what application you are going to buy. Or which you may want to pass on.

Re:This is bad, how?

[wvmarle]

According to TFA (which I actually read before commenting, yes unbelievable) this is about computer games. AU already rates console games and movies, they want to extend to online games and with that mobile phone games. Rating functional apps is of course nonsensical.

Re:This is bad, how?

[BorgDrone]

Rating functional apps is of course nonsensical.

What is the difference between a 'functional' application and a game ? A game is just as functional as any other app: it's function is to entertain.

Also, non-game applications can also contain 17+ content, the appstore contains some erotic applications that aren't games, shouldn't they be rated ? Where do you draw the line ?

Re:This is bad, how?

[Merls the Sneaky]

If they become rated they become prone to the "great Australian firewall". Proposals include blocking of "RC" (refused classification) content. There is no R+18 rating for games here. Effectively banned, though not illegal to possess.

Re:This is bad, how?

[copiedright]

No its not banned, it just cannot be sold in any state. However the territories do sell unclassified materials. Thats why everyone goes to Canberra for porn. Also with section 92 of the constitution regarding internal free trade. Nothing stops you buying this electronic material from a server in the territories. Except for the cost of classification,

Re:This is bad, how?

[Siridar]

You fail to understand how the ratings board works in Australia - certainly, the ratings board says they're not "censors" but anything that is "RC" - refused classification - cannot be legally distributed. In that context, it cannot be called anything else *but* censorship.

Wasted sarcasm

[asliarun]

I think they're heading in the right direction. They should also review and classify all websites on the internet as they can be downloaded to mobile phones as well. Shockingly, these so-called internet applications can even be downloaded to computers in even higher resolution. I wonder if they know that there are much more than 80,000 internet applications on just the world wide web alone. On top of this, they get regularly updated! Should keep a committee busy for a while, I think.

The end of indie iphone games in Australia

[atomicstrawberry]

As far as I know, to release a game on a medium regulated by the Australian classification board, you have to have the game in question classified. This costs a minimum of $1000 AUD.

This will spell the end of any small-scale iPhone game development by individuals or indie developers in Australia. The only games we'll see will be from big publishers, if we see them at all - even a big-name game is going to struggle to recoup $1000+ from Australian sales alone.

like hell it isn't

[serps]

This is not censorship: this is rating, like done with movies and so already.

Yes, but anything that is refused classification is unable to be sold. That's what censorship is. It's ironic that the predecessor to the OFLC was the Film Censorship Board, yet anything they didn't review was available to sell. i.e. they didn't censor.

Re:like hell it isn't

[thisnamestoolong]

I also worry that this sort of shit makes it easier for people to commit real crimes, as I feel that many would fear taking the initial step onto the wrong side of the law. When we pass laws that ensure that all citizens are on the wrong side of the law by default, I feel that we remove a large barrier in the minds of the people. Not only that, but it makes a total farce of law enforcement.

Re:like hell it isn't

[Kreigaffe]

Awesome! Freedom of expression of ONLY THINGS YOU FUCKING LIKE!

Wait! That's not freedom of expression at all! OH SHIT, I'M BEING ARRESTED, DISSENSION IS UNRATED SPEECH NOT PERMITTED!

Yeah, your ideas of freedom and censorship are all screwy and wrong, but hey, you for one will actually be welcoming our fascist authoritarian overlords without being sarcastic about it. So.. yay for that, right?

(freedom from being offended by the words or beliefs of another: one of the dumbest fucking ideas in the history of humanity. and I am aware that "chopping one's genitals off" is also an idea in the history of humanity, and I'm saying this ludicrous pro-censorship stance is even fucking dumber and less thought-through.)

So fuck you, Mr. Pro-Censorship, Fuck You and your Fucking Redefinitions of Words. "lols well see censorship isnt restrictive, it actually sets you free, you're free to be restricted from ever seeing the things we don't want you to!"... yeah, no, get your damn dirty hands off my language.

Re:like hell it isn't

[Turzyx]

The system of censorship I describe, and support, also prevents videos of child abuse being sold freely in video stores. You're obviously happy for this material to be distributed?

I was going to take issue with the word "censor"

[Rogerborg]

Then I RTFA:

iTnews has since been informed that Minister McDonald was referring to Commonwealth Censorship Minister Brendan O'Connor.

Well, how charmingly honest of them. In a more sophisticated regime, that would be "Minister for the Protection of Cute Children's Precious, Precious Innocence."

Politicians

[Dorsai65]

I wonder if they know that there are over 80,000 applications on the iPhone platform alone?

Feh. Politicians typically lose track of numbers once they get past however many fingers and/or toes they happen to have. I pity the poor staffers that are going to have to do the actual work...

When I visited Oz (ca. 1976), it seemed like a pretty decent country. Too bad the government there has opted to go the way of England.

the Commonwealth Censorship Ministery

[MRe_nl]

"The Australian Classification Board has written to Government expressing concerns that mobile phone applications are being made available in Australia without being subject to a ratings process."

Government: magically transforming self-righteous assholes into civil servants.

Re:the Commonwealth Censorship Ministery

[jipn4]

Government: magically transforming self-righteous assholes into civil servants.

Think positively: it's one of the few skills that government is really good at :-)

Re:the Commonwealth Censorship Ministery

[Chris Mattern]

"Australians have access to games that I HAVEN'T APPROVED OF! This is absolutely intolerable!"

Proposed Categories

[Ukab the Great]

No need to worry yet. Perhaps the categories will be

1. Boobies
2. Extra Boobies
3. Mediocre girl-girl
4. Wicked Awesome girl-girl
5. Why would you pay 99 cents for that boring thing, mate?

Re:I'll get right on that

[countach]

I actually listened to some of the senate committees this week on censorship. Boy does this government LOVE censorship. You should hear the self-righteous prattle they were going on with. The ridiculous thing of course is they are trying to stick their fingers in the dyke while the whole thing is coming down around them.

Re:I'll get right on that

[MichaelSmith]

Not sure Penny Wong is available for that.

Re:I was going to take issue with the word "censor

[srjh]

Unfortunately they're not quite that honest - that title is from the author, not the Australian Government.

His actual title is "Minister for Home Affairs".

I would have said that the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy was more deserving of that title. He's the one pushing for mandatory state-wide internet filtering, three-strike copyright infringement laws, and privacy/interception exemptions for ISPs so they can prove their users aren't breaking the law. Also known as the internet villain of the year.

Already planned in South Korea

[AdamInParadise]

1) The South Korea's Games Rating Board is supposed to certify every game.
2) The Jesus Phone is finally about to be launched in South Korea and it will be widely popular for lots of reasons (you can trust me on this one).

But because of 1), the South Korean AppStore will not include games...

Yes, a state can do that.

[Already posted in a similar story a few days ago.]

Australia used to be cool

[sukotto]

Why don't we ever hear any GOOD news out of Australia? Is it just the media companies (and here I include /. ) only talking about the shitty stuff they're doing ... or is it really that shitty there now?

Australia used to be cool.

Re:Australia used to be cool

[donscarletti]

The news you get about Australia generally comes from Australians. Australians have a habit of complaining about things, especially their own country. What news you get out of Australia will generally honest, but very much focused on the negative. It does cut down on things like illegal immigration, since any Australian will happily tell the world how prevalent racism is in their society and the shamefully brutal treatment of refugees. But it is important to remember that what you hear about Australia is a list of what needs to be improved, generally not a reasonable basis for comparison with other countries, since generally you might have heard those country's issues discussed in a less pessimistic voice. I've traveled around a fair bit, Australia has it's weaknesses but so do all countries, even Australia's government despite it's recent obsession with censorship is fair by government standards (not saying much). Australia's government is a bloated, inflexible and expensive pain in the arse, but so is yours.

The Australian censorship system worked fairly well in the past. Only a very small handful of media were banned in the past and they were generally things banned in most other countries too and was not vigorously enforced. Generally, censorship was aligned with what the bulk of the population wanted (although arguably that is still the case). Things changed a lot with the introduction of compulsory rating of computer games, since the ratings system wasn't able to handle the broadening scope of themes in computer games. But computer games is a small part of the Australian censorship system, and censorship is a small part of Australia. Also, it says a lot about Australia's unwillingness to accept bullshit that the government still can not implement an Internet censorship scheme after 3 years of trying despite having quite good IT resources at their disposal.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about Australia. A lot of stupid shit happens down there, but this is the case everywhere, it just pisses Australians off more.

Also, who says no good news? Yesterday Slashdot said that CSIRO invested $150M in scientific research, that's pretty good. The patents looked fair to me and even if they weren't, at least the ill-gotten gains are going somewhere useful.