Classification finally for Australian online games?

PALGN News | More classification confusion.

The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper has reported this morning that the Australian Classification Board will push for online games to be classified in an attempt to bring consistency to the Enforcement Act, which has maintained a blind eye to the sales of such titles so far.

Games that don't contain a single player experience, such as World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online and Age of Conan, were not put forward for classification on release due to the belief that, being primarily online games, they fell outside the traditional national classification rulings.

But it seems now the Australian Classification Board is pushing for complete consistency, wanting all games to be classified - be they online or not. The NSW Classification Enforcement Act, enforced in 1995, prohibits publishers and retailers from selling unclassified computer games.

John Hatzistergos, spokesperson for NSW Attorney-General said, "the NSW legislation covers computer games bought online as well as those bought in stores, and treats single, multi-player and online games the same way."

Going further, a spokesman for NSW Police Minister Tony Kelly, urged members of the community to contact local police if they saw retailers selling computer games illegally.

"Police officers in the NSW Police Force will respond to complaints received from members of the community or other agencies to investigate alleged breaches of either the Commonwealth's or NSW's Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Enforcement Act 1995."

While IGN is reporting that retailers will be not be able to stock MMO titles, this seems unlikely because of the complexities surrounding the issue at this time and the fact they have always theoretically been 'banned'.

Chief executive of the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia Ron Curry believes that online games without a single player component did not require classification by the Classification Board.

"In some instances the box sold in a retail outlet contains an access key to the game which can only be accessed online. If such a game is hosted locally it falls under the jurisdiction of the Broadcasting Services Act, but if it is hosted internationally, it’s classified in the country that hosts the game, rather than in Australia," said Curry.

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34 Comments

Infested Jibbs

3 years ago

What a ****.

I see no option but to either MA15+ or R18+ pretty much any online game that allows you to interact with others.I mean, how can a game be rated G when some wank online spouts racist slang and posts pictures of his junk by way of in game tagging etc(im thinking counter strike here, which is clearly MA15+ anyways but you know).

NegativeZero

3 years ago

I'd thought that they did carry a classification - that classification being that they were exempt from classification.

If they do get classified I guess that they'd have to be classified according to the game content, and not what other users could potentially expose you to. Probably with a disclaimer like the ESRB's usual disclaimer.

One big question though is what happens to all the US-hosted free-to-play MMOs? I doubt they're going to pony up the several thousand it takes to get their games classified here.

Actually I've never understood what the legal implications of downloading software over the internet are. Free indie games and the like which aren't made in Australia. If I download / purchase say a shareware game that wasn't made in Australia and the transaction is done online to a person in a foreign country, have they actually sold an unclassified product in Australia?

It seems to me that the internet is basically a minefield as far as classification systems go. Which must be why the government wants to censor all that too.

rufati

3 years ago

I want to know what event sparked this garbage. WoW has been out since 2004, and no one has made so much as a whimper about it not being rated.

I don't believe the ACB is just coming out of nowhere and making a push for this (if they were so proactive there would be a R18+ rating in place by now). For 5 years (or more, I'm not very knowledgeable about MMOs before WoW) nothing has been done, and all of a sudden there is an outcry for consistency.

It's bizarre.

renegadesx

3 years ago

Disclaimer: IANAL

Grabage is the right word. You cant apply Australian law to another country and the laws only prohibit a games sale in Australia.

Technically if Microsoft and Valve wanted to stop hosting Xbox Live and Steam servers in Australia all titles on both networks would not be subject to Australian classifications considering the law applies to sale/distribution not ownership and the sellers were outside the jurisdiction of Australia.

I think this sudden push is most likely coming from Michael Atkinson. Like Jack Thompson before him he seems to be losing his mind.

Fetidchimp

3 years ago

Thompson isn't done just yet.

oflc wrote

Are there any limits to the exemption rules?

Yes – certain content can automatically disqualify a film or game from being considered exempt from classification, even if the product fits into one or more categories in the exempt films/exempt games tables above. A film or computer game is not exempt from classification if it contains elements that would cause it to be classified M or higher.

I can find nothing relating to online only games being exempt from classification

oflc wrote

Exempt computer games
Item Type Description
1 Business Software for use in the course of a business or trade
2 Accounting Software for use in the keeping or verification of accounts
3 Professional Software for use in the course of a profession
4 Scientific Software for use pursuant to a branch of knowledge conducted on objective principles involving the systemised observation of, and experiment with, phenomena
5 Educational Software whose main purpose is for training, instruction or reference, as a manual, a lesson, an encyclopaedia or a guide

?? shrug.
seems ausgamer noticed this discrepency a while ago also - ausgamer article

Cham

3 years ago

This all started with a blog post by Tateru Nino on Massively.com, a website dedicated to all things MMO. Thats who the Herald credited with the original story idea anyway.
To be honest I was surprised myself to find out that WoW wasn't rated, I had always just assumed it was. The best explanation I found was that somehow, the game development community got the idea that online only games did not require classification in Australia, and this was then passed around until everyone "knew" it but nobody could actually point to a source of that information. Kind of like how everyone knows to drive on the left side of the road, but nearly nobody would be able to say "yeah, I read that in the law books". Except the Devs got it wrong. The Massively.com article (http://www.massively.com/2009/01/28/mmogs-defy-classification-in-australia/) hints at that it could have been the Classification Board who, possibly unofficially, told developers that no classification was required.
The point about the ESRB is an interesting one. I can find no evidence that user-created content, that gets an additional warning from the ESRB, is accounted for at all in the Classification Act. Another sign that our Classification Act is lacking in its ability to properly classify games.
One thing I did find on the OFLC website was this little snippet

OFLC Website wrote

Software for use in the keeping or verification of accounts

Now, the section refers to Accounting, which would imply the keeping of business records and the like, however the term "accounts" is never defined in the act to mean that, and given that the game which is sold is merely there to give you the key that is used to verify your ACCOUNT, you can see where the confusion could come in.

moonhead

3 years ago

I don't see what all the fuss is about, there is a very easy fix to all of this. Get these games classified.

There are MMO's currently rated in Australia so i don't see why these ones should be any diffrent.

snicks

3 years ago

Does that mean the Windows Messenger will have to be classified and possibly banned? I can play Tic Tac Toe on messenger and people can speak to me with sexually explicit dialogue... therefore would attract a R18+ classification!

LeonJ

3 years ago

Well if they ban this, they might as well ban phone calls in Australia. I think telemarketing calls should be rated R18+.

ugh the boot

3 years ago

If a cop tries to stop me playing a game or anything this frivoulous i'll blow the mother **** away with his own gun and create some real controversy. **** this ****! If simple things like this come down on me, i'll go vagabond and just kill *****!

The day we are made to pay for rain is the day we'll shall rise brothers!

Island_Wolf

3 years ago

Law is law, no matter how much we like it or hate it.

Why Blizzard hasn't classified its game is unknown to me but I think they are partly to blame for trying to get away while many other games had to put through the process of getting it classified, why should WoW and some affected MMO be any different to a non-MMO game?

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/cfacgea1995596/ wrote

Sale or public demonstration of unclassified or RC computer games prohibited

ugh the boot

3 years ago

WHEN THE LAW STARTS TO GET **** WE SHALL RISE I TELLZ YA!

I don't play MMO's or even RPG's so the rain one will have to be it for me.

Dani

3 years ago

Island_Wolf wrote

What about console games with single player & online play, which warn you that your "game experience may change during online play" - so they can get away with having unclassified content in their game and MMOs can't ? (Their classification wouldn't cover the online part, thus the warning).

MMOs don't classify because they can't predict the content. It all depends on the level of moderation over the users, and with a game like WoW... millions of players... it's out of control. They won't classify and let themselves be liable for the things players do or say that they can't prevent completely.

Island_Wolf

3 years ago

The problem lies with the definition of Computer Game in the Commonwealth Law.

page 6 wrote

5A Meaning of computer game
(1) A computer game is a computer program and any associated data
capable of generating a display on a computer monitor, television
screen, liquid crystal display or similar medium that allows the
playing of an interactive game.

and

page 5 wrote

interactive game means a game in which the way the game
proceeds and the result achieved at various stages of the game is
determined in response to the decisions, inputs and direct
involvement of the player.

http://www.comlaw.gov.au/ComLaw/Legislation/ActCompilation1.nsf/all/search/160008E2F338AA55CA25748700282639 from a pdf file.

And Fetidchimp had posted the exemption list.

ObsoletE

3 years ago

Island_Wolf wrote

Why Blizzard hasn't classified its game is unknown to me but I think they are partly to blame for trying to get away while many other games had to put through the process of getting it classified, why should WoW and some affected MMO be any different to a non-MMO game?

i doubt they tried to sneak it past the censors. they would've had some advice telling them that getting it classified wasn't necessary. whether it was correct advice or not, i don't know, but i can guarantee they would've made some investigations into the matter with at least the vanilla game.

they might've not done anything when releasing the xpacs using the vanilla game as precedent, but even then i'd doubt it.

whether MMOs require classification or not is another matter. personally i don't see why they should be exempt, apart from it could mean that every content patch will also have to be classified (in line with how XBLA titles are classified), and thus this simply reduces work in the long term.

Dani

3 years ago

Don't have time to read through a legislation and I clearly don't study law (though I have rather strong family connections in that area) but how is a game classified that has constantly updated content? How does a classification on release cover all upcoming content that may be downloaded in future?

Benza

3 years ago

Could the Australian government actually act on this?
I mean they've allowed it to be sold unrestricted in every game store in the country since 2004?

If taken to court woudln't that look... well suss?

Fetidchimp

3 years ago

I don't think the issue is about swearing over headsets, WoW still has set components doesn't it, like going around and belting stuff with a sword?

Thats an actual question by the way i have never played or laid eyes on it.

Benza

3 years ago

Fetidchimp wrote

Yeah I don't think you can classify interactions with other users, it would just be on what's actually in the game. That and the fact that swearing is actually against the ToS and there's a swear filter in the game for text swearing (You can turn it off but it's there) would have to have some impact on that.

ObsoletE

3 years ago

is swearing really against the TOS?
i know you can get banned for swearing, which i always thought was BS since the game clearly has a swear filter which has a default setting of "on".
don't like swear words, don't turn it off.

but otherwise, i'm with Chimpy on the reasons for the issues. despite the "experience may change online" thingy, there is still a set amount of content that is reviewable, and probably should've been. but then that does still leave the issue of the "downloaded content", does this have to be reviewed also?

how popular would Australia be if the reason a content patch was delated was because the OFLC couldn't get a raid together to fully explore and comment on the end boss of that new 10 man instance.

Jellyfish

3 years ago

ObsoletE wrote

how popular would Australia be if the reason a content patch was delated was because the OFLC couldn't get a raid together to fully explore and comment on the end boss of that new 10 man instance.

Downloadable content should have this check this to be filled out by the developers/publishers.

Does the new content dramatically different to current content? (Tick one)
[ ] Yes
[ ] No

Obviously worded better since my English isn't the best. The idea is that if the content is merely a new "Raid" or perhaps barding for your warhorse it's automatically passed, while if it's adding killable women of negotiable virtue or the ability to microwave oven babies it requires a sit through to make sure it gets the right classification.

Benza

3 years ago

ObsoletE wrote

I think swearing in public chat like general yell and say is against tos, swearing in guild, officer etc is fair game.

G3ck0

3 years ago

Why can't they rate online games? WOW would probably be 'M', Age of Conan 'MA' etc. But then parents could buy an 'M' game for their son, thinking it won't be bad, and there could be a lot of swearing etc. But the games still have ratings on them over here, like 'T' and 'M', I think they should just get over it TBH.

Benza

3 years ago

Do Age of Conan etc have ratings?

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