Australian Retailers Risking Fees For MMO Sales
Few non-communist countries are quite so strict in their regulations on video game content as Australia. The Office of Film and Literature Classification has no classification equivalent to the MA17+ or AO classifications that the USA does and some games have been refused classification as a result, which means that they are illegal to sell in Australia. Some MMOs have fallen under this unfortunate category (likely because due to the multiplayer component it’s impossible to ensure that content is appropriate for younger gamers).
Some retailers have continued selling these games however as certain factions of the video game industry in Australia feel that there is a loophole in the laws excluding games with no single player feature. Unfortunately these companies face heavy fines into the thousands of dollars. The loophole lies in the fact that according to the industry MMOs fall under the jurisdiction of the Broadcasting Services Act only if the servers are hosted in Australia. If they’re hosted elsewhere they are only subject to the classifications of that country.
The state and federal attorneys-general don’t agree however and state that a computer game of any category is subject to the same laws and regulations. Luckily for retailers and publishers however this law must be enforced by the police in each state and territory. As you can imagine the police are likely more focused on more serious crimes and harmful offenses.