Australian Government says no to sales of Online Computer Games

It seems that Australia has banned the selling of certain online computers games that are known as massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs).

Games such as World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online and Pirates of the Burning Sea.

It seems they have not been given any classification like M or MA15+

A spokeswoman for Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland said that,
"The National Classification Scheme does not distinguish between games based on whether or not they contain a single player component," she said.
"Online games are computer games within the meaning of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 and are covered under the existing legislation."

A spokesman for NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said the NSW Classification. That the enforcement of the act was the responsibility of police but penalties for breaking these laws ranged from $1100 to $11,000 for individuals and/or 12 months' imprisonment. For corporations the fines were approximately double.

Why has it taken Australia so long to find this, why didn't they do something about it when the games first started coming out, that would have been over 10 years ago.

I'm sure Blizzard (owners of WoW) will be looking at this little problem and working out what they need to do to make the game able to be sold in Australia again

I'm just glad that they didn't enforce this when Wrath of The Lich King came out, i would not be a very happy bunny as I'm sure other players in this country would be

When looking at any pages about this, i found this written on the bottom of the page from a Blizzard rep

We will always respect the laws of the countries in which we operate.

The full story can be found online at Sydney Morning Herald

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