You may have heard about Australia's proposed internet censorship regime, governed by the ominously titled Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), in recent months.  Though it's facing opposition from political opponents, the Communications Minister still pushed for trials of the censorship plan.  The scheme consists of a blacklist of websites which contain content not suitable to be viewed (according to the ACMA), and posting a link to a blacklisted site can bring an $11,000 a day fine.  Opposition from Electronic Frontiers Australia earned one online rights campaigner a death threat.

Today, I read that the ACMA will be adding downloadabe games that do not meet Australia's MA+15 rating to the list of "objectionable content," effectively banning them from Australia.

The article explains that Australia is the only developed country without a +18 rating, and therefore, any content that does not meet the MA+15 rating will be rejected by the ratings board, the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC).  Bethesda's Fallout 3 was rejected for sale in Australia until the developer altered the game's content to meet the MA+15 rating.  Australian content regulation is much stricter than in many other parts of the world.

Previously, this type of content censorship has been limited to physical content (i.e., game discs in brick-and-mortar store), but with the ACMA's push to censor internet content, downloadable games have fallen under fire.  Gamers under 15 can't purchase MA+15 games, but those 15 and older can; however, the results of this acti0n would be the censoring of content from all Australian citizens, even those who can legally view MA+15 games.