Games developers push the barriers
Games
developers are risking huge fines by trying to get around games Aussie
censorship rules by claiming their games are "online only".
This is because
the games industry believes there is a legal loophole exempting online games
that don't have a single player component from classification
requirements.
However Australian federal and state attorneys-general deny
this is the case and might be getting ready to make World of Warcraft, with its
more than 11.5 million subscribers, a test case. WoW is sold as boxed sets in
retail stores without classification by the Classification Board or the
appropriate labeling, for instance M or MA15+ on the basis that it is an
internet game.
However NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said the NSW
Classification Enforcement Act prohibited publishers and retailers from selling
unclassified computer games.