Fellow gamers, distinguished colleagues, friends,
I write here to raise awareness of a grave injustice befalling the gamers of an unfortunate society. Numbering in the thousands, these gamers are crying out for a saviour to rescue them from their oppressive government and sanctioned international trade laws.
I am of course, speaking of the good people from the People's Republic of Australia.
These gamers want nothing more than to join their brethren in the rest of the world in a game of Cod4 or Killzone2. Perhaps they might even care to dabble in some Silent Hill or Gears of War. But alas, it is not to be. The currently elected dictatorship has taken it upon themselves to hamper these gamers' God given rights to frag, teabag and pwn their way into gaming legend.
The following is a list of injustices to befall the gamers of this country. A majority of these coming up in the last 18 months alone (i.e. since the last general election). Some are proposed, some are already in place and some are currently under debate.
- Mandatory ISP filtering of all internet content which the government "deems inappropriate". This started off as a list of various R18+ sites (yes, the appalling Australian Dictatorship has taken it upon themselves to take away the basic human right of free pr0n). It has since expanded to anti-abortion sites and pro-anorexia sites.
- All games rated above an MA15+ rating (R18+ or higher) are illegal for sale in the country. Changing this law requires unanimous agreement between the attorney generals of every state, which will not happen until a certain one either retires or "retires"
- Making it illegal to sell any MMO in the country. The Classification board states it is unable to classify online content as it depends on the people you are playing with/against. As such, content which is not classified is illegal for sale in this country. Retailers potentially face an $11,000 fine unless they cease to sell copies of World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, and all MMOs
- Throttling any public refferendum about introducing an R18+ rating for games. The attorney generals stated they will release a paper on their reasoning and findings behind the lack of R18+, and would hold a discussion at that time. This was over 12 months ago.
- Games are consistently released here late, and extremely overpriced. A new game typically retails about over $90. Rock band took over 12 months to arrive at our shores (released after Rock Band 2 did in the US) and was released for $250. A PS3 is $699 and an Xbox 360 Pro is $550.
- It is proposed to use the ISP filter mentioned above to block all sites/services selling content not suitable for persons under 15 years (read: yes, this would include banning Steam, Xbox Live and potentially even eBay as they contain MA15+ content)
- It is illegal to import any content not currently classified in this country. If a game is refused classification, it is then illegal to import it via other means (i.e. the internet)
- Exhorbitant costs for internet and restrictive bandwidth limits. The following is the ADSL pricing page from the country's largest ISP http://www.bigpond.com/internet/plans/adsl/plans-and-offers/ . The Australian Dollar is currently at 80c US. So all prices are 20% less in US dollar terms. Granted this ISP is one of the worst priced ones, but they are by far the largest and the story does not get much better from there
As you can all clearly see, this situation is dire. Without the games that provide these gamers their means of survival, it is unclear how much longer they can go on. Already, lack of gaming has left hundreds in a zombie-like state, unable to function in society, or even feed themselves. I beseech you, please send help. Redirect the planes that drop food shipments and pamphlets to the people in Afganistan and airdrop us copies of Manhunt and uncensored versions of GTA4.
I fear I cannot write much more, the ISP filter is watching. I must stop here, praying that my message has reached someone outside these shores. Send help!
I write here to raise awareness of a grave injustice befalling the gamers of an unfortunate society. Numbering in the thousands, these gamers are crying out for a saviour to rescue them from their oppressive government and sanctioned international trade laws.
I am of course, speaking of the good people from the People's Republic of Australia.
These gamers want nothing more than to join their brethren in the rest of the world in a game of Cod4 or Killzone2. Perhaps they might even care to dabble in some Silent Hill or Gears of War. But alas, it is not to be. The currently elected dictatorship has taken it upon themselves to hamper these gamers' God given rights to frag, teabag and pwn their way into gaming legend.
The following is a list of injustices to befall the gamers of this country. A majority of these coming up in the last 18 months alone (i.e. since the last general election). Some are proposed, some are already in place and some are currently under debate.
- Mandatory ISP filtering of all internet content which the government "deems inappropriate". This started off as a list of various R18+ sites (yes, the appalling Australian Dictatorship has taken it upon themselves to take away the basic human right of free pr0n). It has since expanded to anti-abortion sites and pro-anorexia sites.
- All games rated above an MA15+ rating (R18+ or higher) are illegal for sale in the country. Changing this law requires unanimous agreement between the attorney generals of every state, which will not happen until a certain one either retires or "retires"
- Making it illegal to sell any MMO in the country. The Classification board states it is unable to classify online content as it depends on the people you are playing with/against. As such, content which is not classified is illegal for sale in this country. Retailers potentially face an $11,000 fine unless they cease to sell copies of World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, and all MMOs
- Throttling any public refferendum about introducing an R18+ rating for games. The attorney generals stated they will release a paper on their reasoning and findings behind the lack of R18+, and would hold a discussion at that time. This was over 12 months ago.
- Games are consistently released here late, and extremely overpriced. A new game typically retails about over $90. Rock band took over 12 months to arrive at our shores (released after Rock Band 2 did in the US) and was released for $250. A PS3 is $699 and an Xbox 360 Pro is $550.
- It is proposed to use the ISP filter mentioned above to block all sites/services selling content not suitable for persons under 15 years (read: yes, this would include banning Steam, Xbox Live and potentially even eBay as they contain MA15+ content)
- It is illegal to import any content not currently classified in this country. If a game is refused classification, it is then illegal to import it via other means (i.e. the internet)
- Exhorbitant costs for internet and restrictive bandwidth limits. The following is the ADSL pricing page from the country's largest ISP http://www.bigpond.com/internet/plans/adsl/plans-and-offers/ . The Australian Dollar is currently at 80c US. So all prices are 20% less in US dollar terms. Granted this ISP is one of the worst priced ones, but they are by far the largest and the story does not get much better from there
As you can all clearly see, this situation is dire. Without the games that provide these gamers their means of survival, it is unclear how much longer they can go on. Already, lack of gaming has left hundreds in a zombie-like state, unable to function in society, or even feed themselves. I beseech you, please send help. Redirect the planes that drop food shipments and pamphlets to the people in Afganistan and airdrop us copies of Manhunt and uncensored versions of GTA4.
I fear I cannot write much more, the ISP filter is watching. I must stop here, praying that my message has reached someone outside these shores. Send help!
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