I'm not too sure, but I think it forces you. It's not put in yet, luckily, so we still have hope to stop it.
Don't rage too much or get too worried. All the bad stuff is pretty much dead in the water.
The most recent google reports of "internet ID Australia" date from 2003 under the previous government, don't think there's too much to worry about there. There's been no legislation in the works to my knowledge since then, and there's nothing on any news sites since 2003.
Also the proposed porn filter is totally stalled. It was Prime Minister Rudd's baby (he's a devout christian) and as he is gone, it's pretty much dead. PM Julia Gillard is not a hardline christian. Hell, she has a boyfriend and they're not married! And on the record she has said she doesn't believe in god. The federal opposition have also stated (joe hockey) that they will not support any internet filter legislation. The greens and independents also don't support it, so there's no senate majority. Half of the governments own party don't even support it. Why do you think Rudd is gone as party leader ? (among other reasons)
Also, Michael Atkinson is no longer Attorney General of South Australia, and the Gillard federal government is finally working on draft legislation for an r18 games category like Europe / USA :
www.r18games.com.au (they needed all the states Attorney Generals to agree to bring in this law change, and Atkinson was the only crazy one). All "banned" games can be resubmitted once the r18 category exists. m15 is the highest rating that exists in australia now.
Only 2-3 games a year get banned under the current system, all the rest of 18+ (R) Rated games from USA or Europe get labelled M15+ !!
15 year olds can legally purchase Fallout 3, GTA San Andreas etc, here right now! Which is frankly more lenient than the USA or Europe. And they do not check ID (drivers license is the standard ID here, and you have to be 16 to get a learners permit), so a 13-14 year old can just go and buy games only available to over 18s in most countries. More than half Australia's "M" games are rated "R" everywhere else (17+ in the US or 18+ in Europe)
So, bringing games law into line with American and EU rules will actually make it harder for kids to get violent games, not easier. It's seriously exaggerated how "censored" australia is.
There might be other stuff in the news, but this is was a quick check of the major issues revealed.
Also of note: ( from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Australia )
"Australian broadcast television is considerably more relaxed about sex and coarse language than the American networks. In the 1990s Australian courts ruled that coarse language was no longer offensive due to its common usage and TV networks began allowing the word "fuck" to go to air, particularly where it was seen as vital to the storyline of a movie. Later "cunt" was also broadcast but only when it was vital to the storyline"
Yeah so I can call you a "fucking cunt" on national TV if its "vital to the storyline" (they also show South Park on a free-to-air government channel, plus european films with full sex scenes as well). And 13 year olds can get away with buying and playing GTA here.
Also: "Explicit sex scenes have also become more common. Channel Nine's crime drama Underbelly has frequent coarse language and sex (including anal rape) with one episode featuring a "drug fuelled orgy with prostitutes accompanied by the Spiderbait song "Fucken Awesome""
And that's on the most "mainstream" free-to-air channel we have, not a cable station.
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Topic: Things that made you RRRRRRAAAAGGGGEEEE today: Trust-o-nomics Edition (Read 3708229 times)