Australians have until Friday to comment on new R18+ policy

After anin-principle agreement was reached by the Attorneys-General, the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC)has been drafting points on the new policy on R18+.

On the ALRC web site, a list of the key principles being adhered to for the creation of the new R18+ guidelines has been posted, with people able to comment on any of the proposed points until 2nd September (this Friday).

Obvious points such as adults being able to play what they want and protecting children from harmful images are present, but a couple of the more interesting points are as follows:

• ‘The regulatory and classification framework needs to be responsive to technological change and adaptive to new technologies, platforms and services.’ This point is likely to indicate a move away from previously foolhardy attempts to regulate downloadable content, especially on handheld devices.

• ‘The classification framework should not impede competition and innovation, and not disadvantage Australian media content and service providers in international markets.’ Recognition that our restrictive ratings system causes unique skus to be made up for our region, games to never make it to our shores, edits to be made and release dates to be shifted is long overdue, and should see retail able to compete more directly with international web sites and other delivery platforms locally.

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