January 20 will mark an era for Australian Internet
content, as sweeping new rules will take affect that enforce mandatory
age-verification on mature or adult-oriented web pages and services.
According to a press release from
the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), “content service
providers” are required to verify and enforce the minimum age of all individuals
attempting to access content that is rated according to the Australian
classification office’s MA15+ (mature, restricted to age 15 and up) or R18+ (restricted
to age 18 and up) ratings.
Telcos are under additional controls as well, as the
new rules require age verification by the cell provider on “premium rate SMS or
MMS services” and “mobile content portals.”
The new rules come from the Australian government’s Restricted Access
System Declaration 2007, which governs “age restricted content” across
almost every information medium in Australia. All content, including web pages and mobile phone content, is examined by the Office of Film and Literature
Classification (OFLC) and assigned a rating according to the country’s national
ratings system.
Content that is rated above the R18+ rating (namely, X18+ or
"refused classification") is banned entirely from the Australian Internet; if that content is found to reside within the country its owner is sent a “takedown
notice,” and if content resides outside of Australia it is added to the blacklist
on the country’s mandatory Internet censor.
The Declaration makes no mention of how it would handle
user-generated content, leaving social networking and similar services in a
legal gray area. According to the press release, ACMA will “continue to liaise
and consult on these matters” with the industry.
While developing the new rules, ACMA chairman Chris Chapman
said that the committee “was guided by its disposition to allow adults to continue
to read, hear and see what they want, while protecting children from exposure
to inappropriate content,” yet simultaneously acting “conscious of avoiding
unnecessary red tape for Australian businesses.”
Australia has long carried a reputation for having one of
the most restrictive censorship protocols in the western world. Books, movies,
and video games that are rated X18+ (roughly equivalent to AO or NC-17) are
heavily restricted in their sale – oftentimes, banned entirely – and content
that does not fit into any of the OFLC’s guidelines is banned and blocked from
import.