The Australian federal government has decided that the internet is going to be a kid-friendly place. A bill that looks set to become law will ban the sale of video games rated as being for people above 15 – the MA15+ rating, from being sold online. Presumably, the intent behind this decision is to prevent someone under the age of 15 from going on Steam, lying about their age, and then using their mothers’ credit cards to buy something rated for people older.
This is a pretty stupid prevention method as all it really does is set back the onset of digital distribution. As anyone who still plays PC games can probably attest, not having to go to Gamestop, but instead buying a game online and having it registered to an account that will allow you to download that game whenever you want, is really cool. It also puts more money in the hands of developers as they do not have to go through a company like EA to have the game physically published.
The other problem with this is the problem that we should all have with any sort of law that is designed to “protect the children”: why should everyone be punished because some people are terrible parents? If you’re worried that your son will use your credit card to buy something for eighteen year olds, don’t give him your credit card! We don’t need laws that make life harder for everyone to protect our children. It’s arguable that people are better off because of stricter security regulations in airports. With video games, however, there is no case.
