Australian Websites To Get Ratings For Content, Age
Websites originating in Australia will soon be subject to a rating system that will tell users whether the content is appropriate for children of different ages.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) announced today that it has approved what it’s referring to as the “Content Services Code”—an addition to the Broadcasting Act 1992—and will apply it to content posted to the Internet, as well as that accessible from mobile devices.
The code was developed by the Internet Industry Association (IIA), a group that represents a number of Internet content providers in Australia.
According to the ACMA, any content that is likely to be rated MA15+ (for mature audiences over the age of 15) must be assessed and classified by “trained content assessors.” The purpose of this is, of course, to assist parents and children to decide what is appropriate for them.
Of course, since the code only applies to content originating in Australia, it strikes us as somewhat of a pointless endeavor. Members of the IIA are bound to the rules, but the rest of the Internet definitely is not.
The majority of web and mobile sites are produced, distributed, and hosted from outside Australia, meaning that only a small percentage of the overall web will be held to these standards.
Photo by CraigPJ.
Gotham - Sydney Graphic Design Studio on July 20th, 2008 10:56 pm
Of course, they don’t cover Australian sites (ie the .com.au domain named sites) that are hosted internationally. A lot of our clients choose the cheaper US hosting over the Australian, as it is so much more affordable in comparison. How is this ever going to be enforced when a site may seem to be Australian, and end up being hosted in some other country.
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