Censorship gone crazy

[zeid]

So I'm feeling very envious of all you lucky Americans out there with your "right to freedom of speech". Hell the Australian dollars doing pretty good, if I actually had some money (alas I am a student) I would consider moving there.

For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I live in Australia. While Australia is a wonderful country with beautiful beaches and many other redeeming qualities, it's also a country that seems to be run by a bunch of dinosaurs with 'old fashioned' views... You know, the old man down the street that screams at little kids to get off his lawn and shouts racial absentees because back in his day Australia had the whites only policy so only 'good honest Christians' could get in the country. Well fortunately it's not the 'good old days' anymore, in fact it's the information age! We have these amazing things called computers now, but unfortunately technology is apparently scary to so many... Like some kind of techno-witchcraft. Actually technology isn't the only scary thing, all these opinions and sources of free media provided by this 'internet' how terrifying. Why people could start to think in a way unaligned with the ideologies that the old men in power have!

So what to do about it? Hey I hear china has a giant internet filter, what a great idea. Let's bring one in. We can claim we are protecting the poor simple minded citizens from criminal websites. The very mention of child pornography should shut up any young whippersnapper that says, "The government could use this too disallow access to opinion sites." While we are at it, let's not reveal the sites we are banning. After all the people should trust us not to be corrupt in any way, why would we want to abuse our power we are just helping people by telling them what they can and can't look at/read/think about. We should have 2 black lists, the first is an optional blacklist that censors content we think people may find offensive. The second a mandatory blacklist for sites that we decided must be censored.

Now humorously the blacklist was leaked. After this the site that the blacklist was leaked too was unavailable to Australians, Wikileak.com. Furthermore a site that was anti-giant internet filter with a domain name the same as the minister pushing for it was promptly shutdown due to some strange clause, giving it, quote "3 hours to explain its case for breaching this clause". Again humorously, a near identical name was re-bought.

Links on internet filter:
...Quick censor the anti-censorship!
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2009/03/ ... 61100.html
http://stephenconroy.com.au/

Ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating the oldness and quantity of government officials who approve this. But the fact is Australia is ridiculous with its censorship laws. In Australia there is currently no R18+ rating for games, this means that games that are R18+ are refused classification in Australia and therefore unavailable. Actually many of these games get a second 'toned down' version made by the developers which then gets released in Australia anyway. One of the many ironies of this is that it leads to games that should really be R18+ being released as MA15+ with only minor changes. Fallout3 is a lovely example. It was refused classification because it mentioned real world drugs as having positive effects. In response to this the names of the drugs were changed and this version was released in Australia as MA15+, complete with heads that sprayed goo when you shot them.

Links on R18+:

the one that I prefer more :P Because it's way more 1 sided and less serious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSQ2cpkCXss


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebe9BEe0 ... L&index=33


That is the end of my rant, feel free to share your opinions one way or another... Oh and they have green lighted the internet filter in case you are wondering. So if this was happening in your country how would you react?

[Milch]

I think video games should be considered as art and not as a stupid game for kids.
Movies like Saw are also considered as art and so would not be censored at all.
Honestly, I never played a game with more blood spread than Saw.

When it comes to censoring, I always have to think about something that happened a while ago in Germany.
A WW2 game ( I think it was a CoD game ) was censored because of the flags with the swastika on it - and I'm sure that there were movies where the swastika was on flags.

[thbp]

censorship has gone crazy. If i'm rite i read on dreamincode.net that US congress passed something telling the VALVE software to change the left for dead hand because of the fingers missing or something like that

[Bakkon]

censorship has gone crazy. If i'm rite i read on dreamincode.net that US congress passed something telling the VALVE software to change the left for dead hand because of the fingers missing or something like that

No. Australia.

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/left-4-dead-2/1025690p1.html

[Falco Girgis]

That's disgusting.

I'm an avid supporter of free speech, information, and media in any shape, form or fashion, and this is morally appalling to me. That's grounds for a civil uprising in my book.

[thbp]

LET'S START A RIOT (lol)

hmm though it's true we're given freedom of press (here in the states) and you guys prob have it to (?) but srsly come on wtf is that gong to do to someone?

[zeid]

That's disgusting.

I'm an avid supporter of free speech, information, and media in any shape, form or fashion, and this is morally appalling to me. That's grounds for a civil uprising in my book.

It is in my books too! Ignorance = control when it comes to running a country in many regards. I'm sure many more wars are won through propoganda and control of information then brute force. Hell you can study information warfare at uni over here.

LET'S START A RIOT (lol)

We can't... We have no right to bear arms. :P

hmm though it's true we're given freedom of press (here in the states) and you guys prob have it to (?)

We have "implied freedom of speech". In that there isn't any laws about it.

but srsly come on wtf is that gong to do to someone?

Huh?

What upsets me largely about the R18+ issue is that it means games are being treated as a medium completely void of the subtleties and artistic insight to appeal to a mature adult audience. Think of all the movies that age restrictions would have outlawed had there been no 18+ rating, many of these movie have significantly shaped the culture of cinema in a profound way. If the R18+ rating isn't added, Australia will be capable only of providing games that appeal on a purely immature level befitting of the audiences they are allowed to appeal too.

The R18+ issue upsets me, but the internet filter. Well the internet filter disgusts me, and makes me ashamed to live in a country with such a government.


Also:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaIhf41c ... =topvideos

This isn't racist in Australia... But all this controversy over it certainly gave me a chuckle

[avansc]

people need to grow up. every martin luther king day we celebrate it with a couple of 40's and a bucket of fried chicken.
now that would be a great KFC add.

"come to us for your MLK day catering needs"

[Busy_V]

I don't really like this ad that much. It confuses me... somehow.

[avansc]

Dude... that's fucking disgusting. And given the information that this is the year 2010, it's a shame that such things are allowed to be played on tv. (I mean, racist things... on tv... legal?!)

how is that racist?

[zNelson24]

I never really understood where people got the idea video games kill people. All this does is make honest developers look like spawns of saintin while the contrevorsy acts as a scapegoat (one that nobody notices) to genuine, evil criminals.

And whatever happened to personal censorship? When somebody says something unpleasent that I don't like, I can just blow it off. I'm not going to force then to shut it or else (Im not some school bully who beats everyone with a bat when they call me names).

And I'm not liking the whole web filter thing. And I really hate the fact that politicans, people who have no idea how filters or other stuff work, are making the decisions. Anyone who has been to school with computers in them would know they are either ineffective or overzealous. As far as internet/technological law making goes, I would leave all the decision making to someone with real computer literacy.

So if this was happening in your country how would you react?

I have had my own visions of a sort of super WAN in my head if the overzealous blocking ever came to be, but I donno for sure what I would do. If this came true, then free and innovative development might be looked upon as being a danger to the public and state down the road (but then thats just me being paranoid).

[zeid]

Dude... that's fucking disgusting. And given the information that this is the year 2010, it's a shame that such things are allowed to be played on tv. (I mean, racist things... on tv... legal?!)

In Australia we don't have the 'Fried Chicken' stereotype for black people. Until someone told me about this video on youtube I didn't even think of the stereotype that the American culture has. Furthermore I hadn't thought twice about the race of the people in the add until this video, nor had anyone of whom I've asked. This is humorous, as in the follow up video they claim KFC is trying to spread the stereotype, when it is they who have inadvertadly made the stereotype more known. The video was clearly meant only for Australians and perhaps other cricket enthusiest countries as that is clearly the Audience who the add is targering (Americans don't watch cricket like we do, and I'm not a big cricket fan but I knew what was going on in the add).

Here's something to think about, if you were to show an add for a burger place and air it in India, how well do you think it would go down... Hindu's regard the cow as a sacred creature, the vast majority of India is Hindu. They have a drink that is made from the urine of cows, thats how devoted some of these people are and to what esteem they hold this animal. I can tell you right now screening said add would majorly piss off some people. Take the same add to America would it be offensive? No, of course not! So should all burger adds be removed from all countries, should all burger joints be closed. My point is there will always be someone who gets offended if you take something out of it's cultural context. Scrap that... There will always be someone offended by just about everything!

It is important to step outside of your shoes and try and see the world from anothers perspective. Isn't that a better way to stop descrimination than saying, "It's not OK to say that to him/her, because they're different"?

I never really understood where people got the idea video games kill people. All this does is make honest developers look like spawns of saintin while the contrevorsy acts as a scapegoat (one that nobody notices) to genuine, evil criminals.

Probably psychologists... Think the big comic book downfall. With the "Batman and Robin make your kid gay", "Wonderwomen is teaching girls the wrong values, they should be learning to cook", "Batman has a gun, kids will turn to killers if they see a gun!" :P

And whatever happened to personal censorship? When somebody says something unpleasent that I don't like, I can just blow it off. I'm not going to force then to shut it or else (Im not some school bully who beats everyone with a bat when they call me names).

Kids are pretty much being used as the defence here on all fronts, "We are denying the R18+ rating to protect the children"... how does that protect them?
"We are putting in place the internet filter to stop child pornography, and allow you to stop children from looking up the wrong things" Then why did the leaked list contain so many other unrelated sites? Child pornography was the same excuse Viatname used when they were putting in their internet filter.

And I really hate the fact that politicans, people who have no idea how filters or other stuff work, are making the decisions. Anyone who has been to school with computers in them would know they are either ineffective or overzealous. As far as internet/technological law making goes, I would leave all the decision making to someone with real computer literacy.

I was talking to my friend who is going to work for apple this year, he knew a way around it already. So yes the government love throwing money for no good reason... This also means that many a pedophile will simply circumvent the system, which is disturbing and shows the futility of the whole idea.

If this came true, then free and innovative development might be looked upon as being a danger to the public and state

Well I guess with no R18+ over here for games it kinda already is for me. :P

[dandymcgee]

Totally agree Zeid. Even being from America I didn't view this as racist at all. You can make anything racist if you try hard enough, that doesn't mean it was the creator's intent. Also the memorable line from that commercial for me wasn't "too easy", but rather "crowd pleaser".

MAJOR over-analyzing in my opinion.

[vargonian]

The ad reinforces a racial stereotype. To call it racist implies that it promotes one race over another, either directly or indirectly. It doesn't appear to.