charsleysa: There is still a place for censorship.

Even though there are those parents that let their young children play R18 games, there also parents who don't and wouldn't like their children having unfiltered access to restricted games.

Frankly I would consider a parent letting their 5 year old kid play an extremely violent R18 game to be borderline child abuse of not child abuse.

SaltyNZ:

charsleysa: There is still a place for censorship.

Even though there are those parents that let their young children play R18 games, there also parents who don't and wouldn't like their children having unfiltered access to restricted games.

Frankly I would consider a parent letting their 5 year old kid play an extremely violent R18 game to be borderline child abuse of not child abuse.

Well, this is true. But, for example, GTA and Assassin's Creed are named after crimes. Call of Duty Total Future War of Days Past Revenge has a picture of a man on the front holding a big gun. He is probably pointing it at something or someone. Borderlands has a raving psycho.

There's generally enough of a hint in the promotional material for responsible parents to be able to sort it out for themselves. 

charsleysa: 
It is way too easy to hide a game from parents once you have it so really the last line of defense for parents who don't want their children to have those games is for retailers to check IDs and not sell restricted content to underage persons.

KiwiNZ: Independant Classification makes it easier for all concerned to determine content and suitability.

charsleysa:

It is way too easy to hide a game from parents once you have it so really the last line of defense for parents who don't want their children to have those games is for retailers to check IDs and not sell restricted content to underage persons.

KiwiNZ: Independant Classification makes it easier for all concerned to determine content and suitability.

SaltyNZ:

KiwiNZ: If Parliament has ordained that these should be classified then he is doing the job he is paid to do and should do until Parliament changes the requirements.

Oh yes, nobody's saying he's wrong from that perspective. We're saying the very notion is obsolete.

JimmyH:

SaltyNZ:

KiwiNZ: If Parliament has ordained that these should be classified then he is doing the job he is paid to do and should do until Parliament changes the requirements.

Oh yes, nobody's saying he's wrong from that perspective. We're saying the very notion is obsolete.

Exactly.

Whether or not it's a good idea, the boat has sailed. That model worked back in "Fortress NZ" days when pretty much all product was physical and had to come through border control (ie Customs), and there were only limited ways of paying for foreign purchases. Unless we want to turn NZ into the North Korea of the South Pacific, with no access to Netflix, Steam, VPNs, Youtube or pretty much any other content on the internet, it's essentially impossible now.

Digital distribution, easy payment options, and anti-geoblocking mean that it's not a winnable fight. If it's passed by the censors in a major jurisdiction (eg US, UK, Canada, Australia etc) and it's digitally available - then for all practical purposes it's available here. The censor needs to accept that, pull back, and just focus on the truly nasty stuff that's pretty much illegal anywhere and to which stiff jail sentences attach. Trying to stop a 21 year old buying a game off Steam on the basis that there are some marginal differences between what a US censor will pass and what our censor would ideally like to pass is a futile waste of time - and wouldn't practically achieve much, even if by application of draconian measures some measure of success was able to be achieved.

The censor should study the lesson that King Canute learned with his broom by the sea long, long ago.

JimmyH:

Whether or not it's a good idea, the boat has sailed. That model worked back in "Fortress NZ" days when pretty much all product was physical and had to come through border control (ie Customs), and there were only limited ways of paying for foreign purchases. Unless we want to turn NZ into the North Korea of the South Pacific, with no access to Netflix, Steam, VPNs, Youtube or pretty much any other content on the internet, it's essentially impossible now.

Digital distribution, easy payment options, and anti-geoblocking mean that it's not a winnable fight. If it's passed by the censors in a major jurisdiction (eg US, UK, Canada, Australia etc) and it's digitally available - then for all practical purposes it's available here. The censor needs to accept that, pull back, and just focus on the truly nasty stuff that's pretty much illegal anywhere and to which stiff jail sentences attach. Trying to stop a 21 year old buying a game off Steam on the basis that there are some marginal differences between what a US censor will pass and what our censor would ideally like to pass is a futile waste of time - and wouldn't practically achieve much, even if by application of draconian measures some measure of success was able to be achieved.

KiwiNZ: I know a number that would like to see NZ a place with no rules what so ever so they are able to fulfill their selfish desires but thankfully the Government and still most New Zealanders have more sense.

SaltyNZ:

KiwiNZ: I know a number that would like to see NZ a place with no rules what so ever so they are able to fulfill their selfish desires but thankfully the Government and still most New Zealanders have more sense.

There used to be a number of people that thought being gay should be illegal too. Fortunately as a society we grew up and decided that what adults want to do in their own private lives is none of the government's business.