http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/02/04/wo ... #continuedOne of the major stories that is breaking today around the internet is the fact that in Australia a number of MMOs are no longer legally able to be sold. This is due to their lack of classification, things like M for Mature, PG, 18+, etc...
Our sister site Massively covered this extensively last week, and Tateru Nino's article on it has been picked up by the editors over at Slashdot. This is in particular interest to World of Warcraft folks in that WoW doesn't have a classification, and thus cannot be legally sold in Australia.
According to Tateru's research, the only two MMOs that are presently available for Australia are Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and EVE Online.
If someone was to sell WoW in Australia, they would face a possible penalty of AU$27,220.80 or two years in jail.
There was a brief comment by a blue last night on the situation, basically saying that Blizzard "will always respect the law of the countries in which we operate." That's one of those "duh" PR statements that they have to say however, and gives no real insight as to what they're doing to solve this.
One thing that isn't clear to us, and that we're looking for confirmation about (hint hint, maybe one of you Aussies that read the site can help us out), is if the game can still be bought online. I suspect that it's possible given the transactions will occur in the US, but there might be international trade laws that make that impossible.
We'll have more on this interesting story as things develop.
... Okay, so Australia has become the worst place for gamers... but why the hell are they suddenly banning a game that is a few years old? Pretty stupid to be honest.
I don't really care for the game, but GAWD.
Kinda thought about doing my last year of high school either in Melbourne or Wellington, New Zealand. That would be awesome, but I don't think I will.
We get it, and it really pisses me off. 
