Will Online Casino iPhone Apps Be Banned Down Under?

May 06, 2010 | News Category: Gaming Law

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There are a number of excellent games applications for the Apple iPhone. Some of these can be downloaded for free, and others for a small fee. Many of the games are the type of games found in online casinos. Even though the games in question are not actually played for real money, there are those that argue that the recommended age is unacceptable. Some of the games come with a recommendation for ages 12 and older, and others come without any suggested age usage.

Australian Senator Nick Xenaphon is campaigning to make some changes. He said “Having a recommended age description of 12 is totally inadequate.” He plans to take his objections to Australian lawmakers, in the hopes that the Australian federal government will ban gambling games that are being marketed to those that would be under the legal gambling age.

Although Xenophon realizes that it is almost impossible to actually ban games that are also gambling games for iPhone users, he feels that something must be done about it. He is hoping that he will be able to convince the Australian federal government to make the marketing of certain types of iPhone gaming applications have various restrictions which would prevent them being marketed to children.

Senator Xenophon noted: “There needs to be a parliamentary inquiry into online gambling laws because otherwise we will see a new wave of problem gamblers as soon as these kids turn 18.”

This is not the first time that an Australia has wanted to introduce censorship legislation. The Australian Labor Party had proposed that there should be compulsory Internet filtering for those who use the Internet in Australia. Since the Australian government attempted to have this censorship law introduced in 2008, there have been large amounts of opposition to it. Those opposing the censorship law have managed to keep it at bay, although the Labor Party is still hoping that it will be able to convince enough people to vote for it, or that the government will find a different way to bring the law into being.

With so many who wish to censor any kind of online gaming, and so many others who believe that this kind of censorship is uncalled for, one can only wonder what it would mean in the online gambling world should, for example, free games be censored in some countries so that those that are underage would be prevented from playing them.