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HEADLINE: Australian Government Plans to Ban Popular Poker Sites
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Censorship in itself is a feared word, as it encroaches upon personal freedoms in the most intrusive way. When that censorship is prompted and sanctioned by the government, it seeks to regulate the personal choices of an entire country. The Australian government, by way of its Australian Communications and Media Authority division, is seeking to do just that with regard to online content, which specifically targets online poker websites, poker news sites, and those who provide hyperlinks to them.
Australia has become one of the places seeing the greatest amount of poker growth. Casinos are thriving, and the tournament scene includes the multi-million dollar month-long Aussie Millions as well as the Asia Pacific Poker Tour, Asian Poker Tour, and Australia-New Zealand Poker Tour. But the government looks to thwart and criminalize the online gaming industry under the guise of protecting children from harmful websites like pornography and gambling.
While the Internet Gambling Act 2001 has been in place for years, only recently has the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) become more adamant about restricting “offensive and illegal” material. Citizens are encouraged to report such subjectively-deemed websites and anything “you believe may be prohibited” to the authorities for possible government action. The Internet Gambling Act 2001 has been updated over the past few years to include the promotion of interactive gambling services to customers in Australia as an illegal activity. And the enforcement of it has come to a critical point, as a blacklist has been discovered and sent to the media, courtesy of Wikileaks.
Included in the blacklist of 1,370 sites are a plethora of online poker sites, including ones like PokerStars, which sponsors two of the biggest poker tournaments series in the country each year, and Full Tilt Poker. But in accordance with seeking out anyone who includes hyperlinks to such banned sites, those like PokerNews have been banned as well. As the government proceeds with its plan to censor such sites, the blacklist gives a shocking idea of how comprehensive the censorship may be with it is instituted.
Many in and out of Australia fear that the scope of the ACMA plan could grow to a level that is out of control. The government is said to be looking to expand the number of sites on the list to more than 10,000, which many predict could lead to anti-democratic actions and abuses of power. Reporters Without Borders, an internet freedom company, recently placed Australia on its “watch list” of countries with such potential.
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