Publications
Partners
I AM frequently asked why South Africa is so often left in the dark ages when it comes to digital content. Why don't we have the iTunes Music Store? Why can't we rent movies on Netflix? And why are some categories missing from online content stores when accessed from South Africa? The reason usually involves archaic content licensing models nonsensically employed by international publishers, but in some cases the problem is a ridiculous classification procedure required by South African authorities.
This is the reason the games category is missing from the iTunes App Store for Apple devices, as an example. We are able to buy productivity, utility and other applications, but games are curiously absent from the list despite being available in other countries, including Kenya.
Apple has removed the category because it refuses to comply with the Film and Publications Board (FPB). The FPB has to clear video games, along with movies and other content for sale in South Africa, and charges a "processing fee" for doing so. Apple took one look at the requirements and decided that paying ridiculous fees for games sold for as little as 99 cents just isn't worth it – to say nothing of the time wasted in submissions and processing.
The FPB is a great example of how similar the ANC government is to the National Party regime it displaced. The censorship can of worms is not one I wish to open here; suffice it to say that my opinions are extremely liberal. Let's forget the inherited mentality our government has for censorship, including attempting to block access to pornography – something Home Affairs tried to do last year.
The bigger problem is that I doubt the FPB does much of a review of the content it is tasked with processing, and that it is not an independent body. It also shouldn't be charging for what it does. It acts as an obstruction to the sale of digital content in South Africa without providing any benefit to the country's citizens.
You can't gather much information about the FPB on its website, because it doesn't have one at the moment. If you try to access www.fpb.gov.za, you are greeted with a message that says "Access denied - Maintenance underway".
It's been that way for some time. And the irony of the message should be obvious enough.
Thousands of new video games go on sale every year for personal computers, video game consoles, cellphones and other devices. I just don't believe that an organisation that can't even keep its website up is capable of thoroughly reviewing them all, along with every movie that goes to market in South Africa.
Publications are different in that the FPB says it only has to review pornographic content. Other books and magazines are OK. But not Tetris and other puzzle games on the iPhone – oh no, those could be dangerous.
So who decides which magazines are pornographic and which aren't? And if you can sell other magazines without clearing them first, why can't you sell harmless Sudoku games?
And what about content sold online from sources that don't know where you're buying or intend to use it from? That grey area alone should be enough to show the whole process as pointless.
The FPB is outdated and inherently incapable of doing what it is supposed to. The regulations that bring the body into being are fundamentally flawed, and the mentality it represents would be better placed in Victorian society than the 21st century.
All the FPB seems to do is charge money and waste copies of digital content in return for supplying the little triangular stickers you will find on physical copies of video games and movies in South Africa. I'd also love to know what it does with the fees it collects. Apparently paying a website administrator is not on the list.
Of course, South Africa is not the only region with such a body. In the UK they have the British Board of Film Classification and some countries have organisations specific to each content category, such as the Entertainment Software Rating Board in North America.
In most cases these boards are independent, or organised and funded by the industry they relate to. You do not have to pay them to review your content and they provide useful guidance to parents in terms of what age groups a video game or film is suitable for.
These international bodies rate games before they come to South Africa – so why should our authorities have to look at them again, unless they were created here?
There are so many good questions to ask in terms of the FPB that have weak - if any - answers.
But I am not suggesting that we necessarily do away with the board. Instead, it should be restructured in accordance with international best practices – starting with doing away with the ridiculous fees it charges. Organisations like the FPB don't make much sense anywhere in the world, but at least in developed countries they don't act as a hindrance to the free market.
- Fin24
This is the reason the games category is missing from the iTunes App Store for Apple devices, as an example. We are able to buy productivity, utility and other applications, but games are curiously absent from the list despite being available in other countries, including Kenya.
Apple has removed the category because it refuses to comply with the Film and Publications Board (FPB). The FPB has to clear video games, along with movies and other content for sale in South Africa, and charges a "processing fee" for doing so. Apple took one look at the requirements and decided that paying ridiculous fees for games sold for as little as 99 cents just isn't worth it – to say nothing of the time wasted in submissions and processing.
The FPB is a great example of how similar the ANC government is to the National Party regime it displaced. The censorship can of worms is not one I wish to open here; suffice it to say that my opinions are extremely liberal. Let's forget the inherited mentality our government has for censorship, including attempting to block access to pornography – something Home Affairs tried to do last year.
The bigger problem is that I doubt the FPB does much of a review of the content it is tasked with processing, and that it is not an independent body. It also shouldn't be charging for what it does. It acts as an obstruction to the sale of digital content in South Africa without providing any benefit to the country's citizens.
You can't gather much information about the FPB on its website, because it doesn't have one at the moment. If you try to access www.fpb.gov.za, you are greeted with a message that says "Access denied - Maintenance underway".
It's been that way for some time. And the irony of the message should be obvious enough.
Thousands of new video games go on sale every year for personal computers, video game consoles, cellphones and other devices. I just don't believe that an organisation that can't even keep its website up is capable of thoroughly reviewing them all, along with every movie that goes to market in South Africa.
Publications are different in that the FPB says it only has to review pornographic content. Other books and magazines are OK. But not Tetris and other puzzle games on the iPhone – oh no, those could be dangerous.
So who decides which magazines are pornographic and which aren't? And if you can sell other magazines without clearing them first, why can't you sell harmless Sudoku games?
And what about content sold online from sources that don't know where you're buying or intend to use it from? That grey area alone should be enough to show the whole process as pointless.
The FPB is outdated and inherently incapable of doing what it is supposed to. The regulations that bring the body into being are fundamentally flawed, and the mentality it represents would be better placed in Victorian society than the 21st century.
All the FPB seems to do is charge money and waste copies of digital content in return for supplying the little triangular stickers you will find on physical copies of video games and movies in South Africa. I'd also love to know what it does with the fees it collects. Apparently paying a website administrator is not on the list.
Of course, South Africa is not the only region with such a body. In the UK they have the British Board of Film Classification and some countries have organisations specific to each content category, such as the Entertainment Software Rating Board in North America.
In most cases these boards are independent, or organised and funded by the industry they relate to. You do not have to pay them to review your content and they provide useful guidance to parents in terms of what age groups a video game or film is suitable for.
These international bodies rate games before they come to South Africa – so why should our authorities have to look at them again, unless they were created here?
There are so many good questions to ask in terms of the FPB that have weak - if any - answers.
But I am not suggesting that we necessarily do away with the board. Instead, it should be restructured in accordance with international best practices – starting with doing away with the ridiculous fees it charges. Organisations like the FPB don't make much sense anywhere in the world, but at least in developed countries they don't act as a hindrance to the free market.
- Fin24
