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Australian customs gets ready to seize Mortal Kombat imports

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Last month, Warner Bros. Interactive announced that the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot had been denied classification in Australia. Australia is a land far away that has no age rating higher than MA15+; it’s also a land filled with things that jump up and down and grow in pouches. People in Australia also wear hats with corks dangling from them – yep, weird place for sure.

Any game that is denied classification by the Australian Classification Board is essentially illegal to sell at retail in the country. “Crikey! Looks like I’m gonna have to import this beauty right after I’ve finished my can of VB and put another shrimp on the barbie!” is what all Australian gamers shout when a game is denied classification. Except this time, Customs is going to be blocking all Mortal Kombat imports.

The Australian Border Protection Service has added Mortal Kombat to a blacklist of illegal import products. Customs and border officials have been briefed on what to look for regarding all content on that list, and Mortal Kombat is the newest entry.

According to a spokesperson:

“As Mortal Kombat has been refused classification in Australia it is considered objectionable material. It is therefore a prohibited good, and illegal to import into Australia. Customs and Border Protection works closely with Attorney General’s Department to identify imported games that are banned in Australia. This includes games purchased over the internet from foreign websites.

Attorney General’s Department regularly updates Customs and Border Protection about classification decisions on publications, films and computer games, including the reclassification of material, and about different versions of computer games (some of which may be refused classification), and how to identify those versions at the border. This information is then used to assist in identifying and seizing banned versions of games.

Any copies of the games detected at the border, including via international mail, will be seized.”

If somebody is caught attempting to import a copy of Mortal Kombat into Australia, they could be fined up to AU$110 000.00 (just over three-quarters of a million Rand).

This brings a whole new meaning to Nanny State.

Source: Gamespot

Last Updated: March 15, 2011

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