Some significant events have occurred over the last two months regarding Australia’s IT industry. AFACT lost their lawsuit against iiNet. AFACT appealed the decision despite the fact that judge Cowdroy explicitly stated that “… it is impossible to conclude that iiNet has authorised copyright infringement…”

Meanwhile, Michael Atkinson stepped back from the front bench, giving up his position as South Australia Attorney-General for personal reasons right after he was re-elected. The move was significant because Atkinson has been the main opponent against the introduction of an R18+ rating for video games. Australia remains the only western country without an adult’s only classification which has prevented more intense games from being sold here. A move to amend the current classification system has to be unanimously accepted by all Australia’s attorneys-general which essentially gives any one of them the power to veto such a move. Now that Atkinson has stepped back there’s much higher chance of an adults only rating being introduced.

Speaking of games, Splinter Cell Conviction is finally being released next week after being delayed countless times since its original release date of late 2007. Being a huge fan of the Splinter Cell series, I will be sure to pick up a copy either on steam, Xbox, or both. There is a demo available on Xbox Live Marketplace, which I have of course played repeatedly.

Portal 2 will also be coming out later this year which will be great fun. Valve has apparently found a way to implement cooperative multiplayer in a way that’s fun and challenging, which is fantastic. The news on the Portal sequel has sparked a renewed level of activity in the portal mapping community. I might write a Portal related Hammer tutorial soon, so stay tuned.