BELCONNEN, AUSTRALIA: The Australian Communications and Media Authority is requiring DTV receivers in the country to include a “parental lock” feature.
The new technical standard, released on Aug. 4, requires all domestic reception equipment—integrated digital televisions, set-top boxes and personal video recorders—to have parental lock capabilities or to distribute information that enables parental lock capabilities in other reception equipment. All DTV receivers sold in Australia after Feb. 4, 2011, must comply with the standard.
Parental lock allows the user to control access to based upon their content rating, for example, G, PG, M or MA.
“Mandating the inclusion of parental lock in digital receivers supports parents and guardians in protecting their children from content on television which they might consider inappropriate or harmful,” stated ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman.
