Earlier this month we caught up with the governing body for the classification of media in South Africa, the Film and Publications Board (FPB). We were told at the time that any media which is sold in South Africa must be rated by the FPB, otherwise is should be deemed “unlawful.”

Digital distribution platform Steam is one such channel through which South Africans buy and download PC games. The discussion we had with the FPB called into question the legality of Steam in SA. We then followed up by speaking to lawyer Nicholas Hall from Michalsons Attorneys who provided the following comment:

“What is important to note is that “broadcasters” that are governed and licensed by ICASA are exempt from submitting films, games and other material to the FPB (See sections 18(6) and 24A(2)(a) [of the amendment act]) so the argument that digital distribution channels are automatically illegal, to my mind, may be false especially if you consider that:

•    Most (if not all of the ISP’s) have licences with ICASA. 
•    Various ISP’s (IS and Web Africa specifically spring to mind) have local Steam servers which are used to distribute content.”

From the sound of things, we had a pretty water-tight argument for the continuation of the distribution of digital content in SA.

However, the FPB has announced via a press release that it will continue to “pursue an absolute regulation status quo which moderates all digital content sold in South Africa”.

“It is the responsibility of the FPB to ensure that South African consumers are protected by guidelines which the people deem appropriate when viewing any published media. We have therefore contacted Valve Corporation, the owner of the largest digital distribution platform in the world for video games to ensure that all its content is rated accordingly for South African distribution.”

“Until such a time as an arrangement can be made to make space for such content, it shall be deemed unlawful in South Africa.”

We contacted a Valve representative who told us that “Valve has and will always continue to operate within the laws of the various countries in which its services are available. Until such a time as we are able to come to a resolution with South Africa’s governing body for the classification of media content, we have no choice but to block the respective IP ranges from our network. This means that after 1 April, 2011, it will no longer be possible to download content from the Steam network in any capacity from South Africa.”

MyGaming is awaiting comment from local ISPs who host Steam content servers, but none was forthcoming at the time of publication.

View Valve’s official statement here.