Apple under pressure to get its games rated

With the iPhone`s popularity surging in Korea, its maker Apple is under growing pressure to have the games offered at its online store rated by Seoul regulators.

Korea only allows the distribution of games which are screened and approved by the Game Rating Board. Apparently to avoid the regulations, Apple removed the games category on the Korean version of its App Store, industry officials said.

But Korean users are able to gain access to the content of unapproved games, offered in the "entertainment" category of the Korean App Store or App Stores of other countries.

The Game Rating Board raised concerns about the possible distribution of violent or sexual content.



"We asked Apple to open its games category and get its games rated, but Apple shows no signs of doing so," an official of the Game Rating Board told The Korea Herald.

In the entertainment category of Korean App Store, 30 of the 100 most popular applications are games which did not receive approval from the Game Rating Board.

Of the top 10 most popular applications, seven are unauthorized games.

Games are one of the most popular applications on App Store, which enables users to download games, music and other software for their iPhone and iPod Touch devices for free or at a small cost.

Controversy is expected to heat up over Apple`s offering of unapproved games in Korea, with the number of iPhone users increasing. About 150,000 units of the iPhone have been sold in Korea just three weeks after its launch.

An Apple spokesperson declined to comment yesterday.

(hjjin@heraldm.com)

By Jin Hyun-joo