The upcoming release of the iPhone in Australia could be illegal under current trade practises laws, according to a group of law researchers from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

The current legal hiccup could delay the arrival of the iPhone to Australia to another few months, as Apple are having exclusivity deals with mobile carriers, saying it is anti-competitive.

“The iPhone is breaking new ground in using technology to restrict customer’s choice in technology markets,” said QUT law researcher Dale Clapperton.

The findings come from an analysis over the iPhone in relation with Australia’s competition laws by Dr Clapperton and fellow expert Professor Stephen Corones. Their findings were then published in the QUT Law and Justice Journal.

The findings come as a response to Apple’s current arrangement with AT&T in the US, O2 in the UK, T-Mobile in Germany and Orange in France.

If Apple was going to release it in Australia, they might have to provide the phone unlocked or even offer it to both Singtel for Australia and Asia, and Telstra in Australia; meaning that Optus and Telstra would be able to sell the iPhone. This might also include the other mobile carriers, including Vodafone and 3.

This could see Australia being the first country in the world to offer the iPhone on different carriers without resorting to “crack” the iPhone.

The iPhone could be sold exclusively to Apple and then would allow SIM cards from all the mobile phone carriers in Australia.

Apple Australia has refused to comment on this new revelation.

The long-running debate over whether the OLFC should establish an R18+ classification for computer games will be discussed over an upcoming Standing Committee of Attorneys-Generals (SCAG) meeting.

Currently, the highest rating is MA 15+ and anything over it is then classified “Refused Classification”, meaning it can’t be sold or distributed. Since the introduction of having television, cinema, video games and DVD classifications to be the same; the highest is R 18+; except in television, where it is AV 15+.

There is another classification level titled X 18+, but that cannot be sold in the states, but can be imported from or bought from the territories or from the internet.

The very debate was last touched on at a SCAG meeting in November 2005, but decided that further evidence was needed for such a rating was required.

However, it is unlikely that a decision will be made to include the R 18+ to the video game classification system anytime soon. Currently, there is no timeframe or deadline for when a decision would be made.

Even though both News. Corp and Google are trying to make sure that the Microsoft/Yahoo merger doesn’t go through, Fox Interactive Media is rumoured to have been in negotiations with Microsoft to take over from the advertising deal with Google on its properties.

The Google-Fox deal was announced in August 2006 which saw Google being obligated to make a minimum revenue share payments to Fox Interactive Media of at least $900 million based on Fox achieving certain traffic and other commitments, but the original deal was done in a hurry. In February 2007, the company was rumoured to be working on a final agreement even though the ads have already been served.

In Google’s haste to keep the deal, according to TechCrunch, they may have paid more than they should.

FIM has two different ad partners, both being Google and Microsoft. This is due to Fox Sports being tied to Microsoft’s MSN portal, and will either be a separate website or replace Fox Sports if the Microsoft/Yahoo deal goes through. This applies to MSNBC, but it most likely replace Yahoo News as Microsoft owns 50% of the site and 18% of the television network, with the remaining shares are owned by NBC Universal.

Since the deal is “confidential”, we don’t know about the termination clauses in the existing agreements, with TechCrunch reporting that Google is appearing that it wish it never had enter that deal.

Breaking News: Electronic Arts have offered $2 billion to Take-Two, another game publisher that has the “Grand Theft Auto” series in it’s portfolio, according to Reuters.

The $26-per-share offer represents a 50% premium to Take-Two’s closing price of $17.63 on Friday. This will see games like the mentioned Grand Theft Auto series with Maddern and Need for Speed.

Earlier this month, a source told Reuters that the media conglomerate, Viacom, was in talks to buy the company and had offered $1.5 billion.

It’s proposal to acquire the company, which was sent as a letter on February 19, was however rejected by the board but it will be taking the deal to all of its shareholders.

This is expected to become a rival to the Blizzard-Activision merger, who merged in an $18 billion deal, six times the proposed amount.