Went on EA Games website and forums and it seems this is a common issue. Apparently you have to be older than 18 in the UK (14 in the US) to play on-line games. This is even despite the PEGI rating
Guess my Son is gonna have to wait another nine years before he can play across the world!!
It's because of the esrb, because you interact with different kinds people online they can't rate it so they have to have the age limit assumption and 9 is very young to be online with a lot of the swearing, cussing, among other things which is why they put the restriction on it.
I don't mean to be rude but honestly a lot of people are very annoyed with little kids online; its more of a problem on shooters; but none the less its a problem overall. They usually aren't mature enough to behave (and usually aren't old enough to be playing the game in the first place) and they don't grasp a lot of the concepts of online play because its just a voice on the game to them not a person; which bothers a lot of other players. Of course I can't tell you how to raise your child but please don't give him a headset for online at least.
The only way to get past the block would be to make a new sub account and fake the birthdate.
Thanks for that Canuckerz and I can see your point of view.
My Son is a mature 9 year old but even so, I still monitor most of what he does. Also, as far as he is concerned, all he wants to do is play FIFA Street 3 with other people around the world.
Rest assured that I have not told him the full extent of the abilities of PS3 and to ensure his, and others satisfaction, when he is online all he will be doing is playing either FIFA Street or a driving game.
Even I did not know about headsets so I have learnt something, but there again, it is not something I will pass on to my Son. In some ways, ignorance is bliss, after all!!!!