We are ready to perform a peaceful dialogue with anyone who opposes this. BUT if they don't listen to us, we will use our 'notorious' way.

Indonesian Programmes have ruined their children

From Pacific Media Watch

A hardline Indonesian Muslim group, the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), have expressed support for the Indonesian Film Censorship Body (LSF) and called for an expansion of its power.

Jafar Sidik, a FPI co-chairman We encourage LSF to expand their power not just on films, but also on TV programmes that have ruined our children.

FPI's stand came in reaction to an campaign launched by young Indonesian artists and filmmakers in the past few weeks for the dissolution of Indonesia's censorship institution, which they accused of discouraging freedom of expression in Indonesian films and TV.

We are ready to perform a peaceful dialogue with anyone who opposes this (increased censorship) idea, Sidik said: But if they don't listen to us, we will use our notorious way.

The hardline FPI is known for its violent attacks against bars, nightclubs and other establishments it considers "anti-Islamic."

   
Utah games censorship bill on hold again

From Gamasutra

The state House committee has voted to hold the infamous “games as porn” bill for a third time, following continued concerns over freedom of speech issues.

Republican Kay McIff has announced plans to draft a substitute bill to replace the now thrice defeated original.

The original bill attempted to amend an existing law preventing the sale of pornography to minors by categorizing violent video games as obscene, and has previously been approved by the Utah House of Representatives, only to stall at House level.

The Daily Herald quotes McIff as saying, I am concerned, when all the legal experts, including our own attorney general as well as the sponsor, tell us that the bill is likely to fail in a constitutional challenge. One where we cannot control the amount we spend, because we spend our side and then we are potentially obliged to spend the legal costs of the other side.

Although a large number of other states have pursued similar anti-games legislation, the Utah bill was seen as the most openly problematic with regard to the U.S. constitution – with two constitutional law experts from the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment heavily criticizing the bill in an editorial for the Salt Lake City Tribune.

   
Mexican journalists under duress

From IFEX see full article

Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) has condemned harassment of the local press in Mexico after publications were censored and journalists spied on in the second half of January 2007 in Sonora state in the north-west, Guanajuato, in central Mexico, and Puebla in the south.

Aides to Sonora state governor, Eduardo Bours, were recently suspected of involvement in the disappearance of a journalist in 2005. The governor of Puebla State, Mario Marín, is no [bystander] in the case of the unfair arrest of freelance journalist Lydia Cacho, also in 2005. These new cases confirm the complete contempt which some local leaders have for the press, said RSF.

On 18 January 2007, police in Hermosillo, Sonora State, halted a distribution truck for the twice-monthly magazine Contralínea, and seized 2,500 copies from inside the vehicle. Police officers, claiming the truck was stolen, pretended to seize two packets of cocaine in order to arrest distribution manager Mauricio Capdevielle and the driver. The two men were released on 21 January.

The magazine's editor, Alvaro Cepeda Neri, told RSF that during the arrest the police officers made threats against Capdevielle, the magazine's publisher, Miguel Badillo, and himself, adding that Bours was personally responsible for this confrontation. The magazine had carried an article about the plundering of land belonging to Yaqui Indians in which the governor was implicated. The case has been referred to the National Human Rights Commission and the special federal prosecutor's office for journalists.

On 15 January,, Martha Laris, head of the Science and Communications Department of the Americas University in Cholula, Puebla state, had the editorial team of the university weekly La Catarina thrown out of its offices and its equipment and files confiscated. In October 2006, the weekly had criticised collusion between the university rector and the state governor, Mario Marín, of whom they published cartoons.

   
Chinese leader Hu vows to 'purify' the Internet

From CNET News

Chinese Communist Party chief Hu Jintao has vowed to "purify" the Internet describing a top-level meeting that discussed ways to master the country's sprawling, unruly online population.

Hu, a strait-laced communist with little sympathy for cultural relaxation. But he made it clear that the Communist Party was looking to ensure it keeps control of China's Internet users, often more interested in salacious pictures, games and political scandal than Marxist lessons.

The vast majority of Chinese users have no access to overseas sites offering uncensored opinion and news critical of the ruling party. But even in heavily monitored China, news of official misdeeds and dissident opinion has been able to travel through online bulletin boards and blogs.

Hu told officials to intensify control even as they seek to release the Internet's economic potential: Ensure that one hand grasps development while one hand grasps administration.

   
Complaints dismissed against A Girl's Guide to 21st Century Sex

From Digital Spy

Ofcom has cleared A Girl's Guide to 21st Century Sex, ruling that the Five programme did not breach the Broadcasting Code.

21 viewers complained to the regulator, claiming that the programme contained "shocking and explicit" material worthy of an R18 rating from the BBFC. The complainants also claimed that the programme could impart inappropriate information to vulnerable young girls.

The show contained footage of sexual activity including the filming of ejaculation in a woman's vagina. Topics ranging from masturbation to STIs were discussed in detail.

In its response to the complaints, Ofcom said that the programme was "factual" and "educational", and noted that there was no ban on the broadcast of non-simulated sexual intercourse on television. The regulator said that images of "real" sex "should not automatically be equated with BBFC-rated R18 material," and added that the portrayal of sex in this programme genuinely sought to inform and educate rather than stimulate or arouse sexually.

None to blasphemy accusing Amsterdam nutters

From Antara News

Prosecutors in Amsterdam said they would not take action against the singer Madonna over charges of alleged blasphemy during a concert tour in which she underwent a mock crucifixion.

Young people belonging to the SGP, a small deeply conservative Protestant party, called for her to be prosecuted after she gave two concerts last September in Amsterdam during which she knelt and took off a crown of thorns while a crucifix was projected behind her.

The prosecutor's office believes that through her show, the singer on all the evidence tried to express her frustrations about certain situations in the world .. it is not a question of contempt for God: Furthermore, Madonna did not discredit Christians as a group.

   
Law Commission consulting on which laws to reform

I tend to agree with Littlejohn here. This Government doesn't have the vaguest notion of being liberal. Any identification of any of the UK's crap laws may only make things even worse.

From Richard Littlejohn in the Daily Mail

The public are to be asked which laws they would like changed. Suggestions can be made on a new website set up by the Law Commission.

Sir Terence Etherton, the High Court judge who chairs the organisation which advises the Government on legislation, said: We are trying to improve people's lives by making law more up-to-date and fair.

Sounds great, doesn't it? Before you all start logging on at once to www.lawcom.gov.uk the only thing you need to know is that they don't mean it.

There is not the remotest chance that any change in the law put forward by the paying public will be implemented.

This is just another gimmick in the name of 'consultation'. Sir Terence goes on to admit that new legislation will be brought forward only if it finds favour with the Lord Chancellor and other ministers.

Any idea that the public could have a say in framing laws is anathema to those in power.

From www.lawcom.gov.uk see Tenth Programme of Reform Consultation [pdf file]

The Law Commission was established to keep the law of England and Wales under review with a view to its systematic development and reform. Our aim is to achieve more accessible, intelligible and modern law. We would like you to help us identify new projects for inclusion in our next programme of work. Please respond by 30 March 2007.

In formulating the next programme the Commissioners will wish to identify projects that will provide real public benefit. Whilst our statutory duty requires us to keep all the law under review, inevitably we have to make choices about which projects would make the best use of our resources. In making our decisions, we will be using the following criteria:

• Importance
  
  The extent to which the law is unsatisfactory (for example, unfair, unduly complex, unclear, inaccessible or outdated); and the potential benefits likely to accrue from undertaking reform, repeal or consolidation of the law.
   
• Suitability
  
  Whether the changes and improvements in the law are suitable to be put forward by a body of lawyers after legal (including socio legal) research and consultation. This would tend to exclude subjects where the considerations are shaped primarily by political judgements.
   
• Resources
  
  The qualification and experience of the Commissioners and their legal staff; the funding likely to be available to the Commission; and the need for a good mix of projects in terms of the scale and timing so as to enable effective management of the programme.

It is open to anyone to suggest to the Commission an area of the law that is need of reform. We tend to consider reform of particular branches of the law (as opposed to looking at the operation of a particular statute for example), but we will consider any proposal that is made to us applying the criteria set out above. We are particularly interested in projects that will assist the drive for better regulation by reducing regulatory burdens on business and the public.

   
Commercial web addresses disallowed from kids' programmes

From CNET News

The Federal Communications Commission decreed that during shows geared toward children age 12 and under, cable and broadcast operators may not display addresses for Web sites that contain any links to commercial content. The rules took effect on January 2.

The entire new media landscape is one immense personalized ad targeted at kids, said Jeff Chester, director of the advocacy group Center for Digital Democracy, which has pressed the FCC to extend children's TV programming rules to the Internet.

The new rules came about because regulators were concerned that some broadcasters were using children's programming as a billboard for addresses to Web sites established solely for commercial purposes, and thus sneaking around federal law. Under the 1990 Children's Television Act, every hour of children's programming may contain only 10.5 minutes of advertising during weekends and 12 minutes on weekdays.

Under the new rules addresses for sites with commercial content can still be displayed during advertising so long as they're against the networks' allotted advertising minutes and "clearly separated" from show content.

The rules also permit the display of addresses for "noncommercial" Web sites during actual show broadcasts. Sites fit that bill if they offer a substantial amount of bona fide program-related or other noncommercial content, aren't primarily intended for commercial purposes, clearly label commercial content, and don't link directly to e-commerce sites or other pages with commercial material.

Nutters call for investigation into filming of Hounddog

Based on an article from the BBC

Twelve-year-old actress Dakota Fanning is the focus of nutters over a new movie, Hounddog,  that depicts her being raped by a teenage boy.

US religious groups are calling for a boycott, saying Fanning's appearance in the film is tantamount to child abuse.

Director Deborah Kampmeier has defended the film, saying issues like child rape need to be discussed in public: This issue is so silenced in our society. There are a lot of women who are alone with this story.

The criticism began before the film was screened, with the New York-based Catholic League calling for a federal probe into whether child pornography laws were violated during filming.

Ted Baehr, chairman of the Christian Film and Television Commission, also believes the rape scene falls foul of the law.

Fanning herself played down the controversy following the film's premiere: It's not a rape movie. That's not even the point of the film. It's not really happening. It's a movie, and it's called acting. I'm not going through anything. And for me, when it's done it's done. I don't even think about it any more.

During the rape scene, only Fanning's face, neck, shoulders, hand and foot appear on screen. Much of the scene takes place in darkness, punctuated only by the sound of Fanning's screams.

Prosecutors in two states said on Jan. 26 that they found nothing illegal about a movie shot in North Carolina and screened last week at Utah’s Sundance Film Festival.

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, who watched the movie last week with his state’s child sexual exploitation law in hand, said his concerns didn’t materialize on the screen.

None of the things on the Internet that people were saying about it were true, Shurtleff said. Not only does it not violate the statute, I think it’s a good message for people on the subject.

The opinion is shared by the district attorneys in the two North Carolina counties where Hounddog was filmed last summer.

Rex Gore, the Brunswick County district attorney, said there was no evidence that the scene constituted “sexual activity” under North Carolina law, so child exploitation didn’t occur. Even if a film contains simulated sexual activity, Gore said, it doesn’t cross the line into obscenity as long as the film has serious artistic value or is protected speech.

That outcry led state Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, to begin work on legislation that would require any film seeking North Carolina’s 15% tax credit for television and movies to receive script approval from the state. Berger said the state should ensure its citizens aren’t subsidizing what many may consider inappropriate.

   
Amnesty International report on Azerbaijan

From Earth Times see full article

Journalists striving to expose the misuse of government power are increasingly living under the threat of politically motivated arrests, physical assault and even death, Amnesty International said today.

The organization's report, Azerbaijan: The contracting space for freedom of expression, reveals a pattern of encroachment on the rights of members of civil society, and in particular journalists, to freedom of expression.

Journalists who deviate from the government's party line or draw attention to Azerbaijan's endemic corruption are putting their lives on the line, said Maureen Greenwood-Basken, Amnesty International USA advocacy director for Europe and Central Asia. President Aliyev's denunciations of attacks on reporters must be backed up by genuine efforts to protect writers. In Azerbaijan today, freedom of expression is permitted only when it's in the government's interest.

The Azerbaijani authorities have an obligation to uphold commitments to a healthy environment for the free dissemination of information and exchange of opinions, including those alleging official wrongdoing and abuse of public office, said Laurence Broers, Amnesty International's expert on Azerbaijan. Government officials in Azerbaijan must understand that it is a legitimate function of the media to put their activities under public scrutiny and that such scrutiny must not lead to violence against journalists.

The ongoing assault on freedom of expression in Azerbaijan appears to be three-pronged -- the harassment and ill-treatment of journalists by police and other law enforcement officials, especially during election campaigns; assaults, and in one case murder, of journalists by unknown individuals; and the silencing of journalists through their arrest and imprisonment on dubious charges or by heavy fines following trials for criminal defamation.

Amnesty International calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to ensure the prompt and conclusive investigation of assaults on journalists, to institute measures to tackle institutionalized impunity for harassment of journalists by law enforcement officials, to end the use of criminal defamation suits as a means to silence dissent and to ensure that due process is observed in the enforcement of media industry standards.

   
First Bond film to pass the Chinese censors

From The Telegraph

Tonight, the actor Daniel Craig will be the first Bond to walk up the red carpet in Beijing after Casino Royale was finally allowed past the censor and into Chinese cinemas. It is the first Bond film to pass the censor and be officially screened in China

Sony, the distributors, said that despite its theme – all gambling is banned in mainland China – it had been accepted without a cut. What we told them is, we are fighting a common enemy, terrorists, said Li Chow, Sony's China head: That was well accepted.

The last Bond film, Die Another Day, was never likely to be accepted, since it showed Bond enlisting the help of Chinese intelligence to take on rogue officers in China's communist ally, North Korea.

The fact that it is set in a post-Cold War period helped, the Communist Party's favourite way of defending itself against western critics is to accuse them of "Cold War thinking". Nevertheless, Dame Judi Dench, who plays "M", said that despite the company's claim of not having been asked for cuts, she had to re-dub one line. Where in Britain, she says: Christ, I miss the Cold War, in China, she says: God, I miss the old times.

   
Year of the pig to be less 'offensive' in China

From India eNews

China's ruling Communist Party has banned images and mention of pigs in television advertisements aired over the lunar new year to avoid offending the country's Muslims.

We were told by the CCTV (China Central Television) censorship team that the CCTV advertising department announced a new regulation on pigs in its internal document, an executive at the Shanghai-based Mindshare advertising agency told DPA.

The ban also applies to cartoons and traditional paper-cut images of pigs, and to slogans such as golden pig brings you fortune and wish you a happy pig year, the executive said.

The regulation only applies to advertisements. The Year of the Pig begins on February 18.

Copyright used for censorship

From Red Herring

Last Following a week’s worth of controversy about her behavior, Fox Broadcasting ordered clips of Paula Abdul swaying, appearing intoxicated, and answering questions on TV news programs in a nonsensical way taken down from YouTube this week.

The move raises questions about where the line should be drawn between copyright infringement and outright censorship. It also shows how quickly an embarrassing piece of footage can become a viral sensation now that videos can be easily uploaded to the web.

What Fox runs the risk of is using copyright law as a form of censorship, said Van Baker, an analyst at Gartner Media Service.

Any violation of what is known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is grounds for removal of videos on YouTube, a division of Mountain View, California-based search giant Google. However, there are also “fair use” laws that allow some content—such as short clips or satirical depictions of celebrities—to be aired online.

Some people would say this is an overly aggressive use of the takedown procedure [allowed in the DMCA], said James Nguyen, an attorney who specializes in entertainment and copyright law at the Los Angeles-based law firm Foley & Lardner. They’re within their rights … but most of the major TV networks don’t ask you to take down their other clips.

   
Google admit to costs of Chinese censorship

From The Guardian

Google's decision to censor its search engine in China was bad for the company, its founders admitted yesterday.

Google was accused of selling out and reneging on its "Don't be evil" motto when it launched in China in 2005. The company modified the version of its search engine in China to exclude controversial topics such as the Tiananmen Square massacre or the Falun Gong movement, provoking a backlash in its core western markets.

Asked whether he regretted the decision, founder Sergey Brin admitted yesterday: On a business level, that decision to censor... was a net negative. The company has only once expressed any regret and never in as strong terms as yesterday. Brin said the company had suffered because of the damage to its reputation in the US and Europe.

Much of the harm had come from newspaper headlines, he said, which affected perception for most people, who then did not read the actual articles.

I claim unfair  stereotyping

Concern at media portrayal of muslims

Based on an article from The Telegraph

After the war, every Hollywood bad guy seemed to be German. With the onset of the Cold War, they became Russian. Now the blockbuster bogeyman is Muslim.

The oxymoronic Islamic Human Rights Commission said films as diverse as The Siege, a portrayal of a terrorist attack on New York, the British comedy East is East and Disney’s Aladdin are reinforcing impressions that Muslims are violent and dangerous.

The reports claims Raiders of the Lost Ark also exhibited “cultural stereotypes” and East is East, a story of an Anglo-Pakistani family in Salford, with its wife-beating husband fits into many of the negative perceptions people have of Muslims.

The study entitled The British Media and Muslim Representation: The Ideology of Demonisation argues that all these “negative stereotypes” along with negative portrayal in the media affect the general perception of Muslims and has a crucial role in influencing detrimental public views.

A survey conducted as part of the research revealed that Muslims in Britain felt negative images of their faith on the big and small screen had consequences in their daily lives. Those interviewed found a direct correlation between media portrayal and their social experiences of exclusion, hatred, discrimination and violence.

As well as deep unease with big screen portrayals, the research also claimed there was a perception of “unashamed bias” in the media against Muslims, with 62% believing the media to be Islamophobic and 16% describing it as racist. Only 4% considered its representation “fair”.

The report, which involved interviewing more than 1,125 Muslims in England, Scotland and Wales, concluded that there was evident from all genres that they contained negative stereotypes about Islam and Muslim/Arabs.

   
A Debate on Government Plans to Criminalise the Possession of Extreme Pornography

From Durham University

Why is nobody talking about pornography anymore? Why is nobody talking about the Government’s plans to criminalise possession of extreme porn? This is a fundamental issue – whether you are in favour or against. Is this legislation vital to ensuring a safer world for women? Or, is this the start of a more sinister invasion into personal privacy?

The aim of the workshop is to encourage debate and discussion on this important issue. This event is free but places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. If you would like to join us for this important debate please RSVP
Confirmed Speakers

* Julie Bindel, freelance journalist and political activist
* Professor Jill Radford, University of Teeside
* Professor Gavin Phillipson, Human Rights Centre, Department of Law, Durham University

1-4pm, 15 March 2007, Pennington Room, Grey College, Durham

Organised by Clare McGlynn, Erika Rackley (Department of Law) and Nicole Westmarland (School of Applied Social Sciences).

For more information and to RSVP please contact: Angela Emerson: angela.emerson@durham.ac.uk

   
Airline again take offence at terrorist Bush T-shirt

From the BBC

A passenger barred from a Qantas airlines flight for wearing a T-shirt depicting US President George Bush as a terrorist has threatened legal action.

Allen Jasson said he was sticking up for the principle of free speech by challenging the decision by the Australian flag carrier.

Jasson was stopped as he was about to board the flight from Melbourne to London last Friday. Jasson had previously encountered difficulties with the same T-shirt on an earlier Qantas flight in December.

Qantas said the T-shirt had potential to offend other passengers. The T-shift features an image of President George W Bush, along with the slogan "World's Number One Terrorist".

After clearing the international security checks at Melbourne Airport, he reportedly approached the gate manager to congratulate him on the company's new-found open-mindedness.

At that point, Jasson was ordered to remove the T-shirt after being told it was a security threat and an item which might cause offence to other passengers. He was offered the chance to board the flight wearing different clothing, but refused.

I am not prepared to go without the t-shirt. I might forfeit the fare, but I have made up my mind that I would rather stand up for the principle of free speech, he told Australian media.

   
Beer advert banned

From The Times

A group of complaining Englishmen who live in Australia succeeded in their long campaign to outlaw advertising that depicted Englishmen as whingers.

The Advertising Standards Bureau ruled that the Englishmen were right to be offended by an advertisement for beer that negatively stereotyped and demeaned English people.

The radio advertisement for Tooheys brewery and its New Supercold beer employed a group of Englishmen to sing the tune of Land of Hope and Glory using various synonyms for whinge, including whine, moan, slag and complain.

The advertisement ended with a voiceover saying: Introducing Tooheys New Supercold, served so cold it’s a Pom’s worst nightmare. The bureau ruled that negative words in the advertisement detracted from what it said was the otherwise playful nature of the word Pom. Instead, Pom had been given “a derogatory and almost hostile meaning”, Mark Jeanes, the acting chief of the bureau, said. The advert has been withdrawn.

Last month British People Against Racial Discrimination, the organisation campaigning for the removal of the advert, said that the word Pom was derogatory. David Thomason, the group’s spokesman, said: The Oxford Dictionary classes Pom as being derogatory.

His group also contested another version of the advert that had been made for television audiences. It featured footage of an overweight, pale man, wearing a Union Jack T-shirt, cringing in fear at the offer of a cold beer. The advert was withdrawn before the action against it could proceed.

   
Belgium bans football shirts with numbers 18 & 88

From the Brussels Journal

Patrick Dewael, the Belgian minister of the Interior, has forbidden the wearing of football shirts displaying the numbers 18 and 88. According to the Liberal minister the number 18 stands for “Adolf Hitler” and the number 88 for “Heil Hitler.” A is the 1st letter of the alphabet, H the 8th.

   
Given a likely ban first, investigate later attitude, who will want to work with kids

From Graham on the SeeNoEvil forum

I came across a Parliamentary discussion of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Bill.

This, as far as I can see, is a proposal to Make provision in connection with the protection of children and vulnerable adults by ensuring that people deemed "unsafe" by an "Independent Barring Board" cannot work with these groups.

Now this is all very laudable, however in the debate I found the following:

As I was saying, the pornography amendments—Nos. 114 to 118 and 122 to 127—ensure that the IBB can consider behaviour involving child pornography and conduct involving violent pornography that the IBB considers to be inappropriate. That applies equally to barring for both lists—a change that has been made as a result of a debate in another place—thereby expanding the focus of the children’s list from just child pornography, so that it also includes violent pornography.

Interest in child pornography is a matter that we wish the IBB to be able to consider, given the sexual interest in children that that indicates. Clearly, anyone who is unable to understand that that is unacceptable behaviour is precisely the kind of person that the scheme was designed to consider for barring. Similar considerations apply in respect of the most extreme and violent forms of pornography. The Secretary of State has the power to give guidance to the IBB in relation to inappropriate behaviour involving violent pornography. It is intended that that should be used so that acceptable behaviour involving adult pornography is excluded from consideration, while all pornography that is unlawful can be considered.

www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm061023/debtext/61023-0014.htm

In other words, if you work with "vulnerable adults" and you're found to have "violent pornography", you could find yourself out of a job!

   
Censored airline version of The Queen

From Post Chronicle

Some international airline viewers of the movie The Queen didn't catch all the dialogue because the word "God" was excised from the version they saw.

The censored airline version, shown by at least Delta and New Zealand Air prompted complaints by passenger.

A Delta spokeswoman said the airline had no choice because Miramax Films, distributor of the movie, shipped only the censored version of the movie to airlines. New Zealand Airline officials said they would replace the censored version with an uncensored one.

Eric Johnston, an attorney with the Southeastern Law Institute in Birmingham, Alabama, told the newspaper that airlines, similar to some retail businesses, have a diverse customer base and don't want to offend anyone. But I don't agree with that at all. If the movie industry can use the word 'God,' then certainly the airlines can use it.

   
Moldova government close radio station

From Tiraspol Times

Government censorship continues unabated in Moldova despite the attempts by OSCE and international NGOs to protect human rights and freedom of expression. In mid-December, the popular Chisinau-based public radio station Antena C went off the air, and it is doubtful if the country's authorities will ever allow the signal to be restored.

The worldwide Committee to Protect Journalists, CPJ,  issued a highly critical statement deploring the suspension of Antena C. The station, which frequently aired reports critical of the government, has been off the air for more than a month, and local sources said they fear it is part of an official clampdown on news ahead of May elections.

Broadcasting was interrupted at 3 p.m. on December 16, while the station was airing a report that criticized a new government plan to privatize Antena C and the television station Euro TV. Antena C journalists had also recently protested the authorities’ decision to change the station’s management; Veceaslav Sitnic, former chief editor for the government radio station Radio Moldova, had been named the new director.

Police arrived at the station at 2 a.m. the next day, claiming they had received a bomb threat targeting the premises, Antena C correspondent Lucia Culev told CPJ. Police searched the building and forced employees to leave, Culev said.

The pope considers media sex & violence to be a perversion

From CNET News

Pope Benedict XVI voiced his opinion on games from the Vatican, saying that violent or sexually explicit games are a "perversion" and "repulsive."

As part of the annual papal message for World Communications Day, the theme of which was Children and the Media: A Challenge for Education, the pope talked about the media's effect on children, paying particular attention to games and films.

Any trend to produce programs and products--including animated films and video games--which in the name of entertainment exalt violence and portray antisocial behavior or the trivialization of human sexuality is a perversion, all the more repulsive when these programs are directed at children and adolescents, the pope said.

Pointing toward the media's growing influence on youth, he said the media can support a family's education of children provided it promotes fundamental human dignity, the true value of marriage and family life, and the positive achievements and goals of humanity. He called upon media leaders to safeguard the common good, to uphold the truth, to protect individual human dignity, and promote respect for the needs of the family.

   
TV evangelists to be allowed to ask for cash

From The Times

Ofcom are changing their rules to allow TV evangelists to appeal for money on screen.

The change, opposed by the Church of England as having a clear potential for exploiting viewers’ sensitivities, comes after a consultation process by the regulator Ofcom. It found that channels being beamed in from overseas, and therefore not subject to British broadcasting rules, rendered the previous regulations ineffectual.

The new rules come with caveats such as not creating unrealistic expectations of what a donor’s gift will actually accomplish. Ofcom said: There is evidence that this move will help religious broadcasters who otherwise might not be able to get off the ground by giving them a way to raise money.

The change was welcomed by Revelation’s boss, Howard Conder: I said to Ofcom last year that I was going to have to break the law. It wasn’t fair that the channels broadcasting via satellite from overseas could appeal for funds when we couldn’t ask for anything on-air, or even thank anyone who had sent anything in.

All we want to do is tell people how much we need to run the channel, and show them what our shortfall is. At the moment we want an outside broadcast van so we can broadcast from other cities. We want to do less of the preaching and more documentaries.

The change could also pave the way for greater involvement of American evangelicals in Britain. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, one of America’s biggest ministries, said that it was aware of the rule change and right now we are consulting with our partners in the UK and considering a range of options.

Twelve satellite channels beam Christianity to Britain. Ten broadcast from outside the UK and so are out of Ofcom’s jurisdiction. UCB, the other British channel, said that it would not appeal for funds.

   
China bans 8 books about historical events

From Asia Media See full article

Chinese press authorities have banned eight books by renowned writers and intellectuals in a new move to control dissent and stifle discussion of sensitive historical events.

The General Administration of Press and Publications (Gapp) deputy director Wu Shulin told propaganda and publication officials at a meeting last week that the eight books were banned and vowed to impose severe punishment on their publishers.

All eight books are reflections by intellectuals on historical and social events of the past six decades, events that have traditionally been subject to tight censorship.

Another administration source said Gapp came up with the ban after the Central Propaganda Department included the books on its 2006 list of publications that overstepped the line.

Banned books:

• Cang Sang by Xiao Jian tells the story of a man in northern Shaanxi from the 1911 Revolution to the Great Leap Forward.
• I Object: The Road to Politics by a People's Congress Member by journalist Zhu Ling tells of the 12-year struggle of activist Yao Lifa to run for a seat in the local legislature.
• Past Stories of Peking Opera Stars by Zhang Yihe is an account of the lives and deaths of seven Peking Opera artists.
• The Family History of an Ordinary Chinese by Guo Ya describes the experiences of a normal Chinese family during the war of liberation, the Cultural Revolution and other eras
• The Other Stories of History: My Days at the Supplement Division of the People's Daily by Yuan Ying is a memoir of time working for the People's Daily.
• Era of History edited by Kuang Chen is a historic series on major events from the 1950s to the 1980s.
• This is How it Goes@sars.com by Hu Fayun tells the story of a woman who fell in love with the internet at the cost of her relationship with a vice-mayor during the Sars outbreak.
• The Press by Zhu Huaxiang uses fictional characters to tell of the intrigues and behind-the-news stories of China's media industry.

   
Government trial no-evidence search and seizure in Northern Ireland

From Reporters without Borders

Reporters Without Borders voiced concern today about a bill currently being discussed by the Parliamentary Assembly of Northern Ireland. Entitled the “Draft policing - Miscellaneous Provisions (Northern Ireland) Order 2007,” it would extend the powers of the police to search and seize documents.

The organisation wrote yesterday to Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain warning him about the threats that this bill poses to press freedom and the confidentiality of journalists’ sources, and asking him to intervene to ensure that they do not materialise: As you know, the work of journalists depends closely on their ability to protect the confidentiality of their sources. This essential condition for investigative journalism is seriously threatened by this bill.

The letter continued: Under this law, the police would no longer have to produce such explicit evidence as they are currently required to show in order to obtain permission to carry out a search and seize documents. The new prerogatives would also allow them to confiscate documents or electronic files for a period of 48 hours, which could be extended to 96 hours if the files had to be translated or deciphered.

Reporters Without Borders pointed out in the letter that journalists have been subject to harassment and threats and that controversial searches of premises and homes of journalists have taken place in recent years in Northern Ireland. We are convinced that the adoption of this bill would do a great deal of harm to press freedom and the process of normalisation in this region, the letter concluded.

The order is expected to come into effect by the spring or summer of this year. These enhanced powers relate only to Northern Ireland, but the national situation regarding the threat of serious crime and terrorism is under review, and a government official in Northern Ireland Office said she understood that consideration might be given to extending the measures throughout the UK in the future.

Paul Goggins, the Northern Ireland minister with responsibility for security, told members of the region’s legislative assembly last week that police would not be able to go around willy-nilly seeking documents. There has to be a rationale. He said that, having examined such documents or files, an officer must have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has taken place.

Séamus Dooley, Irish secretary of the London-based National Union of Journalists, said he would write a letter, expressing his concern, to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain. The NUJ has a particular concern at the abuse of searches because of our past experience of ’fishing expeditions’ by securityforces in raids on the homes of reporters and photographers. We have experienced such behaviour in the past where notebooks were unlawfully seized. There must be an onus on the security forces not just to obtain a lawful warrant but also to justify the need for seizure. That need must be based on firmly grounded suspicions.

Two cases in recent years have drawn particular sharp protests from media workers.

One website journalist, Anthony McIntyre, had his home raided in 2003 by police who took away his computer, disks and notebooks, saying they were looking for stolen documents. McIntyre called it political policing, censorship and a trawl for my contacts. He got his property back after protesting that the raid was unlawful.

Liam Clarke, the Northern Ireland editor of London’s Sunday Times, and his wife Kathryn Johnston had their home raided in 2003 after they published leaked transcripts of telephone conversations between a senior Republican politician and government officials. Clarke says the authorities had sought to create a "chill factor" by using heavy-handed policing to stifle investigative reporting. But the couple complained to the Police Ombudsman who ruled the police action unlawful - leading, in September 2006, to a compensation payment by the police.

   
International internet companies talk about about freedom

But of course the likes of Google will be expected to 'cooperate fully' with any requirements from Western governments

From tvnz

Technology companies Microsoft, Google, Yahoo and Vodafone are in talks with human rights and press freedom groups to draw up an internet code of conduct to protect free speech and privacy of Web users.

The parties said in a statement that they aim to produce a code by the end of this year that would counter such trends as the increased jailing of Internet journalists, monitoring of legitimate online activity, and censorship.

Talks are being led by the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology and San Francisco's non-profit Business for Social Responsibility. They are trying to craft a code to hold companies accountable if they cooperate with governments to suppress free speech or violate human rights.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the spotlight had been put on Internet companies after arrests in China of internet writers such as Shi Tao, who was jailed in 2005 for 10 years for leaking state secrets abroad. Rights groups have accused Yahoo of helping China trace Shi Tao's e-mail exchanges with a New York-based news Web site.

Governments around the world are jailing Internet journalists at a growing pace, with 49 bloggers, online editors, and Web-based reporters behind bars at the end of 2006, said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. Protecting the rights of these journalists to express ideas and exchange information without fear of reprisal is one of the highest priorities for the press freedom community today.

Opus Dei whinge about Waking the Dead

Based on an article from the Daily Mail

The religious sect, Opus Dei has accused the BBC of portraying its members as "murderers, thieves and adulterers" in over a popular fictional drama.

The secretive Catholic organisation lodged an official complaint of defamation after the award-winning drama, Waking the Dead showed an episode featuring a murder investigation of a Opus Dei devotee.

In the drama, a spurned Opus Dei member exacts revenge on his lover, a married woman, also a member of the sect, by shooting her and his love rival to death in what the organisation has called gratuitous scenes of sex and violence.

The episode entitled The Fall also sees the fictional head of Opus Dei being portrayed as a shadowy figure pursuing wealth and influence.

Last night a spokesman for the community, which the former Education Secretary Ruth Kelly is a member of, accused the corporation of copying ideas from the Hollywood blockbuster Da Vinci Code, whose plot also revolves around a murdering Opus Dei member.

Jack Valero said: In this programme Opus Dei was portrayed as an organisation of murderers, thieves and adulterers who justify and cover up evil actions while hiding behind a veneer of hypocritical piety and penitential rituals of self-flagellation. The three characters were portrayed as members are self-serving hypocrites whose main reason for belonging to Opus Dei is depicted as being their wealth. This portrayal is lifted from the Da Vinci Code, a book and film which claimed – against all evidence - to be based on fact.

The religious organisation has also accused makers of the two-part BBC 1 drama shown on Sunday, January 21 and 22 of breaching the corporation's strict guidelines on religious prejudice.

Valero added: Members of Opus Dei are Catholics, they are not going around killing people, having sex with married people and making money. It is a completely false portrayal. Whilst the BBC chose to create a fictional bank for the programme, it chose not to create a fictional religious organisation. We believe that it is irresponsible of the BBC, as a public service broadcaster, to have perpetuated that prejudice, in breach of its editorial guidelines. Opus Dei is not an anonymous corporation but a family with feelings and values.

Last night a BBC spokesman said: We are unable to comment as we are yet to receive the complaint. There have only been four complaints from the viewers about the show.

   
Making an example of Girls Gone Wild Boss

From AVN

Girls Gone Wild mogul Joe Francis was sentenced this week to two years' probation, a $500,000 fine and 200 hours of community service for violating the federal government's 2257 record-keeping law.

The sentence is part of an ongoing case against Francis and his company Mantra Films stemming from the 2003 appearance of two 17-year-old girls in a Girls Gone Wild video shot on Florida's Panama City Beach.

Last month, a Florida judge slapped Mantra Films with a $1.6 million fine, ordering Francis and three other Mantra officers to perform eight hours of community service each month for a period of 30 months. Mantra is appealing the December verdict.

Francis told reporters that he has been unfairly targeted because: the government needs to make an example.

   
Ofcom Content Board appointment

From Mad

Ofcom has appointed Chris Banatvala to executive member of its content board.

Banatvala is director of standards at Ofcom with responsibility for the implementation and policy development of standards regulation in broadcasting. He is responsible for the development of Ofcom's first broadcasting code, which sets standards for television and radio broadcasts.

The board is currently reviewing some 40,000 complaints about Channel 4's Celebrity Big Brother over allegations of racism.

As a member of the content board, Banatvala will sit as a full member of both Ofcom's content sanctions committee and its fairness committee.

Banatvala takes his new position with immediate effect.

   
Utah suggests a split into a family Internet and an adult Internet

One size fits all nonsense

Based on an article from KSL

A Utah based non-profit organisation called the CP80 Foundation has proposed that two ports should be used for websites, which currently use the single port 80. One that is acceptable to children, families, education and business, and another which is open for all other legal adult content.

The Utah legislature is considering a resolution to the US Congress, asking that US Internet governing organizations implement the plan and its enforcement. Developers of the Internet Channel Initiative, as its called, say the Internet shouldn't belong to pornographers.

Ralph Yarro, Founder, CP80 Foundation: It's for everyone and its time to make an internet that's accountable to the people its supposed to serve. Yarro says the initiative leverages the current structure of the Internet to categorize Internet content into Internet ports or channels similar to cable television channels. There would be Community Port channels for general-public content and Open Port channels for mature content, such as pornography.

Once content is categorized, Internet consumers will be able to choose what content and material is accessible in their home and office.

The House Utility and Technology Committee voted to send the resolution on to the House for its approval.

   
Blogger to remove posting on grounds of 'libel'

From Al Jazeera

A Malaysian court has ordered Jeff Ooi, a popular Malaysian blogger, to remove more than 10 postings on his blog Screenshots that a publisher claims are libellous, by January 17.

Ooi is prohibited from republishing those postings in his blog or on the internet until the disposal of the defamation suit filed by New Straits Times Press (NSTP).

The company, however, failed to obtain an injunction against Ahirudin Attan, another blogger facing a similar lawsuit, who posted almost 50 allegedly defamatory comments on his blog Rock's Bru.

The lawsuits are the first of their kind in Malaysia. The lawsuits were jointly filed by the NSTP, which publishes the country's oldest English-language daily, the New Straits Times, and the group's top brass.

A media analyst said this would instil fear in a society already unaccustomed to open debate. But he also said that bloggers should not post wild accusations: If the postings are defamatory, then bloggers are not exempted from facing the music. But one has to be very clear... it is a thin line between fair comment and defamation

Zaharom Nain, a journalism lecturer at the school of communications in Universiti Sains Malaysia in the northern state of Penang, said the action could intimidate bloggers and other internet users: The community of bloggers in Malaysia is lively but still relatively small. They would feel intimidated even though the government guarantees no censorship of the internet under the MSC (Multimedia Super Corridor). The no-censorship rule is provided in the 10-point Bill of Guarantees under the MSC initiative that is designed to attract foreign investors.

The court will hear the inter parte application for Ahirudin on January 25 while Ooi's will be heard on January 30.

   
BBFC move into the censorship of Internet video

From Strictly Broadband posting on the Beer and Bollocks webmasters forum

I had a meeting with the BBFC last week to discuss their plans, and get their views on where the law is going. Note that the BBFC don't set the law, but they need to interpret it. Below are the points that came out of the meeting, most of them known already to some degree. A follow-up meeting will be held next week to look in more detail at how they intend to enforce the use of their online certificates specifically for streaming content.

• The BBFC will shortly (well before the end of this year) be introducing a VoD certificate. This will be issued free of charge to companies that submit content for distribution on DVD/video. It will cover downloads for sure, and possibly streaming. The certificate will allow companies to display BBFC certificate logos on their web sites.
   
• For companies that do not certificate for the time being, the BBFC will soon be publishing a set of guidelines for adult web companies laying out in more details what they do/don't consider legal content. I see this as a good step forward, as it will allow adult webmasters a clearer view of what may be likely to get them prosecuted under the OPA.
   
• Certification will for now be voluntary for online use.
   
• Online certificates will have three parts:
  1. A visible logo to display online
  2. A video "card" to put at the start of a certificated video
  3. A paper certificate to file away
   
• The BBFC will be making content submission possible online - currently you need to submit on physical media.
   
• By 2010, the UK will have to sign up to the EU's Television Without Frontiers framework - this means that laws will be introduced to regulate online content - my interpretation of this is that within a couple of years, all adult content online will fall within regulation.
   
• The BBFC expect that their certification of online content will be a key part in enforcing the new legislation.
   
• People within the BBFC scheme will be fairly well protected from prosecution - those outside the scheme have no protection.
   
• In the longer term, the BBFC are investigating content labelling schemes, especially for adult material - this will be technically similar to existing ICRA content labelling.
   
• The timescales are fluid, but will be forced by the implementation of the EU legislation.
   
• I raised the specific issue of watersports; many webmasters are unaware that this is illegal in the UK. the BBFC have no role in deciding what is classed as obscene, they are simply guided by the police. I was informed that the police have made prosecutions of web sites for this content - the problem being that webmasters tend to plead guilty to avoid a prison sentence, and so the guideline hasn't been challenged in court.

   
Big Brother, a shipwrecked survivor

Limey, if we put a hidden reality TV microphone in a single typical pub, there would be enough offence to keep Ofcom in complaints for a generation

From The Herald

Channel 4 bosses have ordered a review of Big Brother following the racism row, but say that the current Celebrity edition of the show will remain on air.

Chairman Luke Johnson said that the Channel 4 board expressed "profound regret" for any offence that may have been caused.

Johnson said the board believed that last week's events on Celebrity Big Brother had triggered an important debate: Clearly many people were worried and offended by what they saw. I want to reassure them that we take the views of our audience very seriously and profoundly regret any offence that may have been caused.

Johnson said the board had commissioned a review of the "editorial and compliance processes" of Big Brother. The board will receive a full report and seek to identify any lessons that can be learned for the future, he said.

From The Telegraph

But just as Luke Johnson sought to dampen down criticism of the organisation, he became embroiled in further controversy over a racial rant on another reality TV programme on the channel.

The television regulator Ofcom said it had received scores of complaints about another reality show in which a contestant praised slavery. More than 69 viewers complained about the outburst on Shipwrecked, which occurred on a pre-recorded episode seen by 1.2 viewers on Sunday night.

One contestant, Lucy Buchanan, a former public schoolgirl, said she was "for slavery" and said black people were "really bad". Buchanan went on to make offensive remarks about the overweight describing them as "disgusting and offensive". She admitted she was racist and went into a tirade about the people making a "complete mess" of Britain.

A Channel 4 spokesman said the comments, filmed five months ago, came from a "very young woman" who had led a "closeted existence" and that, after interacting with the other contestants, she changes her view. Other contestants reprimand her and say they disagree with her, the spokesman said. Over the course of the series it becomes clear that her views change. It is quite a justified portrayal.

   
OFLC in need of mind enhancing drugs

From Spong

The OFLC have now released their reasons for banning the computer game, Blitz the League:

In the course of the game, the player may access what are purported to be both legal and illegal performance-enhancing drugs for the members of the team. Choosing to use these drugs (by selecting from a menu) will have both negative and positive effects on team-members, for example, by improving their speed while making them more susceptible to injury.

Each drug has different characteristics. Fake urine samples may also be acquired for avoiding positive drug tests. While the game-player can choose not to use the drugs, in the Board’s majority view there is an incentive to use them.

By using them judiciously, the player can improve the performance of the football team (while managing the negative effects) and have a better chance of winning games, thereby winning bets and climbing the league table.

In the ‘morally-upstanding’ eyes of the OFLC’s board members this falls into the realm of unacceptable content that depicts matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults.

   
FCC angling to regulate violent TV content

From Broadcast Newsroom

The FCC is readying a report that could set the agenda for US TV censorship. FCC sources confirm that the Media Bureau has circulated a Media Bureau TV violence report among the commissioners for their comment.

Media violence is an issue that surfaces periodically in Washington. Frequent media violence critic Senator Jay Rockefeller isn't waiting for the report, or for the courts: Obviously, the preference would be to have the industry police itself when it comes to excessive violence. However, if they can't or won't do it, then Congress must step in and address this growing societal problem One of the most basic steps we can take is to give the FCC authority to regulate violence.

A source confirms that Rockefeller will re-introduce a bill giving the FCC the authority to regulate violence as it does indecency He also expects the committee to hold hearings on TV violence.

The FCC report is the product of a more than two-year-old inquiry prompted by, among others, the now-chairs of the House Energy & Commerce Committee and Telecommunications subcommittee.

Among the issues the report addresses are the negative effects on kids caused by cumulative viewing, the limits on the FCC's power to regulate violence, and what the definition of "harmful" TV violence is. The report is said to suggest there are constitutional hurdles to regulating violence, but not insurmountable ones if Congress wants to give the FCC the power, and Rockefeller want to do just that.

   
Ontario disagrees with US film ratings

For comparison, This Film is Not Yet Rated received an 18 certificate in the UK.

From The Star

There may be a more hypocritical organization on the face of the planet than the Motion Picture Association of America. It's just hard to think of what it might be.

The MPAA claims it represents the cherished family values of American parents and their impressionable children. Yet it employs a movie ratings system that approves horrific scenes of violence while censoring acts of love.

The MPAA insists it is fair and reasonable. Yet it judges independent films more harshly than studio ones, and it views gay sex more sternly than straight sex.

The MPAA boasts of being open and accountable, yet it operates like a star chamber with secret censors and arbitrary rulings.

The MPAA says its ratings have no impact whatsoever on box office receipts. Yet it knows full well that its punitive NC-17 rating kills movies, because many American newspapers and broadcast outlets won't carry ads for these films and many exhibitors and retailers won't give them screen time or shelf space.

And Canadians aren't immune to its outrageous ratings, even though our provinces have their own film review boards. American movies cross the border pre-censored by the MPAA, since there is no financial incentive to edit a film just for the Canadian audience.

These facts were already known before last year's Sundance premiere of documentarian Kirby Dick's MPAA expose, This Film Is Not Yet Rated. It was a situation akin to what Mark Twain once said about the weather: everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it.

Dick actually did do something and the result is a movie that is at once eye-opening and hilarious. He talked to the usual suspects, outraged filmmakers like John Waters, Kevin Smith and Canada's Atom Egoyan and Mary Harron, who have all felt the MPAA's lash.

According to MPAA logic, it's okay to show people getting shot, brutally killed or mutilated if you want a family friendly rating. But to show sex, even to talk about it in some circumstances, will get you hobbled with a rating of "NC-17" (no one 17 and under admitted). NC-17 is the most feared of ratings, since it amounts to a blacklisting.

Violence is fine; sex isn't. That's what America believes, says John Waters (Pink Flamingos), who succinctly describes the dubious MPAA mindset.

There's no question, however, that the film has already made an impact, although it took a year to do so. The MPAA announced this week it is making its operations more transparent, although Dick says the changes don't really amount to much. And the biggest problem of all remains: the NC-17 rating is completely unjust and unworkable, yet the MPAA refuses to delete or change it.

Most telling of all is the rating that This Film Is Not Yet Rated has finally received from the MPAA. You guessed it: NC-17, meted out because it contains "some graphic sexual content." Not to mention graphic mocking of the MPAA.

Here in Ontario, where our own censors rightly judge violence much more harshly than sex, the film gets a reasonable rating of 14A, meaning adult accompaniment for persons 14 and under. Ontarians know that many people have died from guns, but nobody was ever hurt by the sight of a bare breast.

   
US adult industry comply with record keeping

From AVN

A feature article in the Los Angeles Times examined the FBI's recent 2257 inspections of San Fernando Valley porn studios.

Free Speech Coalition chairman Jeffrey Douglas said: Although the public perception of porn producers often tends to be that of a wild and unseemly underworld, many of the Valley's X-rated entities are tightly-run multimillion dollar corporations. Douglas said that complying with the rules had buried X-rated producers in paperwork."

Joe Francis' Mantra Films, which produces the popular Girls Gone Wild video series, is the only company to be prosecuted thus far since changes in 2257 laws took effect in May 2005. The Times article mentioned the FBI's recent visit to the K-Beech offices in Chatsworth. K-Beech passed the inspection.

Why would I jeopardize $10 million a year to shoot an underage girl? We're not stupid, Kevin Beechum told the Times.

Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra was quoted as saying, If [porn producers'] feeling is there's nothing to worry about, then complying with the inspections shouldn't be a problem.

The FBI is being decent and fair about it, Steven Hirsch of Vivid Entertainment told the Times. But I don't think it's an issue. There's plenty of girls of age who are willing to do [porn].

Cuban writers protests reappearance of Stalinist censor

From White Rock Reviewer

The Cuban government's arts union has backed protests against the recent reappearance of a former top censor blamed for Stalinist-type purges on artistic expression in the 1970s.

The resurfacing of Luis Pavon Tamayo and others from the period known to writers here as the "gray five years" has raised worries that Cuba's new caretaker government was moving to tighten expression with ailing President Fidel Castro on the sidelines.

During those years, writers and artists were expelled from their jobs for being homosexuals or not toeing the government line. Some, including Jose Lezama Lima, were hounded into exile. Beatles music and even long hair were banned on the island.

Since Castro ceded his powers provisionally to his brother Raul on July 31, the younger Castro has campaigned for fearless and critical debate within the confines of the island's communist system. Last week, ideology chieftain Rolando Alfonso Borges called on journalists for official media to report more on problems affecting Cuban citizens.

   
BBFC now censor 25% of adult rated videos

Spotted by Calidoniaguy on The Melon Farmers Forum

A worrying trend of increasing censorship by the BBFC?

Official censorship figures from the BBFC, for video works

	% cut	% Cut
2002	10.5	15.4
2003	11.4	18.4
2004	15.2	20.6
2005	17.6	23.2
2006	25.4	24.1

Remember, these figures are artificially low due to the fact that the BBFC do not require distributors to declare whether they have censored works prior to submission. Also, it does not show how much has been cut – e.g. the multi-award winning “Pirates” had 1 hour 34 minutes censored from it!!!

   
If only the walls had ears

Surely then we would hear a few more derogatory terms than ever we heard on TV

From The Herald

Andy Duncan, chief executive of Channel 4, is today expected to be called to account over his handling of the Celebrity Big Brother row.

The Channel 4 board is said to be reluctant to make a "knee-jerk" reaction and is not expected to make a decision on whether to axe the reality show at this stage.

The alleged abuse has now resulted in more than 40,000 complaints from viewers to Ofcom.

The most comprehensively homophobic legislation ever proposed

From Pink News

New legislation currently being debated by politicians in Nigeria could be the most serious crackdown on the rights of gay and lesbian people since the Iranian revolution.

The Prohibition of Relationships Between Persons of the Same Sex, Celebration of Marriage by Them, and for Other Matters Connected Therewith, is the title of the bill.

It has been approved by the Nigerian Federal Executive Council and is now before the National Assembly. It is expected to be passed and become law shortly.

The president, Olusegun Obasanjo, controls the Executive Council and his Nigerian People's Party has a majority in the both the Senate and House of Representatives. Although a centrist party, they derive most of their support from the Christian south of the country, and the Anglican church played an active role in promoting this legislation.

Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell contacted PinkNews.co.uk to draw attention to the nature of the new legislation, which has the active backing of other Christian churches in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa: The bill outlaws almost every expression, affirmation and celebration of gay identity and sexuality, and prohibits the provision of sympathetic advice and welfare support to lesbians and gay men. This draconian measure will outlaw membership of a gay group, attending a gay meeting or protest, advocating gay equality.

Donating money to a gay organisation, hosting or visiting a gay website, the publication or possession of gay safer sex advice, renting or selling a property to a gay couple, expressions of same-sex love in letters or emails, attending a same-sex marriage or blessing ceremony, screening or watching a gay movie, taking or possessing photos of a gay couple, and publishing, selling or loaning a gay book or video.

The new law carries an automatic five year jail sentence for those who break it.

Despite protests of governments and human rights activists, the Nigerian government have pressed ahead with the new laws, which are in contravention of various international treaties. Homosexuality is already illegal in the country. Nigeria's criminal code penalises consensual homosexual conduct between adults with 14 years imprisonment.

The Anglican Church, who have a huge powerbase in Nigeria, have been key in promoting this bill. The church has been increasingly vocal about its disapproval of the position of women and gay men in the English and American churches.

The bill currently being debated in the Nigerian parliament, is the most comprehensively homophobic legislation ever proposed in any country in the world," said Peter Tatchell: We appeal to gay and human rights groups worldwide to take urgent action to press the Nigerian government to uphold international human rights law and to drop this draconian legislation.

Islamic terrorist storylines criticised

From the BBC

The TV drama, 24, is under fire from Muslim groups in the US, which say the show's latest storyline fuels intolerance.

The Council on American-Islam Relations said: Repeated association of acts of terrorism with Islam will only serve to increase anti-Muslim prejudice.

The current series begins with Islamic terrorists waging an 11-day campaign of suicide bombings across America. TV network Fox said it had "not singled out any ethnic or religious group for blame in creating its characters". 24 is a heightened drama about anti-terrorism, the statement continued. Over the past several seasons, the villains have included shadowy Anglo businessmen, Baltic Europeans, Germans, Russians, Islamic fundamentalists, and even the (Anglo-American) president of the United States.

I do realise it's a multi-dimensional show that portrays extreme situations, said Sireen Sawaf from the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council: But I'm concerned about the image it ingrains in the minds of the American public and the American government, particularly when you have anti-Muslim statements spewing from the mouths of government officials.

   
Indian nanny censor under fire

From Gulf Times

Nudity, cigarettes, Paris Hilton and sexy adverts are just some of things the Indian government has tried to hide from its citizens in the last few months.

Critics say Indian sensibilities are made of sterner stuff, and warn against the country becoming a "nanny state".

Dasmunsi must be told he can’t go about treating us like impressionable children, the Indian Express editorial said yesterday, referring to the broadcasting minister who banned a channel for airing The World’s Sexiest Advertisements.

Last week, Dasmunsi ordered two local news channels to apologise for airing footage of a man dressed as freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi performing a pole dance, saying it was an assault to the dignity of the Father of the Nation.

In November, undercover police in Mumbai were assigned to scan the catwalks at fashion shows in an effort to prevent a repeat of last year’s episode in which a model’s top slipped to reveal her breasts.

Censors banned Paris Hilton’s music video Stars Are Blind from being shown on television in August, which shows the blond socialite cavorting on a beach in revealing clothes.

The government last year also tried to ban smoking scenes in films, reasoning that cigarette-wielding Bollywood stars were influencing people to take up the habit.

Too rich for a small shop to fight the Canadian state

From The Times

The Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday that the government does not have to pay the legal tab for a Vancouver bookstore's epic censorship battle against Canada Customs, quashing hopes among cash-strapped litigants to receive public money to fight Charter of Rights and Freedoms challenges.

Little Sisters have been battling Canadian Customs for some while now. Its latest censorship case involves four publications that were ruled obscene in 2001 and 2003, including two series of comic books and two books on bondage and sadomasochism.

   
Blitz the League game banned

From Refused Classification

The OFLC have announced their first games ban of 2007. The computer game, Blitz the League, has been banned. Justification to follow but maybe its the gruesome sports injuries or else a night with escort girls to put your opponents off.

   
Calculated to remove Tennessee tax on groceries

From X Biz

State Representative Stacey Campfield said he will introduce a bill in the state legislature to impose a tax on pornography, with the revenue from the measure going toward a reduction in state sales tax for groceries.

Campfield, who said he is in the process of researching and drafting the bill, said the law would likely apply to material that minors were legally prohibited from purchasing, but it would not include R-rated movies.

Several state officials, including Gov. Phil Bredesen, said they thought the proposal would most likely be unconstitutional.

In addition to adult movies, Campfield said he was exploring the idea of expanding the proposed bill’s taxable territory by including exotic dance clubs as well.

While Campfield has not determined the size of the tax, he said the goal is to raise enough revenue to allow the repeal of a 6% state sales tax on groceries.

Dr. Stan Chervin, who serves as a senior research associate for the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, said a tax on adult entertainment wouldn’t generate enough revenue to allow lawmakers to repeal the tax on food. What's he going to do? Charge $2 million on a Playboy magazine? asked Chervin.

Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Tennessee, said such a tax would face legal challenges, pointing out that the proposed law seemed both impermissibly vague and that it would likely have a chilling effect on free speech.

   
IFPI wants Cleanfeed for Copyright

From Linx Public Affairs

he international lobby group for the recorded music industry has called for “Cleanfeed” style network level content blocking to be extended to cover websites that facilitate copyright infringement. The demand comes in IFPI’s Digital Music Report 2007.

IFPI sees ISPs as the “Gatekeepers of the Internet” who it believes has the capability, and therefore (it argues) the duty, to act as the music industry’s vehicle for copyright enforcement law. IFPI CEO John Kennedy said: Disconnection of service for serious infringers should become the speeding fine or the parking ticket of ISP networks.

Kennedy says ISPs must join with the music industry to achieve the “holy grail”, in which the boom in music sales as people replaced record collections with CDs is repeated by people buying the same music all over again from online services.

   
Examining the Daily Mail Coverage of Big Brother

From the Daily Mail: How to end this Big Brother farce

British casualties rising almost daily in Afghanistan. Iraq drowning in blood. Inflation at its highest for 15 years. Interest rates heading skywards. Foreign criminals at large all over the country. The NHS in crisis. Prisons full to overflowing. . .

So what was occupying MPs' minds at Prime Minister's Questions?

Why, the latest instalments of Celebrity Big Brother in which many viewers claim to have spotted evidence of racism against Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.

But Blair isn't the only politician distracted by CBB. Far from it. In India, Gordon Brown puts on his sternest expression and condemns it as 'offensive'.

Not to be outdone, Treasury Minister Ed Balls announces he feels ashamed of it, while former Europe Minister Keith Vaz demands 'effective action'. Peter Hain - never a man to let a bandwagon pass without jumping on it - tours the broadcasting houses to express outrage.

Meanwhile complaints pour in to Ofcom, Channel 4 and the Commission for Racial Equality, while some viewers call the police.

It's enough to make you weep.

Now, the Mail is loath to enter the fray but, like the police, we wonder if there is any real evidence of racism here. Isn't it more about class, and the fact Miss Shetty's thick and foul-mouthed British housemates are jealous of her superior intelligence, grace and good manners?

CBB's detractors are right. The programme does shame our national culture. But there is an answer: get up and turn the damn thing off!

From Dan

But there is an answer: get up and turn the damn thing off!

The Daily Mail for once in it's lifespan advocates the use of the off switch for those who find something on TV offensive! It would be seen as a miracle if such a view was not taken with utter hypocrisy and double standards.

When have the Daily Mail ever suggested to their readers who've been offended by programmes because of offensive content to "get up and turn the dam thing over".

How did they respond to the thousand of Christian nutters who demanded the BBC not show Jerry Springer: The Opera because it offended the precious relegious sensibilities? Did they say get up and turn the dam thing over? No! They bemoaned the BBC for "allowing" such "obscenity" into "our homes" (middle England's homes!) and for being so insensitive and unfeeling towards Christians.

Real abuse to someone on a TV programme has occurred here and that cannot be condoned. But the Mail don't seem to think it's a problem and are telling people who are angered by it to stop complaining. So racist abuse of REAL people on TV is ok and not worth getting angry about in the warped double standards morality of the Daily Mail.

The Daily mail mocks politicians for getting involved with the fuss. They suggest politicians should butt out on TV matters.

They should cast their minds back to the Brass Eye paedophile programme uproar in 2001 when they demanded MPs stepped in to censure Channel 4 for allowing such "evil" to be broadcast!

It seems the Daily Mail doesn't have a problem with politicians for getting involved with the uproar from controversial TV programmes just as long as they are responding to the Daily Mail's uproar!

   
UK newspapers agree to extend PCC regulation to their internet video

From the BBC

UK newspaper and magazine publishers have agreed to allow the Press Complaints Commission to regulate audio-visual material on their websites.

The PCC already regulates print and still photo material on newspaper and magazine websites, but will now extend its remit to audio and video clips, including podcasts.

Sir Christopher Meyer, the chairman of the PCC, said that the move is an extension of the PCC's remit to regulate the electronic version of newspapers and exactly the same rules would apply.

The full details of the extension to the PCC's online content remit are expected to be announced in the next few weeks.

Paying a high price for freedom of speech

From The Times

A prominent newspaper editor and leading figure in Turkey's Armenian community has been murdered in Istanbul.

Hrant Dink, a vigorous defender of Armenians who frequently fell foul of the Government's free-speech laws and hardline Turkish nationalists, was shot several times in the neck as he emerged from the offices of the Agos newspaper in Istanbul.

In his final newspaper column Dink described how his willingness to criticise the Government and articulate the views of Turkey's Armenian community had led to dozens of death threats. He complained that he had been offered no protection by the police.

The killing of Dink, who was convicted last year under laws that forbid journalists from "insulting Turkish identity", caused the Turkish stock market to fall. The country's fractious relationship with its writers and its past, notably the Armenian genocide that followed the First World War, is seen as a major obstacle to Turkey's eventual admission to the EU.

At a rushed news conference, the Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, described the murder as an attack on Turkey's peace and stability. Hundreds of bystanders gathered around Dink's body, which lay face down and covered by a white sheet, and chanted the murderer Government will pay.

Dink had been prosecuted several times because of articles published in Agos, an influential bilingual newspaper that appears in Turkish and Armenian. He was unafraid to confront the Government with the history of the Armenian genocide and in late 2005 was charged with insulting Turkey for referring to the long-held Armenian wish to live separately from Turks.

In the end, Dink was convicted of trying to influence his trial by allowing a series of articles to appear in Agos criticising Turkey's penal code. His six-month suspended prison sentence, an unusually harsh penalty, was then upheld last year by Turkey's court of appeal, a verdict that led to condemnation from Brussels. Earlier this month, he predicted that 2007 would a difficult year, but that he would survive.

   
MySpace sued on a claim of insufficient security

From the BBC

MySpace is being sued by the families of five teenage girls who it is claimed were sexually assaulted by men they met through the social networking website.

The negligence and fraud suit against the popular site was filed at a court in Los Angeles. It comes after a similar lawsuit was filed by the parents of a 14-year-old American girl last year.

Last year, MySpace increased security measures to protect its younger users. It also made it impossible for users aged 18 and above to contact 14 and 15-year-old members, unless they knew the younger person's email address.

The girls involved in the latest lawsuits were all aged between 14, the minimum age for a MySpace account, and 15. In our view, MySpace waited entirely too long to attempt to institute meaningful security measures that effectively increase the safety of their underage users, said Jason Itkin, a lawyer for one of the firms representing the families.

Hemanshu Nigam, the MySpace chief security officer, said that "ultimately, internet safety is a shared responsibility. We encourage everyone to apply common sense offline security lessons in their online experiences and engage in open family dialogue about smart web practices.

   
US backs off from requiring political bloggers to register

From CNET News

The US Senate has rejected a proposal that may have required some political bloggers to register as lobbyists or face prison time.

By a 55-43 vote, the senators approved an amendment that dropped a controversial section dictating such regulations from a massive piece of federal lobbying legislation.

The provision removed from that bill, Section 220, would have required certain people engaged in "grassroots lobbying" to register with the government or face civil and criminal penalties, including up to 10 years in prison.

Supporters of the provision had said it was meant to curb "astroturf" groups--that is, special interest groups, funded by large organizations, labor unions or corporations, that masquerade as ordinary citizens.

But a politically diverse set of advocacy groups, ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to Gun Owners of America, argued that the proposal could actually sweep up a potentially broad swath of bloggers and nonprofit groups. Requiring them to register as lobbyists would violate core freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, they said.

The bill defined grassroots lobbying activity as a person engaging in "paid efforts" to encourage the general public to communicate their own views on an issue to federal officials. That message would have to be sent to at least 500 individuals. The person would also have to spend or receive at least $25,000 related to his or her political efforts over any three-month period to trigger the registration requirements.

Closes
29th March 2007

   
Petition sponsored by the Sexual Freedom Coalition

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to authorise a full and independent re-examination of the findings of the Home Office Department Committee on Obscenity and Film Censorship (Williams Committee) published in 1979 with a view to revising or scrapping the current legislation concerning censorship, much of which was originally based upon false or unprovable premis

or see http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/OpposeCensorship/

Censorship is prohibition by another name. History has proven that prohibition is ineffective, all it does is drive up the price and place the distribution of the prohibited commodity in the hands of organised crime. The imposition of censorship for adults upon the written word or images (still or moving) produced with the full informed consent of the participants is both an affront to the notion of a free society and an insult to the intelligence of the electorate. Censorship was originally brought in by the ‘upper class’ because they feared that if the ‘common man and woman’ was exposed to such material they would sink into such national depravity that the workforce would cease to be viable and the country would descend into sexual anarchy. The advent of the Internet over the past 20 years has meant that all of those images have been available, the social experiment has been conducted and no such sexual disaster has ensued. Censorship laws are redundant–repeal them.

   
China bans The Departed

From The Scotsman see full article

The China's movie censor will not approve The Departed for cinema release due to its mention of a Chinese plan to buy military equipment. The regulators just cannot understand why the movie wanted to involve China. They can talk about Iran or Iraq or whatever, but there's no reason to get China in said a source close to the film censor.

Martin Scorsese was named best film director at the Golden Globes on Monday for The Departed, a crime thriller.

Pirated versions can already be bought on DVD off the street in China.

   
Protesting about Indonesian Playboy centrefold

From Mainichi

Islamic protesters hurled abuse at Playboy magazine's first Indonesian centerfold, calling her a prostitute and saying they hoped her daughter would be raped.

Andhara Early did not respond to demonstrators as she left the South Jakarta District Court after testifying in the indecency trial of editor Playboy's Indonesia editor, Erwin Arnada.

Islamic conservatives loudly protested what they dubbed a global icon of pornography.

   
Indian cable channel AXN banned

From NDTV

The Information and Broadcast Ministry's decision to ban the cable channel, AXN, has raised questions as to whether the government has double standards on censorship and whether it should play censor.

The AXN ban resulted in sharp criticism for, Information & Broadcasting Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi who had to defend the decision: There is no big brother attitude. There are cable regulations that we follow. A show cause notice was given and due process was followed before taking it off.

AXN is high on the popularity charts, and is a leader when it comes to English entertainment with 50%of the market share.

AXN is the sixth channel in the country to be banned.

One wonders whether this is the prelude to the Broadcasting Bill, which it is believed will bring sweeping powers to the government.

   
Creeping internet filtering

Based on an article from ClickPress

Netintelligence (Ni) Cloud Clean is a network-based system which prevents access to supposedly illegal sites without the user realising they have been actively blocked. Instead, an error message is displayed when someone tries to access an illegal site.

The software manages web addresses supplied by a law enforcement agency, a media rights or copyright owner, or another licensed provider of illegal website addresses, eg the Internet Watch Foundation.

Phil Worms, director of products and marketing at Netintelligence, said: We can take the URLs of these sites and add them to our database, so that when someone tries to view a Premiership match illegally via a website, or access paedophilic material, all they see is an error message saying ‘website not found.

Whilst I understand that this system may raise concerns about personal choice and censorship, our view is simple, “if its illegal its illegal.” With the many of the media companies becoming internet service providers in their own right, BskyB, for example, it makes sense for them to protect both their end users and their intellectual property at the same time.

   
Keith Vaz meets with the government

Based on an article from Spong see full article

Nutter MP, Keith Vaz has met with government ministers to discuss sales of violent games to minors.

Vaz met with minister for 'creative Industries’ and tourism, Shaun Woodward, and minister for industry, Margaret Hodge, last week.

Vaz said: I am pleased that the Ministers agreed to meet with me and discuss this important issue. This is a good opportunity to raise concerns that many parents and I have on violent video games falling into the hands of young children.

Recent research has demonstrated that violent video games can encourage a propensity towards violence in their users. I do not believe that this is a question of censorship, but of protecting children.

He also stated that he was keen to discuss Rockstar titles Manhunt and Canis Canem Edit in particular.

The outcome of the meeting, which Vaz has been hankering for since last October, is not clear.

   
Viewing porn in schools to be a crime

From X Biz see full article

Utah students who view porn at school not only could be suspended or expelled, but also charged with a misdemeanor according to a new proposed law.

Bud Bowman, R-Cedar City, who said there currently is no law that punishes students for viewing adult material on school grounds, is the bill’s sponsor. According to Bowman, the school leaders he spoke to have been supportive of the bill.

Under HB 100, viewing adult material on school-owned computers would be a class B misdemeanor, which can include penalties of up to six months in jail and hefty fines. Students in violation of this proposed policy would be turned over to local juvenile authorities.

A spokesman for the Salt Lake City School District said his district uses filters that block adult entertainment websites, along with many blogs and chat rooms.

We do a good job at keeping students away from [porn], but anything that can help encourage kids to stay away from that, especially in an education setting — we would be supportive of that, Salt Lake City School District spokesman Jason Olsen said.

Natural born censors

From Kurdish Media see full article

Kurdish websites are already blocked in Turkey but there is worse to come. A bill has been approved in Turkey nominally against indecent broadcasting and online gambling but this law also targets websites that could be considered as against "Turkishness". This measure will give the national Information technology Security Agency the authority to block any broadcast that is believed to threaten state security, as stated in Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.

It is reported that logging onto Kurdish websites such as kurdmedia.com, interkurd.com, or undertaking a Wikipedia search for "Kurdistan" all generate the following message: Bu Sayfa Yasak Siteler Listesinde Kayitli ve Bloklandi. Translation: This site is listed as forbidden and has been blocked.

According to the article of Turkish Daily News, Cybercafé owners were ordered in December 2003 to install filters to block access to pornographic websites and to prevent their premises being used to promote gambling, pornography, political separatism or any challenge to the structure of the state.

Amnesty International considers that the attempt to draw a distinction between criticism and denigration is highly problematic...especially on the Internet, where people is used to express their opinion quite "freely" in forums, blogs and other digital spaces. Web surfers from Turkey are now seriously threatened by constant intrusions in their private "digital life" and they could be persecuted for any action that in some way could be considered as against "Turkishness".

   
Gordon Brown spouts bollox over Big Brother

From The Independent

The alleged racist abuse directed at a Bollywood film star appearing on the Channel 4 reality show Celebrity Big Brother became an international issue.

In a day of extraordinary developments, Chancellor Gordon Brown was forced to defend Britain against allegations of racism on his first full day of a trip to India.

Brown said he regarded the alleged racist comments made on the programme as "offensive": I want Britain to be seen as a country of fairness and tolerance. Anything detracting from this I condemn.

And as the protests grew more vociferous, No 10 was put on the defensive. Tony Blair's spokesman said any perception abroad that Britain tolerated racism had to be "regretted and countered".

Yesterday, Indian TV news was dominated by images of Shilpa Shetty in tears after arguments with flatmates, during which she was allegedly called a "Paki" and a "cunt".

Racist Big Brother leaves Shilpa shattered, read the headline in the Deccan Herald, one of several newspapers to carry the story on its front page. And in the city of Patna, effigies of Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd and Jo O'Meara were burnt.

In one recent argument on the show, Goody told Shetty: Go back to the slums and find out what real life is like, lady. You are not some princess in fucking Neverland. You're not some princess here... you need a day in the slums... fucking go in your community.

And Danielle Lloyd was heard to mutter, out of Shetty's earshot: I think she should fuck off home. Britain's media watchdog Ofcom reported a record 19,300 complaints against the programme, with a further 2,000 contacting Channel 4 directly.

Last night, it emerged Channel 4 and Endemol, makers of Big Brother, are facing a lawsuit from viewers who say they were distressed by what they saw. In what would be the first case of its kind, seven Asian viewers, all victims of racism, have instructed the civil rights law firm, Equal Justice, to institute proceedings in the "provision of services" under the Race Relations Act 1976.

Keith Vaz MP, former minister for Europe, used an early day motion in the House of Commons to call on Channel 4 bosses to take "effective action" against the "unacceptable" racist language allegedly used.

Ratings for the highlights show on Tuesday evening hit 4.5 million viewers, up from 3.5 million on Monday.

The bookmaker William Hill said Shetty was now the new "hot favourite" to win. In a further twist, Goody and Shetty are to go head to head in the next round of evictions.

Last night, Channel 4 claimed there had been no overt racial abuse or racist behaviour directed against Shilpa Shetty within the Big Brother house. It said what had happened could be characterised as a cultural and class clash between her and three of the British females in the house. Unambiguous racist behaviour and language is not tolerated under any circumstances in the house. Housemates are constantly monitored and Channel 4 would intervene if a clear instance of this arose. Channel 4 said it had spoken to Shetty, who has not complained or raised the issue of racism.

   
Ofcom fine You TV2 £100,000

From IndianTelevision.com

Ofcom has slapped a hefty £100,000 fine on Gamecast UK Limited for the breaching of broadcasting guidelines by its service You TV2.

Cellcast UK Limited, the parent company of Gamecast, was hauled up before the Ofcom sanctions committee after complaints that its service had transmitted six minutes of sexually explicit material on the afternoon of 1 September 2005 on TV2, which is a free-to-air service.

You TV2 currently transmits material promoting adult chat lines and is placed in the adult section of the Electronic Programme Guide under its You TV2 licence.

Ofcom also received a complaint that Gamecast was broadcasting a pre-recorded quiz, on 28 July 2005, but had not informed viewers that the telephone number was not live.

A complaint was made by a member of the general public concerning a quiz called Guess the Celebrity Live, part of a programme called Play2Win.

By humourless Moroccan Authorities

From the NY Sun

The editor and a reporter from a Moroccan news weekly that published jokes relating to Islam were convicted and fined yesterday for insulting the religion.

The court in Casablanca handed down three-year suspended sentences to Driss Ksikes, editor of Nichane, ("Straight Ahead"), and to journalist Sanaa al-Aji. Both were barred from any journalistic activity for two months, and the independent Arabic-language magazine was suspended for two months. They were fined $9,280 each.

The sentence was milder than the three to five years in prison that prosecutors had requested.

Ksikes has repeatedly said the 10-page article was meant as a thoughtful examination of Moroccan popular humor.

I don't regret what I wrote, Ksikes told reporters after the verdict, though he also said he was sorry to have offended some Moroccans.

   
FBI raids porn producers to check record keeping

Based on an article from NBC4

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has recently stepped up raids of porn studios in the San Fernando Valley. This is supposedly to ensure that children are not being sexually exploited but is probably more to do with ensuring a repressive atmosphere pervades over the adult industry.

About a dozen porn production facilities in pornography hot spots such as Van Nuys and Chatsworth have been taken by surprise in the last three months by a barrage of federal agents at their doors.

The probes come on the heels of a May 2005 change in the regulations that require producers to take two forms of government-issued identification from performers and keep them on file indefinitely. Those records must be referred to on the labels of all videos and DVDs sold. Violations are federal felonies and can carry a prison sentence.

Thailand gag CNN and BBC

From The Nation

The military junta ruling Thailand has come under new attack by domestic human rights organizations and international journalists groups after it censored CNN's broadcast of an interview with former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra conducted in Singapore.

A spokesman for the Human Rights Committee of Thailand called the censorship "a freedom of expression blockade."

During the interview Thaksin said that he planned to quit politics and return to civilian life.

The Bangkok Post and The Nation, the two leading English-language newspapers, reported that the government also shut down access to CNN's and the BBC's websites.

Thailand wre clearly not impressed with Singapore for airing the interview. The head of the Council of National Security, General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, yesterday sent Singapore mixed signals even as the two allies squabbled over political sensitivity and national sovereignty.

Singapore has claimed it has the right to let ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra meet with its deputy premier, S Jayakumar, while Thailand has accused the city-state of lacking discretion for doing so.

Sonthi stressed that the country's diplomatic slap against Singapore would not threaten military cooperation, perhaps the strongest in Southeast Asia.

   
Christian Voice silenced in the courts

From Chortle

Christian Voice's attempt to bring a private blasphemy case over Jerry Springer: The Opera has been thrown out of court.

Horseferry Road Magistrates rejected the criminal action brought by Christian Voice over the BBC’s airing of the controversial show two years ago.

Campaigner Stephen Green was trying to level blasphemy charges against the corporation’s director-general, Mark Thompson, and producer Jon Thoday at Avalon. The show’s creators, comedian Stewart Lee and composer Richard Thomas, were not involved in the action.

Before the case, Green said: If artistic people do not where or how to stop as they push against the boundaries of decency, then the law must step in and tell them. In this present case, it appears prime facie that a most odious and wicked blasphemy was perpetrated against Almighty God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Clearly, justice must be done. No one, be they ever so influential or wealthy, can be above the law.

   
MPAA respond to criticism

Based on an article from Variety see also full article

Responding to criticism after the expose, This Film is Not Yet Rated, the MPAA are planning a series of changes, including a new admonishment to parents that certain R-rated movies aren't suitable for younger kids, period.

MPAA topper Dan Glickman told Daily Variety said that the voluntary ratings system, devised and implemented by Jack Valenti, his predecessor, is a "gem," even if it needs some polishing.

To that end, the public soon will have access to information previously unavailable. That includes:

• For the first time, CARA will post the ratings rules on the MPAA Web site, describing the standards for each rating. The ratings and appeal processes also will be described in detail, along with a link to paperwork needed to submit a film for a rating.
• Most members of the ratings board will remain anonymous, although CARA will describe the demographic make-up of the board, which is composed of parents. The names of the three senior raters have always been public; now, they will be posted online.
• A filmmaker who appeals a rating can reference similar scenes in other movies, although the appeals board still will focus heavily on context.
• CARA will formalize its rule that a member of the ratings board doesn't stay on the board after his or her children are grown.
• CARA also will formalize its educational training system for raters.
• When the CARA rules are implemented later this year, the MPAA will designate additional independent members to the appeals board who don't come from the MPAA fold.
• MPAA will occasionally be able to designate additional observers from different backgrounds to the appeals board.

Censored Internet Movie Database

From Cinema Blend

IMDB is censoring search results for movies they deem to be “adult”. If they consider a movie to be “adult”, you will not find it in their search results. IMDB admits to what they're doing on a buried page you can find here.

I’m not talking about porn movies here, I’m talking mainstream films and in some cases classics. For instance, try and look up the movie Shortbus. Try searching for it. You won’t find it. Oh it still exists in the IMDB database, they just won’t show it to you unless you register an account with them, and then click to this obscure page here and enable the display of adult content. By default, it's turned off. They of course haven’t told anyone about this, so if you search for Shortbus odds are you will simply think it doesn’t exist.

The thing is, it’s completely random. Search for Orgazmo, a raunchy porn industry comedy and you’ll find that. Search for the 1979 Helen Mirren film Caligula, and it’s nowhere to be found. Search for the acclaimed documentary Inside Deep Throat, and IMDB pretends it doesn’t exist.

We’re not talking about them displaying adult photos, this is raw data. Cast listings, movie titles, crew credits. There’s nothing offensive in any of this for any kid of any age. Hell, these aren’t even adult films. They simply contain mature content. Stop it IMDB. Stop it now.

German political party expels porn actor

Based on an article from Hemel Today

A German man who appeared in a pornographic film has been expelled from a local branch of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party.

Alexander Maassen from Berlin, was asked to leave the party by local branch chairman Kurt Wansner. Maassen said he made the film five years ago, appearing in sexually explicit scenes and acting as a kind of narrator.

I wrote to Maassen at the end of last month asking him to resign and for me the matter is now completely closed, Wansner told Reuters, adding Maassen's behaviour was against CDU values.

China proposes more reality TV censorship

Based on an article from China Daily

The State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) will target supposedly vulgar reality shows in 2007, said Wang Taihua, general director of the SARFT.

The move is part of the efforts to clean up TV screens, said Wang at an annual work conference attended by heads of provincial bureaus in charge of radio, film and TV studios and programs. Other measures include tighter supervision of legal and entertainment programs: There have been too many reality shows on our TV screens. Many are low-quality, low-brow programs, only catering to the bottom end of the market.

Following the successful Super Voice Girls based on American Idol, Chinese television stations have come up with more than 500 such programs.

Wang said: There are too many reality shows, they are too chaotic and some of them are too vulgar. The government must strengthen supervision of entertainment programs, and restrict the number of reality show programs to upgrade their quality.

He promised to step up efforts to provide guidelines for program design, censor programs before they air, and carry out real-time monitoring, in order to curb the trend of pursuing higher audience ratings by blindly catering to public sensationalism.

   
Tennessee nutter proposes to ban advertising for adult products

From Tennessean.com

Tennessee TV stations and cable companies could be fined $50,000 if they air ads for obscene products under a bill Sen. Doug Jackson filed, he announced Friday.

The possibility of a fine may prevent broadcasters from airing commercials for products that are distasteful to some people but are protected by the First Amendment, says Doug Pierce, a lawyer with King and Ballow.

Ads for sexually explicit material like the popular Girls Gone Wild videos, which feature young women baring their breasts and performing other sexual acts, are what Jackson has in his crosshairs, Jackson said.

The commercials air late at night on channels typically reserved for more mature audiences, but he says kids have access to them: You never know when they're coming on. Seeing two naked girls kissing each other and bouncing in bed together, if somebody wants to come into Tennessee and argue that there's some socially redeeming value to that, I think they have a hard case to make.

Jackson said he doesn't think parents who pay for cable should have to block out channels with more mature content.

Former Williamson County district attorney Joe Baugh says that puts an undue burden on broadcasters to figure out what is obscene, which can be a tough task in a market chock full of questionable material: It may be the legislature wants to restrict the kind of advertising that Girls Gone Wild uses … but it doesn't seem to be any worse or even as bad as what you see on cable TV. It'd be like him saying you can't run The Sopranos in Tennessee.

   
Germany wants to ban Nazi images

From The Independent

Germany is to revive plans to criminalise Holocaust denial as well as the use of Nazi symbols in all EU countries, making them punishable by up to three years in prison.

Ministers in Berlin have identified the move as a priority of Germany's six-month presidency of the EU which began on 1 January. Its efforts come against the background of the formation in the European Parliament of a far-right group, Identity, Sovereignty and Tradition.

However, the proposal is certain to provoke controversy, particularly in the EU's new members in eastern Europe where politicians have objected to any legislation that would ban Nazi insignia but permit the use of Communist symbols.

Brigitte Zypries, Germany's justice minister, said: We have always said that it can't be the case it should still be acceptable in Europe to say the Holocaust never existed and that six million Jews were never killed.

The European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, Franco Frattini, has pledged its support for the German push. A spokesman said: This would give a good signal that there are no safe havens for racists or xenophobes in Europe.

Two years ago, Luxembourg tried to use its EU presidency to push through legislation that would have made Holocaust denial an offence. That push was blocked by Italy's centre-right government. Since then a centre-left government has taken control in Italy and the prime minister, Romano Prodi, is unlikely to oppose the measure.

However other countries, including the UK, Denmark and Sweden, had misgivings fearing that freedom of speech would be compromised. The European Commission says it is confident the law will be sufficiently well-drafted to ensure that genuine historical debate about the Nazi era would not be impeded.

   
Ruddock seeks to ban euthanasia book

From ABC

Euthanasia supporter Phillip Nitschke is furious that federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock is attempting to stop his book from being published in Australia.

Ruddock is appealing a decision by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) to approve the sale of the self-help euthanasia book under strict conditions.

The book offers advice and tips to those considering euthanasia and is being sold in the United States and Canada.

Dr Nitschke denies his book would lead to an increase in Australia's suicide rate: Desperate people are the ones who do desperate things. What we find is that when people are in possession of the best information, feel like they have choices and control, is that they actually live longer. So I simply don't agree with that idea that putting this information out is going to lead to a spate of suicides. Rather it will help or improve the overall general health of a lot of anxious and elderly folk at present."

Dr Nitschke says the Government's action is a violation of Australia's democratic rights. Over months [the OFLC] considered this book and they finally made the decision that yes, under strict restrictions, it should be distributed to Australians.

Then to have the Minister come along and say, 'no, I don't like this decision,' I mean if this is the case why doesn't every book that comes into Australia go straight to Philip Ruddock's desk. He's the deciding agent it would seem in Australia, not the body which is supposedly independent.

   
The BBC wind up the nutters

Based on an article from the Daily Mail

The BBC came under fire from nutters after it announced plans for a £200,000 TV documentary devoted to the word "cunt"

The programme, tentatively titled I love The C-Word, is billed as examining why the word has become more mainstream in recent years.

Shadow Culture Secretary Hugo Swire and John Whittingdale, chairman of the Commons Culture Select Committee, attacked the plans.

Swire said: People expect high standards from the BBC and many might well be offended by effectively subsidising programmes of this nature through the licence fee. The change of language is an entirely good thing to look at...BUT...I don't see why they have to sensationalise the subject. I'm sure they can have a stimulating debate about the change of language without resorting to the crude and baser words.

Whittingdale said: I have a general principle that I do not condemn programmes until I have seen them...BUT...the BBC have got to recognise this is a word that still offends a large number of people.

The programme is being made for BBC3 by the independent production company North One Television. Its presenter, who is expected to be a comedian, rather than an academic, will interview pundits, academics and artists about the use of the word over the past 30 years and the word itself will be broadcast uncensored.

Contributors will include feminist academic Germaine Greer and Eve Ensler, the author of The Vagina Monologues, an acclaimed stage play which features women talking about their genitals.

Both the BBC and North One claimed it will not be sensationalist. A spokeswoman for the programme said: It will look at how a word that was considered completely unacceptable has moved into the mainstream, particularly by younger people. The tone will be a serious exploration of the word.

   
Don't buy Sony's Blu-Ray Bollox

From Heise

There Joone, founder of the company Digital Playground and director of extremely popular HD porn movies, declared that his company would from next week on be publishing movies on HD DVD on a regular basis.

This is a U-turn for Joone, who at last year had declared his support for the Blu-ray Disc format. Asked about his change of attitude the director responded that he had in fact wanted to publish his movies on Blu-ray Disc, but that all Blu-ray Disc copying facilities in the United States had refused to cooperate. The companies had unanimously declared that Sony had threatened to withdraw their Blu-ray licenses should they stoop to making HD copies of pornographic films.

As a consequence Digital Playground now intends to release HD DVD products at a rapid rate: Thus between now and the first week of February the company, with Island Fever 3, Pirates, Teen America and Island Fever 4. Thereafter up to the end of the year the company will aim to release four HD-DVD titles a month.Each disc will probably cost 5 US dollars more than its DVD counterpart.

   
Frattini continues campaign for computer games laws

From Metamorphosis

The Italian Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini, is continuing his critical remarks on the present censorship system in a declaration in a European Parliament in which he called for a multidisciplinary approach to the problem. He considered that three components needed to be encouraged: rating of movies and games, media literacy and technical solutions.

Frattini also announced that in the spring of 2007 he would present to the Parliament a new declaration on cybercrime.

It is clear, at this point, that the present European system is under scrutiny, compliance with the voluntary rating system being considered as a possible significant problem. This is why EU is planning a 2007 conference on violent video games, where all the stakeholders could discuss and eventually agree on the best practices to follow. The topic will still be present on the agenda of the EU Justice Ministers meeting in January 2007, when a legislative action could be initiated.

Open letter to the king of Bahrain

From Reporters without Borders

Reporters Without Borders wrote today to the King of Bahrain, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, about his government’s Internet policies, condemning an increase in the censorship of online publications and, in particular, requesting the reopening of the site of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information.

"Your Majesty,

Reporters Without Borders, an organisation that defends press freedom worldwide, is concerned about your Kingdom’s Internet policies.

In April 2005, your government adopted regulations that require websites dealing with Bahrain to register with your information ministry. We condemn this requirement at the time, believing that, although hard to apply, it seemed to indicate a desire to place inappropriate controls on the Internet.

Access to many news websites, online political and religious publications, and blogs was blocked in October 2006, a month before legislative elections. Several of these online publications appear to have been banned for covering the "Bandargate," a political scandal in which people close to the government have been implicated. Nearly 20 of these websites are still inaccessible.

We are particularly shocked by the banning for the website of the Network for Human Rights Information (HRinfo), which has been rendered inaccessible in your country since December. Blocking access to this site, which defends prisoners of conscience and free expression, is unacceptable.

As we are confident that you would like to ensure respect for diversity of information as well as the rapid and unrestricted development of the Internet in your Kingdom, we hope that you will agree to overhaul your Internet policies. An initial sign of your commitment to online free expression would be to quickly lift the blocking of HRinfo.

We trust you will give this matter your careful consideration."

Parents Television Council claim an increase in US TV violence

From TV Week

A report issued today by the nutters of the Parents Television Council said TV violence since 1998 has increased in every prime time slot, with violent incidents up 45% during the 8 pm hour, 92% during the 9 pm hour and 167% during the 10 pm hour. On average, the networks show 4.41 instances of violence per hour.

Federal Communications Commission member Michael J. Copps is urging leaders of the cable and broadcast industries to convene an industry summit to discuss reining it in. Copps questioned whether former FCC chairman Newton Minow description of TV in the early 1960s as "vast wasteland" has morphed into "a vast, violent wasteland."

PTC president Tim Winter said: We are not calling for a ban on anything...BUT...We are calling for some responsibility and restraint by broadcasters.
 
The commissioner urged National Association of Broadcasters President-CEO David Rehr and National Cable and Telecommunications Association President-CEO Kyle McSlarrow to convene the summit to discuss the issue of violence and warned that if broadcasters don't step up and self police I don't think anyone will be surprised if Congress decides to step in.

   
Leo Sayer winds up the nutters

Based on an article from The Argus

Leo Sayer has wound up the usual nutters during a rant on Celebrity Big Brother.

Ofcom was handed a string of complaints following the singer's behaviour on Tuesday night's show, including swearing repeatedly and making rude gestures to the cameras.

Sayer started as one of the favourites to win but his antics in the house have lengthened his odds dramatically.

Nutters were stunned that Channel Four chiefs did not bleep out any of Leo's angry tirade.

Bangladesh news censorship invoked

From IRNA

Immediately after the Bangladesh president declared a state of emergency, the Press Information Department (PID) under the Information Ministry verbally imposed censorship on the media.

A high official at Bangabhaban on condition of anonymity told The Daily Star that the restrictions have been imposed as it had been during previous emergency periods.

The government directed the private electronic media not to broadcast news during the emergency. It also barred the media from telecasting any sort of talk-show or news analysis. The private TV channels will only air the Bangladesh Television (BTV) news through their satellites, said sources.

It also asked the print media not to publish any news item criticizing the government and its activities. Furthermore, political news including rallies, processions and related pictures, features, editorials, and cartoons have also been banned.

The official orders will be issued soon, the PID official added.

Media censored so as not to confuse the Thai public

From The Nation & BBC

The Council for National Security (CNS) made a critical move on Wednesday when it ordered the broadcast media to cease airing views defending former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the Thai Rak Thai Party.

The junta leaders broke an important rule that brought Thaksin to his downfall. And it is turning friends into foes. The junta leaders have proved that they don't believe their allies, who warned at the very beginning of their rule that they could do anything, just don't behave like Thaksin did.

You guys should know that if we allow representatives of the former premier to make statements every day, the public will be confused. Executives of state-owned media should withdraw the programmes [that violate the order]. Why continue to defend people who caused damage to the country? said CNS secretary-general General Winai Phattiyakul, who summoned about 50 editors and media executives on Wednesday.

Since being ousted, Thaksin has been barred from returning to Thailand. He has spent his time travelling around the world. He has been sighted in various locations, including London, Hong Kong, Beijing and Bali.

But throughout this period of exile he has continued to state his case against the coup through his lawyer, Noppadol Patama. Now it appears that the Thai media has been asked not to report Noppadol's comments.

Since being told they can no longer report comments from Noppadol, the Thai media have been holding crisis meetings to decide how they should respond. It is not clear what will happen if they defy the military council, nor is it clear why the generals felt they had to impose the ban now.

Coming at a time when confidence in the interim government has slumped, this measure is bound to cause further alarm, both inside Thailand and abroad, a BBC correspondent said.

   
Spanish anorexia website under duress

From PC Advisor

A Spanish website that appears to promote anorexia as a voluntary lifestyle choice is being targeted by health authorities in Madrid.

The Great Ana Competition awards points to readers on the basis of how little they eat in a given period, with bonuses added for activities that stave off hunger, such as drinking water, taking diet pills and exercising.

Doctors have warned that the diet apparently endorsed by the website is liable to cause malnutrition, and Madrid's regional government has asked a judge to determine whether the owners are criminally liable for the content.

It should be noted that the site includes a warning that the information it contains "should not be followed", but that seems unlikely to save it from litigation.

Pro-anorexia sites are bizarrely common on the internet, and it is a positive step if some of the peddlers of dangerous nonsense in the guise of medical advice can be held accountable for their actions. Yet the case raises the question of how much we are willing to tolerate for the sake of free speech.

Many websites promote unhealthy, antisocial or even dangerous lifestyles, from fast food to cigarette companies' home pages, but we shake our heads and accept that adults are able to make their own decisions. The problem with the pro-anorexia websites is that their target audience is quite specifically a vulnerable and teenaged one, yet the page under discussion warns under-18s not to enter. This is just as thorough an attempt to keep out the underaged as is made by most pornography sites.

The site was not functioning at time of writing, and the case continues.

Details about Iranian website registration

From IPS

Iran's hardliner government has demanded the registration of all websites and weblogs sourced in the country by March 1st.

A committee of government officials, including members of the intelligence, judiciary, telecommunications, and culture and Islamic guidance ministries, will be in charge of approving the content of websites. The committee is commissioned with blocking or filtring websites or weblogs that they deem illegal.

Over the last few years, the government has banned and filtred thousands of websites and weblogs without explanation. However, for the first time, the new law is specific about what kinds of content are not allowed.

Some activists plan to defy the new requirements. Farnaz Seify, a feminist blogger in Tehran, told IPS, The government's new policy of forcing registrations indicates that the authorities are making it clear that no one is permitted to criticise or even discuss religion, government's policies, revolution, ayatollahs and social problems.

The new law requires the weblog or website registrar to provide their name, address, telephone number, intended audience, approximate number of readers and other detailed information. Comprehensive restrictions are placed on content that deals with a range of issues from criticism of religious figures to sexual matters as well as content considered offensive to the Ayatollah Khomeini (the founder of the Islamic Republic), Ayatollah Khamenei, (Iran's Supreme Leader), or that is deemed slanderous of Islamic laws.

Since 2002, the Islamic government has employed a highly restrictive filtering system, effectively banning many websites and weblogs for Iranians inside the country. The state controls all Internet Service Providers (ISPs), resulting in the most censored Internet sphere after China.

Lithuanian catholics to sue MTV over Popetown

From MediawatchWatch

The catholic church in Lithuania plans to sue MTV Lietuva over Popetown.

Lithuanian Bishops’ Conference President Sigitas Tamkevicius told Reuters: We are going to lodge a complaint in court because we believe that the rights of the faithful were violated by this mockery. The Popetown series is not only an insult to the pope, but to all the catholics of Lithuania.

Brazilian court order to block YouTube lifted

From The Register

A Brazilian judge has lifted an order which caused the country's ISPs to block access to YouTube following a ruling last week over a sex-romp video of footballer Ronaldo's former missus Daniela Cicarelli.

Brasil Telecom and Telefonica had responded with enthusiasm to the court order issued in Sao Paulo requesting that YouTube be shut down as long as the video is available to users, and duly blocked the site.

Sao Paulo state Supreme Court Justice Enio Santarelli Zuliani clearly thinks things have got a bit out of hand, and has accordingly asked the companies to unblock the site and let him know why they can't simply prevent the video from being seen.

YouTube last week reported it had purged the video.

Gay and lesbian videos face flagging on YouTube

From After Ellen

Last year's documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated underscored the double standard that films with LGBT content receive when they are rated by the MPAA. Films with queer content are much more likely to receive an R rating than those with heterosexual content or with significant amounts of violence. This double standard has now crossed into the brave new world of cyberspace, specifically YouTube.

Despite being a great resource for LGBT viewers, YouTube also offers these users constant reminders that lesbians and gays are not an entirely accepted part of American society, thanks to a feature known as “flagging.” As YouTube guidelines explain, Some of the content here may offend you — if you find that it violates our Terms of Use, then click ‘Flag as Inappropriate' under the video you're watching to submit it for review by YouTube staff.

What this translates to in the anonymous world of the internet is that anybody who sees a video he or she doesn't like can “flag it” for inappropriate content. The offending clip then goes into a queue and is eventually reviewed by a YouTube staff member who makes the determination whether the video should be pulled off the site entirely, whether it should remain flagged because it contains “inappropriate content,” or whether the “flag” itself should be removed.

The problem lies with clips being flagged simply because they contain “lesbian” content, content merely depicting lesbians just being lesbians. A happy scene of two lesbian characters dreaming about raising a child and discovering they are pregnant from If These Walls Could Talk 2 is flagged. A promo for South of Nowhere in which Ashley and Spencer almost kiss is also flagged.  A search for “lesbians,” “lesbian film” or “lesbian kiss” on YouTube will undoubtedly return a flagged clip in no time.

The repeated flagging of LGBT content regardless of its level of sexual explicitness, and YouTube's tolerance of this flagging, suggests a clear bias. However, YouTube denied AfterEllen.com's repeated requests for an interview on this subject.

YouTube's marketing manager, Jenny Nielson, did provide a brief written statement in response to our queries. With regard to abusive flagging, she wrote: The fact is we don't control the content on our site. Our community decides what content rises up, and also flags content that is inappropriate. Once the content is flagged, we review the video and remove it if it violates our terms of use.

   
Christian Voice start blasphemy proceedings

From Christian Voice

A criminal action for blasphemy against Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC, and producer Jonathan Thoday has begun in respect of Jerry Springer the Opera.

Stephen Green, National Director of Christian Voice, laid information before Horseferry Road Magistrates this morning, Monday 8th January 2007. It is two years to the day since the broadcast of the musical on BBC2 and six months to the day from when it finished its tour in Brighton last year.

Counsel Mark Mullins and instructing solicitor Michael Phillips made oral submissions to District Judge Caroline Tubbs to support the application for a summons to be issued in a private prosecution of the two executives. All the tests which had to be applied before a private prosecution can begin appeared satisfied, and Mullins explained to the judge the complexity and necessity to gather evidence which had led to an interval of two years between the BBC2 broadcast and the initiation of proceedings.

The District Judge reserved her decision for later this week.

Stephen Green said afterwards: There is a ancient law against blasphemy in this land because the law believes it should not occur. It is as simple as that. If artistic people do not where or how to stop as they push against the boundaries of decency, then the law must step in and tell them.

In this present case, it appears prime facie that a most odious and wicked blasphemy was perpetrated against Almighty God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Clearly, justice must be done. No-one, be they ever so influential or wealthy, can be above the law.

We await the decision of the Judge and ask for prayer so that: "Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven." Indeed the very first petition of the Lord's prayer is: "Hallowed be Thy name." The holiness of God's name is at the root of this case. There is a long way to go yet, but the first step was taken today.

Email porn facing new laws

From Nebraska StatePaper.com

A proposal offered to the Nebraska Legislature would make it a misdemeanor to e-mail pornography.

The measure would define pornography as visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct.

It carries a felony penalty if the person sending the e-mail is over 18, and knows, or ought to know, that the person receiving the e-mail is under 16.

The bill (LB142) was introduced by Senator Mike Friend of Omaha. It is part of the anticrime package sought by Attorney General Jon Bruning.

Iran's death penalty for amateur porn

From adnkronosinternational

Thirty one people arrested by Iranian police risk the death penalty for making and distributing a porn movie they made with a cell phone, the president of Tehran's criminal court, Saiid Mortazavi, has announced.

The 31 arrested in the past few days have also been charged with sexual violence on the actresses in the movie. Mortzavi has announced he will sentence to death all those involved in making amateur porn movies.

The market, tolerated for a long time, became a nationwide issue after a porn film of popular television actress, Zohre Mir Ebrahimi, having sex with her partner, was released.

   
Indian nutter asks for deletion of car chases

From moneycontrol

Maharashtra's State Transport Commissioner, Shyamsunder D Shinde feels that the movies with fast scenes and rash driving will have a bad influence on the youth has asked the Censor Board of India to delete them from films such as the Dhoom series.

On the occasion of Road Safety Week, the minister was quoted as saying that: Most young men try to imitate the stunts shown in these films. But this only leads to accidents because they are not capable of handling such powerful vehicles. That is why I have written a letter to the Censor Board asking for such scenes to be deleted from movies.

Filmmakers too are lamenting such policies and say that if they cannot smoke in films, shoot with trained animals or showcase stunts, then what is the point in cinema.

Censor Board officials, however, say that they have not yet received any notification for the same yet.

Egypt will not censor satellite TV channel

From UPI

Egypt has turned down a request from the Iraqi government and U.S. authorities to stop the satellite transmission of an opposition Iraqi channel.

Chairman of the board of Nilesat, Amin Basyouni said his company will not be party to political differences and noted that satellite companies do not impose censorship on channels.

He was referring to the Iraqi al-Zawraa channel, aired through Egypt's Nilesat, which propagates armed resistance against the U.S. occupation, Iranian influence in Iraq and the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

In a letter last month, Maliki urged the Egyptian government to stop broadcasting the Damascus-based Zawraa TV, whose offices in Baghdad were shut down in November by the Iraqi Interior Ministry on the grounds of inciting violence and terrorism in Iraq.

   
Malaysia censors out article on genies

From Sun2Surf

It seems that reading about genies is inappropriate for Malaysians, and the authorities have chosen to black out the information.

In the Dec 23 issue of The Economist an entire two-page article has been torn off and two sentences from another article have been blacked out.

The first article, a special report entitled Jinn: Born of fire is about the belief among Muslims in Somalia and Afghanistan in the existence of the jinn or genie.

In the second article, A child of Bethlehem: No end of history, an excerpt about Muslim and Christian women visiting a shrine related to the Blessed Virgin Mary has been obliterated with black ink.

When the matter was brought to his attention, Deputy Minister of Internal Security Datuk Fu Ah Kiow predictably said that he was not aware of this. However, he pointed out that the government has the responsibility to censor all imported publications to ensure their contents are appropriate and suitable for Malaysian readers.

We have guidelines in doing our job. We do not allow certain things such as pornographic materials and writings which are seditious, sensitive to religion and contain subversive elements, he told theSun.

However, in the day and age of the Internet, readers can read the whole version of the two articles in The Economist on its website at www.economist.com, which makes the ministry's attempt to filter information seem futile.

   
Apocalypto receives more restricted rating

From Variety

A national outcry in Italy over the release of Apocalypto with an unrestricted rating prompted a Rome court to rule Monday that Italian kids under 14 will not be admitted to see the Mayan blood-and-guts saga.

Consumers association Codacons had taken legal action last week after the Italian censorship board gave the Mel Gibson film the local equivalent of a G rating, sparking a storm of protest and calls from Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli for an overhaul of the country's quirky ratings system.

   
US bill to ensure US Internet companies don't support repression

From Axcess News

Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) said Monday that he was re-introducing legislation which aims to promote free expression and a free flow of information on the Internet by preventing U.S. companies from aiding regimes who restrict access to the Internet. Last year, Smith's bill failed to win over lawmakers.

Smith thinks he has a better shot at getting his bill passed now that Democrats control both houses of Congress, but even there, many lawmakers see Smith's approach as being too idealistic and impractical, let alone its effect on international commerce, which is already straining through the WTO's inability to bring members together in trade agreement.

American high-tech firms have produced the technology and know-how that has led to a modern-day information revolution. However, instead of working to allow everyone to benefit from these advancements, these same high-tech firms are colluding with dictators to suppress the spread of information and punish pro-democracy advocates, said Smith.

Smith says the Global Online Freedom Act of 2007 will strengthen the federal government's new strategy to promote online freedom by prohibiting U.S. Internet companies from cooperating with repressive regimes that restrict information about human rights and democracy on the Internet and use personally identifiable information to track down and punish democracy activists. The bill would make it a crime for Internet companies to turn over personal information to governments who use that information to suppress dissent.

American companies should not be working hand-in-glove with dictators. By blocking access to information and providing secret police with the technology to monitor dissidents, American IT companies are knowingly-and willingly-enabling the oppression of millions of people, Smith said in reference to companies who are complicit in helping dictators restrict free access to the Internet.

Specifically, the Global Online Freedom Act of 2007:

• Prohibits US companies from disclosing to foreign officials of an "Internet Restricting Country" information that personally identifies a particular user except for "legitimate foreign law enforcement purpose"
• Creates a private right of action for individuals aggrieved by the disclosure of such personal identification to file suit in any US district court
• Prohibits US internet service providers from blocking online content of US government or US-government financed sites
• Authorizes $50 million for a new interagency office within the State Department charged with developing and implementing a global strategy to combat state-sponsored internet jamming by repressive countries
• Requires the new Office of Global Internet Freedom to monitor filtered terms; and to work with Internet companies and the non-profit sector to develop a voluntary code of minimum corporate standards related to Internet freedom.
• Requires Internet companies to disclose to the new Office of Global Internet Freedom the terms they filter and the parameters they must meet in order to do business in Internet Restricting Countries
• Requires the President to submit to Congress an annual report designating as an "Internet Restricting Country" any nation that systematically and substantially restrict internet freedom
• Establishes civil penalties for businesses (up to $2 million) and individuals (up to $100,000) for violations of the new requirements
• Mandates a feasibility study, by the Department of Commerce, to determine what type of restrictions and safeguards should be imposed on the export of computer equipment which could be used in an Internet Restricting Country to restrict Internet freedom.

Culture Minister Khaisri Sri-aroon

Thailand take offence at porn website with Buddha images

From The Nation

Thailand will take action against a United States-based pornography website for abusing images and the identity of the Lord Buddha.

The site operates out of Chicago and employs the name and images of the Lord Buddha in its content.

It's an act of sacrilege, Culture Ministry monitoring centre chief Ladda Tangsupachai said yesterday. Ladda said the centre asked the Information and Communications Technology Ministry to block the site.

Ladda said Buddhists across the world should condemn the site.

The site and its activities have been reported to Culture Minister Khunying Khaisri Sri-aroon and the Foreign Affairs Ministry will now approach the United States Embassy in Bangkok.

   
As seen by Internet service providers

From the ISPA Awards

The Internet Services Providers’ Association (ISPA UK), an Internet trade association revealed its nominations for ‘net’s villains of 2006.

This year’s Villain nominees are:-

• Commissioner Vivianne Reding and European Commission 
  For foisting the most arcane set of rules yet seen for prior registration of .eu domains, requiring UK registered companies to submit legal affidavits to justify the authenticity of their business.
   
• e360 insight
  For attempting to use a court in Illinois with no UK jurisdiction to obtain a Restraining Order on Spamhaus, a company that provides dependable real-time anti-spam protection for Internet networks.
   
• Peter Black, Executive Chairman Next Generation Networks UK 
  For making the Next Generation Networks UK body, an independent body looking at next generation networks and services, too elitist and not allowing smaller ISPs to be involved.
   
•  The British Phonographic Industry
  For applying pressure on Cable & Wireless and Tiscali to reveal the names and addresses of customers who the BPI believed to be file sharing, with poorly prepared evidence.
   
•  The US Government
  For imposing prohibition like restrictive legislation against legitimate European gaming sites.

Awards will be presented on the 15th February 2007.

   
Another game banned in Germany

From 1Up

Realtime Worlds's Crackdown has been refused classification by Unterhaltungssoftware Selbskontrolle, the German ratings board.

So it can't be bought online or sold to minors or advertised or even displayed in a store.

   
Copy cat Hanging in Pakistan

From Asia Media

A little boy's tragic death by hanging in raises serious questions about the ethical underpinnings of the Pakistani television.

The nine-year-old boy died on Sunday while re-enacting a scene that had been shown repeatedly on television, the graphic footage of the hanging of Saddam Hussein. Aided by his ten-year-old sister, the boy accidentally strangled himself with a rope tied to the ceiling fan.

There is no doubt that the children's behaviour was directly influenced by what they saw on television, a medium in which the distinction between real life and entertainment is often blurred.

   
Judge drops many charges against Girls Gone Wild team

From The Guardian

A judge has dropped most of the charges filed against the producer of the Girls Gone Wild video series, saying the evidence did not support the allegations involving the filming of a pair of 17 year old girls at spring break.

Of the more than 40 criminal charges filed, only four felony and two misdemeanor counts remain against series creator Joe Francis and his company, Mantra Films, Inc., after two girls claimed a Girls Gone Wild cameraman videotaped them in sexual situations on Panama City Beach in 2003.

The remaining felony counts charge that Francis and the company used minors in sexual performances and conspired to use minors in sexual performances, which would carry a maximum combined prison sentence of 40 years if convicted.

In her ruling, Circuit Judge Dedee Costello said she kept those charges because prosecutors have said a photographer and a cameraman may testify at the trial. Costello gave defense attorneys until Jan. 31 to file motions to dismiss the remaining charges.

Pending in federal court is an appeal of a related ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak, who last month ordered Francis and his three top corporate officers to perform community service and ordered the company to pay a $1.6 million fine for filming the same girls. The company in December agreed to pay the fine but then filed the appeal when Smoak added the community service for the individuals.

Brazilian court orders the closure of YouTube

From The Register See Brazilian court orders YouTube shutdown

A Brazilian court has ordered the closure of YouTube following the site's failure to completely remove a video showing Ronaldo's ex and her new boyfriend indulging in a bit of beach sex.

Daniela Cicarelli sued YouTube after the offending film proved a smash hit among Brazilian YouTubers. She filed to force YouTube to take the video down and demanded $116,000 in damages for each day the video remains up. Although YouTube did indeed remove some copies, other users reposted it and the whole sorry exposure dragged on for months.

Finally, Cicarelli and Malzoni filed another suit in December requesting that YouTube be shut down as long as the video is available to users. A Brazilian court agreed and a judicial clerk today said that it had ordered the popular video sharing service ... to be shut down until it removes a celebrity sex video from its site.

This is likely to prove difficult to enforce since YouTube is based the US.

   
Complaints about TV coverage of the killing of Saddam

From The Guardian see Saddam news coverage draws complaints

Ofcom is to investigate UK broadcasters' coverage of Saddam Hussein's execution after receiving 30 complaints from viewers.

The complaints are believed to include criticism of the broadcasters' decision to use audio and video extracts of the controversial mobile phone footage of the former Iraqi dictator being mocked on the gallows by his executioners.

However, no UK broadcaster showed footage of the moment when Saddam was actually killed.

BBC1 news coverage of Saddam's execution received the most complaints, 11, with a further 8 about BBC News 24.

Ofcom has also received four complaints about Sky News coverage, and one each for ITV1 News, Channel 4 News, Fox News and Classic FM.

   
Whinging at the Italian censor

Based on an article from nwitimes

The blood and gore in Mel Gibson's latest epic, Apocalypto, are suitable fare for children, Italy's cinema review board has ruled, prompting a nutter group to say it would appeal the decision in court.

The film is probably very beautiful and well done, Carlo Rienzi, president of the Codacons consumer group, said in a statement. However, minors must be protected more than the economic interests of film production companies. Rienzi said the group would seek court action to have children younger than 14 banned from seeing the movie.

Apocalypto depicts a Mayan kingdom during its decline and includes slayings and human sacrifices.

It opened in the United States last month with an "R" rating, which allows those younger than 18 to view it only if accompanied by an adult. Most European countries that have rated the movie set minimum age limits for viewers. Viewers in France must be at least 12, and in Hungary, Germany, Poland and Britain, they must be 18.

Adriana Medici, secretary for the Italian review board that rated Apocalypto, said the board, which usually is made up of parents, industry experts and a psychologist, decided on to allow people of any age to see it.

It's a work of art. It's a beautiful movie that tells the story without hiding anything. Wars are a part of life, said Gian Paolo Cugno, an Italian director who was among the board members who voted in favor of not giving the movie an age limit: We are used to being subjected to images like the hanging of Saddam Hussein in all the newspapers. I don't see what the scandal is just because we see a bit of blood.

Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli urged the film distributor in Italy, Eagle, to ask cinemas to discourage unaccompanied minors from going to see the movie.

   
Teachers call for censorship

From the BBC see School shock at vandal web video

A head teacher has spoken of his shock at seeing a video clip posted on a public website of a laughing pupil hurling a rock at a classroom window.

The shaky 15-second footage shows a clearly identifiable boy grinning as he strides up to throw the missile. The clip, featured on a popular video-sharing website, also shows a boy and a girl dressed in school uniform who appear to have been encouraging the attack, while other voices can also be heard. The rock or lump of concrete that he throws smashes the glass - although the window does not break completely - and the clip ends with the group running away and laughing.

On the website, the video is accompanied by an explanation from the perpetrator saying his teacher deserved it for the way he had been treated all year.

Head teacher Gordon Cunningham said it had been the Year 9 pupil's last day at Easthampstead Park School before he and his family emigrated:  It's not just the audacity of it, but to video it and then put it on a public website....

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT teachers' union, said: Such behaviour is completely unacceptable and could have resulted in injury to staff and pupils as well as to the property. Unfortunately, any yob or vandal can now have their 15 minutes of fame, aided and abetted by readily accessible technology and irresponsible internet sites which enable such behaviour to be glorified."

She said the union supported a zero tolerance approach in schools to pupils who used technology to abuse and undermine teachers, and called for more rigorous legislative control of internet sites which gave them licence.

   
Stephen Carter gets a CBE

Stephen Carter was always good with fine words at Ofcom. But he excelled even more at failing to live up to his fine words.

From OfcomWatch

Former Ofcom CEO Stephen Carter was honoured in the New Years lists with a CBE 'for services to the Communications Industry'.

   
Consultations & News

See the January campaign update at Ofwatch

Iran requires websites to register

From the Iranian

Beginning today, all websites with Iran-related content will have to register with the Islamic Republic’s Internet vetting body before web users inside the country can view them.

The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance made the announcement. The new rule is in accordance with the decision by the government in November to restrict websites that had not registered with the ministry.

Reporters Without Borders said in November: It will be impossible to force the tens of thousands for websites dealing with Iran, most of which are hosted on servers abroad, to register with the authorities. But this rule could serve as pretext for arbitrarily closing or filtering news websites. It will give a legal basis for the online censorship that already exists in Iran.

Press freedom roundup 2006

From Reporters without Borders
Read the full article

The deadliest year since 1994

At least 81 journalists were killed in 2006 in 21 countries while doing their job or for expressing their opinion, the highest annual toll since 1994, when 103 died (half of them in the Rwanda genocide, about 20 in the Algerian civil war and a dozen in former Yugoslavia). 32 media assistants (fixers, drivers, translators, technicians, security staff) were also killed 2006 (only five in 2005).

	2005	2006
killed	63 journalists + 5 media assistants	81 journalists + 32 media assistants
arrested	807	871
attacked & threatened	1308	1472
kidnapped	not recorded	56
media outlets censored	1006	912

Read the full article

   
To comment on the Dangerous Pictures Bill

From Phantom on The Melon Farmers Forum

David Cameron has a weblog where he invites issues for his comment.

There is a post asking Cameron to comment on the extreme porn proposal on there...

I think it's definitely worth voting for... apparently Cameron comments on the top five... given the numbers required that's easily achievable...

What are your views on the proposed legislation on ' violent pornography ' will you and your party be voteing for or against it.As the legislation stands possession of images of sexual violence or simulated sexual violence would mean prosecution and a possible 3 years prison sentence.If images are taken and kept involving two consenting adults for private use they could be prosecuted under the legislation. Would you vote for or against?, what are your reasons. What evidence is there to prove a link between viewing violent sexual pornography and committing a violent sexual criminal act. Articles 8&10 of the European Convention on Humans Rights would be breached .

Update: Vote now closed

The question reached the 2nd spot and will therefore be posed to David Cameron

Venezuela president to close opposition TV

From The Telegraph

Venezuela's socialist president, Hugo Chavez, has announced he was to close the country's oldest television channel for being critical of his regime.

Chavez said he would not be renewing the licence of Radio Television Caracas (RCTV), founded in 1953, which has long allied itself with opposition forces: It is best that they start packing their bags and working out what to do after March, as there will be no new licence for the coup-mongering channel called Radio Caracas Television, the populist president said during a speech to the armed forces.

Chavez said the channel was: at the service of coups against the people, against the nation, against national independence, against the dignity of the republic.

The head of RCTV, Marcel Granier, said his channel did not need to renew its licence as the present one was "eternal". He also vowed to fight against the president's plans in Venezuela's courts and on the international stage: If Chavez: was serious, I think he's badly informed.

For privacy and obscenity offences in Iran

I'd hate to think what extremes they could mean by 'intensified punishment'

From the Iranian

An Iranian official said a bill is being compiled by the judiciary to intensify the punishment for invaders of privacy and distributors of obscene films.

Judiciary's Public Relations Director General Ehsan Qazizadeh expressed his dissatisfaction with tabloid newspapers and gossip magazines and said, For the sake of their own interests and regardless of social norms and values, these publications disclose private details that are not of public concern and offend reasonable people.

Qazizadeh warned these publications and concluded that the judiciary will stop activities that disturb the society.

A good many Iranians are not ignorant of what is going on in the world and the perception of the same of Iran. Many illegally watch international satellite TV and tune in to opposition radios, which have a network of clandestine reporters at work in Iran. However, the national media is submitted to so many restrictions and controls that its credibility is generally very limited.

Freedom of the press was already severely restricted under the government of Khatami and problems and concerns are even more today under Ahmadinejad.