Murder Set Pieces is a 2004 US horror film by Nick Palumbo (TLA Releasing)

The BBFC has rejected the DVD Murder Set Pieces. This means that it cannot be legally supplied anywhere in the UK. The decision was taken by the Director, David Cooke and the Presidential Team of Sir Quentin Thomas, Lord Taylor of Warwick and Janet Lewis-Jones.

Murder Set Pieces is a feature with a single-minded focus on the activities of a psychopathic sexual serial killer, who, throughout the film, is seen raping, torturing and murdering his victims. Young children are among those terrorised and killed, and their inclusion in this abusive context is an added concern. In relation to the adult victims, there is a clear focus on sex or sexual behaviour accompanied by non-consensual pain, injury and humiliation.

David Cooke, Director of the BBFC said:
It is the Board’s carefully considered view that to issue a certificate to Murder Set Pieces, even if statutorily confined to adults, would involve risk of harm within the terms of the Video Recordings Act, would be inconsistent with the Board’s Guidelines, and would be unacceptable to the public.

Rejecting a work outright is a serious matter and the Board considered whether the issue could be dealt with through cuts. However, given the unacceptable content featured throughout, and that what remains is essentially preparatory and set-up material for the unacceptable scenes, cutting the work is not a viable option in this case and the work is therefore refused a classification.

Under the terms of the Video Recordings Act distributors have the right to appeal the Board’s decision. Murder Set Pieces also raises potential legal questions, for instance in relation to the Protection of Children Act 1978, as well as possible breaches of other legislation such as that on obscenity. Having concluded that the work would in any case have to be rejected on grounds of harm and unacceptability to the public, the Board did not think it necessary at this stage to reach a final view on these legal issues, but they would have to be considered in the event of any appeal.

See full article from Reuters

Richard Ross, TLA's executive director sales for North America and the UK, said the company was "shocked" by the ban, and was considering whether to appeal: We wanted to retain the director's original version. When we bought it, we hoped to release it unedited and thought we'd be able to do that in the UK We don't want to release the same version that Lionsgate released (in the US).

The film was released in North America in January 2007 by Lionsgate with an "R" rating. It was, however, an extremely truncated version, Palumbo said on his MySpace page: They cut 23 minutes from the film, rendering it incomprehensible.

Palumbo said the uncut version has been released in Scandinavia, Spain and the Netherlands.

His film revolves around a Las Vegas serial killer who dispatches 30 or so victims in a variety of sadistic ways. According to the publicity materials, it was banned from every film festival in North America.

Comment: Gobstruck

Thanks to Alan, March 1st 2008

Reading about Beyer's dodgy poll and the ban on Murder Set Pieces, I wonder whether there is any mileage in simply campaigning on the basis that censorship is wrong and that the state should not abrogate to itself to control what we watch in our own homes.

I am sure that Nick Palumbo knows rather more about film-making than BBFC jobsworths like Sir Quentin Posh, Lord Muck and Janet Double-Barrel.

I don't even LIKE bloody horror films, but the arrogance of these pillocks leaves me gobstruck.

The European Parliament recently passed a proposal to treat Internet censorship by repressive regimes as a trade barrier.

The proposal, submitted by Jules Maaten of the rightist Dutch VVD party, passed on a 571-38 vote. Maaten describes it as an unusual, but effective way to promote freedom of expression on the Internet.

The initiative targets countries that have enacted heavy restrictions what their citizens can do and see online. First and foremost on the list is China and its "great firewall." The country also "encourages" bloggers to register with the government.

The 'Great Chinese Firewall' should be seen as an international trade barrier, Maaten said. If adopted, Maaten's proposal would require the EU to classify any Internet censorship as a barrier to trade, and would require that the issue be raised in any trade negotiations. Economic sanctions and trade restrictions have been used in the past as means of getting countries to change their policies, but this is one of the first proposals to tie trade to 'Net censorship.

The measure will now go to the European Council for consideration. The Council can either adopt the proposal as passed by Parliament or send it back with further amendments.

A Berlin gallery has temporarily closed an exhibition of satirical works by a group of Danish artists after six Muslim youths threatened violence unless one of the posters depicting the Kaaba shrine in Mecca was removed.

The Galerie Nord in central Berlin said it had closed its Zionist Occupied Government show of works by Surrend, a group of artists who say they poke fun at powerful people and ideological conflicts.

Four days after the exhibition opened, a group of angry Muslims stormed into the gallery, shouting demands that one of the 21 posters should be removed, said the gallery. They were very aggressive and shouted at an employee that the poster should be taken down otherwise they would throw stones and use violence, the gallery's artistic director Ralf Hartmann told Reuters.

Hartmann said the gallery was working with German authorities to improve security and he hoped to re-open the show as soon as possible.

The offending poster on display showed the Kaaba - the black granite cube-shaped building in Mecca. The words "stupid stone" in German were superimposed on it. It is toward the Kaaba that Muslims must pray.

The Belarusian Supreme Court has ordered the early release of Aleksandr Sdvizhkov, former deputy editor of the now-shuttered independent newspaper Zgoda, who was sentenced in January to three years in a high-security prison for reprinting controversial Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2006.

We’re relieved at the Belarusian Supreme Court’s decision to grant early release to Aleksandr Sdvizhkov, but he should not have been jailed in the first place, CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. We remain concerned that the court did not overturn this politically motivated conviction.

Sdvizhkov’s lawyer, Maya Aleksandrova, told CPJ that the court cut the sentence to three months after reviewing the journalist’s appeal on Friday. The journalist, arrested in November, had already served that length of time. Aleksandrova said the court reduced Sdvizhkov’s sentence due to “exceptional circumstances,” citing the journalist’s deteriorating health, his good behavior in prison, and his elderly mother’s poor health.

Sdvizhkov’s paper reprinted the controversial cartoons in Zgoda in February 2006, prompting authorities to begin an investigation into possible incitement to religious hatred. But journalists said the prosecution was motivated less by religious sensitivity than a desire to silence a critical newspaper in the weeks before a presidential election.

The New Zealand Society of Authors says children are getting a diluted version of the world because publishers don't want to rock the boat.

The group have joined up with Wellington's 15 libraries to highlight the issue this week. The organisations say a growing number of works are being banned, restricted or sanitised.

Out of Reach - the forbidden bookshelf is a new event organised by Wellington City Libraries and the Wellington Branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA). A week-long series of readings, displays and a celebrity debate at Wellington libraries will focus on the theme of banned, restricted or sanitised children's books.

Spokesman and author Dom Long says subtle censorship is rife in New Zealand. Long says it's widely rumoured that work that includes taboo topics like fast food will not be touched by some publishers.

He says many writers are also having to bend over backwards to make their work politically correct enough for the US market.

Many NZSA members have reported increasing pressure from publishers to adjust their work for overseas markets. Long says the American edition of his book Fishing Off the Wharf had elements such as its separated and mixed-race parents removed.

Many high-profile children's book titles have been subject to bans. The Harry Potter series was in the news after being banned in many schools and libraries overseas, and public opinion on books such as Little Black Sambo, where an Indian boy outwits some tigers, has changed over time as cultural attitudes have shifted.

Campaigners say social networking sites should do more to act against pro-anorexia support groups on their domains.

The eating disorders charity, B-eat, told the BBC little progress had been made on combating "pro-ana" sites that provide easier access to information on how to lose weight.

B-eat and health experts say internet sites play a significant part in providing easier access to information on how to get thin, and highlighted support groups on social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

Dr Ty Glover, consultant psychiatrist on the Eating Disorders Unit at Cheadle Royal Hospital, told the broadcaster: Social networking sites can censor their material and we expect them to act responsibly. We are horrified at the content of these sites and the tips they give on how to be thin. People with eating disorders are extremely vulnerable and often have very low self esteem, so pro-ana and pro-mia sites can be very damaging as they are sending out the wrong advice.

A spokesman for Facebook told the BBC: Many Facebook groups relate to controversial topics; this alone is not a reason to disable a group. In cases where content is reported and found to violate the site's terms of use, Facebook will remove it.

Index on Censorship is calling for the release of Tunisian comedian Hédi Ouled Baballah, who has been jailed on the basis of suspect evidence, apparently in punishment for mimicking the country’s president.

The trigger seems to have been a private recording of comedian Hédi Ouled Baballah’s satirical imitation of Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali that has spread across the country by mobile phone.

Index on Censorship, together with fellow members of the Tunisian Monitoring Group (TMG) of international free speech groups, believes that Ouled Baballah was targeted by police and framed for drugs and currency charges as punishment for the popular satire.

In Tunisia dissidents are never charged for their political acts, but instead are falsely accused of “dishonourable” offences, says OLPEC. Recent victims of this tactic include human rights lawyer Mohamed Abbou, jailed for allegedly attacking a female colleague, and journalist Slim Boukhdhir, accused of breaking public morality laws.

This is the second time that Hédi Ouled Baballah has been persecuted for mimicking Ben Ali. After performing a similar sketch last year he was arrested and beaten up by police in the Bouchoucha detention centre between 9 and 11 March 2007.

The BBFC has hit back at suggestions that it doesn't provide a more effective ratings system than the PEGI version, as suggested by Microsoft's UK head of corporate affairs Matt Lambert, at a CMS Select Committee hearing yesterday.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz the BBFC has rejected those claims, and stated that while the body uses the same symbols as for films in order to enable a greater understand of the level of content to be expected in games, it doesn't classify games in the same way that we classify films, because we physically play the game.

The fact is, we provide consumer advice about the content - and extended information - on our Parents website about exactly the sort of things you can expect to encounter in the game, in all of the games we classify - and we do it in words, which people understand, they don't understand the pictograms.

We know this - in January we did research and the public really couldn't get their heads around what a spider meant. That is not sufficient information for them to make a decision.

What people think about the PEGI system is that it's a difficulty rating, said the spokesperson. One of the parents in our research groups was complaining that she had bought a game with a 3+ on thinking it was suitable for her child, and it turned out to be a complicated sports game - whereas if they see a PG12, they know it's going to have the sort of content (and here you can argue that the system is similar) as they would expect from a 12-rated film.

Just like when they get a film that's an 18, and says 'Strong bloody violence' they have an idea of what that is, because they've seen it in 18-rated films…The fact is, sticking a spider on the back of a box is not going to help a person make the kind of decision that they ought to be making about games.

The BBFC also underlined that during its review process it employs people that actually plays through the games, and noted the contrast with the PEGI methodology.

Unlike the PEGI system, which is purely a tick-box system filled in by the distributor themselves, the BBFC has very well-qualified games examiners - who are games fans themselves - to play the games right through all the levels, with the cheat codes, and spend a lot of time playing them so that they know what the content is.

An 'alternate reality game' (ARG) on video blogging community Seesmic, was brought to a premature close last week after one of the site's moderators mistook the staged torture of a community member for the real thing and threatened to involve the police.

Marketing agency The Picture Production Company (PPC) launched the ARG for Universal Pictures to promote the UK theatrical release of Untraceable on 29th February.

The ARG depicted the abduction and killing of a member of the invite-only community, mirroring the storyline of Untraceable, in which a serial killer creates an "untraceable" website where he conducts violent and painful murders live on the net.

A series of clips were filmed live by webcam and posted to the site at regular intervals, over a 48-hour period. They showed a community member, nicknamed Sharpeshooter, being subdued and violently electrocuted.

The ARG used a related Twitter feed to create a digital 'paper-trail' leading back to www.killwithme.com, the film's official website.

The ARG was closed after Seesmic contacted PPC to make them aware that a member of staff had been on the brink of involving the authorities.

The similar promotional page on Facebook called Kill With Me was also pulled

Channel 4's Dispatches editor Kevin Sutcliffe and the programme makers behind Undercover Mosque are pursuing a libel claim against West Midlands Police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

The documentary makers were cleared last November by media regulator Ofcom of allegations of misleadingly editing the Channel 4 programme about extreme Islamic preachers.

Undercover Mosque aired in January last year and featured footage filmed undercover in several mosques in the Midlands. The documentary featured footage of preachers calling for homosexuals to be killed, espousing male supremacy, condemning non-Muslims and predicting jihad.

Channel 4 announced today that Sutcliffe, and production company Hardcash Productions, have now initiated libel proceedings: The statements made by both the West Midlands Police and the CPS were completely unfounded and seriously damaging to the reputation of the programme makers.

The broadcaster also released a statement on behalf of co-claimants - David Henshaw, Andrew Smith and John Moratiel - from Hardcash Production: The statements made by both the West Midlands Police and the CPS were completely unfounded and seriously damaging to our reputation. We feel the only way to set the record straight once and for all is to pursue this matter through a libel action.

In August last year West Midlands police complained to regulator Ofcom about the editing of the Dispatches documentary. But Ofcom said the programme was a legitimate investigation uncovering matters of important public interest in a subsequent ruling in November.

The regulator also said there was No evidence that [Channel 4] had misled the audience and the broadcaster had accurately represented the material and dealt with the subject matter responsibly and in context.

Channel 4 said any payment of damages will go to charity.

Ashutosh Gowariker's epic picture Jodhaa Akbar is free to be screened in Madhya Pradesh after UTV Motion Pictures, the producers of the film won a case against a court order in the state's high court.

The CEO of UTV Ronnie Screwvala said that they had started screening the film from yesterday night, and that it was very unfortunate that he had to go to the court for getting it done.

The existing BJP government in the state had stopped the screening of the Ashutosh Gowarikar flamboyance Jodhaa Akbar hardly a week after this film hit the theatres. The reason they had given was that they feared that the screening of this film would cause a law and order situation in the state.

The film received a ban in Rajastan because a part of the community claimed that the facts mentioned in the film were twisted.

The community claimed that, Jodha Bai was not the daughter of Raja Bharmal of Amber as portrayed in the film, but the daughter of Motaraja Udai Singh of Marwar. And she was married to Akbar's son Salim a.k.a. Jehangir. The theatre owners of Rajastan had feared to screen the film suspecting problem to the ordinary film goers from the miscreants.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee held its first oral evidence session as part of its inquiry into harmful content on 26th February 2008.

Videogame developers should dis-incentivise gamers from long periods of play by allowing players to achieve the highest scoring aspects of a title early on in the game's life cycle. That's according to John Carr, executive secretary at the Children's Charities Coalition for Internet Safety.

He raised the argument that there were a number of concerns over videogames, other than the issue of violence – including reports of children "dying at their consoles" – that need to be addressed.

While fellow panellist at the hearing Professor Sonia Livingstone, from the London School of Economics, pointed out that there is no clear evidence that videogames provide benefits to children, she also pointed out that there is no clear evidence that they harm children either - but there was evidence suggesting repetition of actions could be a problem.

Professor Livingstone also raised the subject of age ratings in games, and highlighted reports that large numbers of children played games at home that according to the ratings were not appropriate.

Carr then added his belief that some parents misunderstood the nature of age ratings, believing them to relate more to a general skill level suggestion, instead of advice on potentially damaging content.

The consensus among the panel was that parents needed more help and better tools to educate themselves and their children about the potential dangers online.

See full article from GamesIndustry.biz

Matt Lambert, Microsoft's head of corporate affairs in the UK, stated his belief that the PEGI ratings system was better than the BBFC version.

When committee chairman John Whittingdale asked Lambert about the apparent confusion for parents over age ratings for videogames – particularly the belief that they represented skill levels instead - Lambert replied that he hadn't seen any evidence of such confusion, and that internal research indicated that 96% of parents were in fact aware of the presence of age ratings.

Instead he pointed to anecdotal evidence which led him to believe parents instead weren't concerned about applying those ratings. And on the question of which of the two ratings systems that exist in the UK was preferable, Lambert indicated that he believed PEGI was more effective.

If there's going to be one ratings system, it should be PEGI. With PEGI, they think very carefully about age appropriacy…but the BBFC is set up to rate films, and it takes that approach for games when a different approach is required.

PEGI breaks it down to a different level. If there's bad language it will give you a specific symbol, if there's gambling there's another symbol, and some games will have a whole raft of symbols on the back. It's a different depth, it's more sensible, and it also has a European aspect to it.

The chairman then responded to the answer by pointing out that the BBFC itself would contradict such a view – that it believes the PEGI methodology to be inferior, and employs specialists who look at hours of gameplay when coming to a decision: I'm not saying that's wrong, and I apologise if I gave the impression that that's not what they do - though they would say that they are the best. But I do believe that the BBFC's thinking clearly comes from the world of film [and not games], that's definitely true.

Ofcom has expressed its concern over comments made by Radio 2 presenter Sarah Kennedy, in which she claimed it was difficult to see black people in the dark.

The ever-controversial DJ made her remarks on her early morning show in October during a discussion about road safety.

She had almost run over a black pedestrian because his dark clothes made him “invisible”, she told listeners, adding, It’s lucky he opened his mouth to yawn or do something and I saw him.

The BBC denied that the comments were racially motivated. She was making a statement of fact and that was the context in which it was made, the BBC added.

Radio 2 escaped censure because the BBC told Ofcom it regretted not making an on-air apology.

The Australian government's plan to have internet service providers filter pornography and other internet content deemed inappropriate for children is going full-steam ahead.

The Government wants to evaluate content filters in a controlled environment. Trials are to be conducted soon in a closed environment in Tasmania.

ISP-based filters will block inappropriate web pages at service provider level and automatically relay a clean feed to households. To be exempted, users will have to individually contact their ISPs.

The testing is slated for completion by July and will be followed by live field trials.

Privacy advocates have long argued that ISP-based filters are too onerous and web users should be free to choose what they want to access online. They also say several measures, including PC-based filters, would be more effective in protecting children online.

The internet sector has consistently voiced concern about the Government's ISP filters. Internet Industry Association chief executive Peter Coroneos has said any clean feed policy would have to be balanced against the likely financial and performance costs, and ACMA's first annual report to Senator Conroy confirmed his fears.

The report, released last week, also conceded that Web 2.0 technology poses the greatest threat to the younger generation. The rise in popularity of social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace, coupled with a dive in the use of email, has made it difficult to filter content: Filters are currently unable to sift the content of communication between users using instant messaging or chat services, ACMA said.

The agency concluded that education was the most effective way of addressing risks associated with illegal contact online.

Adult classification for games will be raised at the next Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG) on March 28th.

But a spokesperson for Michael Atkinson, the South Australian Attorney General, has confirmed that he will maintain his long-running opposition to the proposed system.

The attorney-general remains very firmly opposed to introducing an R rating for computer games in Australia, the spokesperson said.

Minister Atkinson would not consider an 18+ rating even if there were measures to protect children from being exposed to adult content, the spokesperson said: He doubts whether any safeguards could be put in place to deter young people, who after all (are) the most computer literate and savvy in our society, from being able to access material.

See full article from CNET News

While various Australian media outlets are reporting today that a change is soon to come, a decision to introduce an R18+ rating down under still looks like it is months to years away from actually happening.

For an R18+ rating to be introduced, all of Australia's State Attorneys-General and the Federal Minister for Home Affairs would have to agree on the change before it can be passed into law. But a spokesperson for the Home Affairs Minister, Bob Debus, said no decision should be expected to come from the March 28 meeting.

According to the Minister's spokesperson, in a 2005 SCAG meeting it was agreed that the Victorian Government would research the issue of an R18+ rating in Australia further. The SCAG meeting on the March 28, 2008 is simply a chance for that research to be tabled, the spokesperson said.

Usually those things move pretty slowly at those meetings. It can take years for things to get through. I would imagine Victoria would just present these materials and the states would go away and have another think about it until the next meeting, the spokesperson said

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) found SBS breached its codes of practice by showing British documentary Obscene Machines in April last year.

The broadcasting regulator, which investigated the program after receiving a complaint from a viewer, found the show was too extreme for its MA15+ classification.

One 2-½-minute segment features close-up shots of a naked woman apparently being penetrated by a mechanical dildo.

Another segment focuses on an elderly man's use of a life-like sex doll called Emma, modelled on his 18-year-old ex-wife.

ACMA rejected SBS's argument that a large proportion of the program dealt with the sexual activities of the old and disabled and was informational: ACMA considers that the treatment of the subject matter in Obscene Machines is adult in nature and is therefore unsuitable for ordinary 15-year-old audience members, the watchdog said in its report.

SBS said it would not screen the program again.

Pakistan's telecommunications regulator said that it had lifted restrictions imposed on YouTube over an anti-Islamic video clip, but rejected blame for a cut in access to the Web site in many countries over the weekend.

The authority told Pakistani Internet service providers to restore access to the site on Tuesday afternoon after the removal of a video featuring a Dutch lawmaker who has said he plans to release a movie portraying Islam as fascist and prone to inciting violence against women and homosexuals.

Officials here have described the YouTube clip as "very blasphemous" and warned that it could fan religious fanaticism and hatred of the West in Pakistan, where the government already faces a growing Islamic insurgency.

Geert Wilders, said his film criticizing the Quran will be completed this week and criticized Pakistan for its moves to block the clip: It's far from a true democracy. A real democracy must be able to bear some criticism.

Cameroon’s government summarily closed a leading private television station on supposed regulatory violations.

The station in Douala was distinguished for its leading coverage of a national debate over a bid by President Paul Biya to scrap a constitutional clause that limits presidential terms.

Two police commanders backed by a squad of riot police forced Equinoxe Télévision off the air and sealed its studios, the station’s editor in chief, Albert Yondjeu, told CPJ. Police gave the station a copy of an order from Communications Minister Jean-Pierre Biyiti Bi Essam. The order stated that the station was operating illegally because it had not paid a 100 million CFA francs (US$227,000) broadcast licensing fee, according to Equinoxe Director General Séverin Tchounkeu.

Only three private television stations, Canal2 International, Spectrum TV, and TV+ have operated with official licenses in Cameroon since last year, but the government has allowed the rest of the handful of stations, unable to afford the hefty licensing fees, to operate under a regime of administrative tolerance. [This only applies of course when the station toes the government line].

Local journalists say they believe the move was linked to Equinoxe’s pointed coverage of the heated debate splitting supporters and opponents of Biya, who has been in power since 1982.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is concerned that the fate of two newspapers in Malaysia is being left hanging by the authorities following the expiration of their licence, and the debilitating effect this has had on their coverage of news in the run-up to the nationwide elections.

The annually renewable publishing permits for the Tamil-language Makkal Osai and the Mandarin-language Oriental Daily lapsed in December 2007 and have not been approved by outgoing Deputy Internal Security Minister Fu Ah Kiow, reports the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ).

The two newspapers, seen to be more critical than the other mainstream media closely tied to the government, have had to show a different slant after Parliament was dissolved for a general election on 8 March 2008.

The Oriental Daily editor has reportedly issued a set of guidelines on election coverage, which includes no frontpage coverage for the opposition.

CIJ, which is monitoring the media's election coverage, observes that Makkal Osai has started to publish news favouring the incumbent government, joining the usual clamour of mainstream newspapers.

We are concerned that the requirement for a publication permit has been effective in silencing critical voices and controlling any attempt for editorial independence. By delaying approval but allowing the paper to continue operating using lapsed permits, the caretaker government is putting the papers at its mercy and sending a signal to their owners to be compliant, CIJ said in its release.

Ofcom has criticised an episode of EastEnders in which a pregnant woman went into premature labour after a gang attacked the Queen Vic pub.

The media regulator said the BBC1 soap breached broadcasting regulations with a sustained, intense and high level of violence that was inappropriate for a pre-watershed programme.

Ofcom, which received 78 complaints about the episode, rejected the BBC's defence that viewers had been warned about the scene by an on-air announcement immediately before the show.

At the start of the episode the channel's continuity announcer told viewers: And first a powerful EastEnders as a peaceful night is shattered. Things are about to turn very ugly at the Vic.

The BBC said the high level of complaints was down to viewers' fears that Honey had lost her baby, rather than the violent scenes themselves.

But Ofcom said that only 13 out of the 78 complaints about the episode had referred to Honey's baby.

Although EastEnders is not made specifically for children it does attract a significant child audience, and any portrayal of violence needs to be carefully considered, the regulator added.

The programme started with the gang attack on the Queen Vic. This involved a sustained, intense and high level of violence, destroying parts of the pub with hammers and bottles and glasses smashing into the furniture, to intimidate the locals, some of whom were injured.

Regular viewers of EastEnders are aware that this soap deals, on occasions, with tough social issues. This is balanced, however, with the expectation that it will be suitable for children to view, who form a significant minority of the audience.

If you happened to be searching for a video at YouTube.com Sunday afternoon, there's a good chance your browser told you it was unable to locate the entire Web site. Turns out, much of the world was blocked from getting to YouTube for part of the weekend due to a censorship order passed by the government of Pakistan, which was apparently upset that YouTube refused to remove digital images many consider blasphemous to Islam.

According to wire reports, Pakistan ordered all in-country Internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to YouTube.com, complaining that the site contained controversial sketches of the Prophet Mohammed which were republished by Danish newspapers earlier this month. The people running the country's ISPs obliged, but evidently someone at Pakistan Telecom - the primary upstream provider for most of the ISPs in Pakistan - forgot to flip the switch that prevented those blocking instructions from propagating out to the rest of the Internet.

So, what happened? From everything I've read and heard, the YouTube situation appears to have been due to an innocent, if inept, mix-up, which allowed Pakistan's ISPs to effectively announce to the world that its Internet addresses were the authoritative home of YouTube.com, and for about an hour or so, most of the rest of the world's ISPs incorporated those updated directions as gospel.

In a country where the government more or less can tell resident ISPs what to do, blocking citizens from visiting certain sites is simple: The ISPs simply tell their customers that if they're looking for a censored site, they either receive an empty page or are redirected to wherever the ISP or government deems as an appropriate substitute destination.

Some experts are crying foul, saying this was an deliberate act of defiance or assertiveness by the nascent Pakistani government. But most seem to agree this was little more than a screw-up. Still, a nation state or other adversary could stir up diplomatic trouble by toying with this sort of trust built into the Internet. What would our government make of it, say, if all of a sudden all traffic destined for .gov domains wound up in China or North Korea?

Marc Sachs, director of the SANS Internet Storm Center said for now the checks and balances in the system today are that the same trust that allows network providers to abuse the system can be revoked. In this latest case with Youtube, network operators affected by the bogus update simply discarded the errant directions from Pakistan and in all likelihood told their own routers to ignore any further updates from Pakistan, at least for the time being, Sachs said.

Without a public fuss, an Australian federal government agency is quietly blacklisting web pages

Australian IT reports that an Australian federal government agency has built a blacklist of illegal online gambling sites that has caught some industry players off guard.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has produced a blacklist of around 800 hundred web pages, not websites, deemed 'unsuitable for public consumption.'

ACMA sends the list to internet service providers and content filtering companies so they can update their list of banned URLs.

About three months ago service providers received a list from ACMA containing illegal gambling pages they should block: We asked ACMA what was going on and were told that these were illegal gambling websites that had been identified by the federal Government as inappropriate.

ACMA clarified that it is normal practice to distribute a single list that included prohibited online gambling pages. However, the anomaly was due to a high number of complaints about illegal online gambling sites in October 2007 that were resolved months later.

Odeon, the UK’s biggest cinema chain, will not show Rambo at its theaters citing undisclosed “commercial reasons.”

News has sent shockwaves around the local industry as Rambo is the most significant new release in the UK. News has also enraged online Sylvester Stallone fans, especially those who live in rural areas where their only local cinema is an Odeon.

Odeon is tight-lipped on the decision not to play the franchise sequel. Owing to commercial reasons, Odeon has made the decision not to scree  the film Rambo across its cinemas in the UK, said a statement.

An source told Variety that Odeon’s decision to pull Rambo must be “over a disagreement over the terms. But to us, the film rentals rate seems reasonable enough for a release such as Rambo.

There has to be a time when neither player steps down. Both companies have their budgets and both are playing the game, commented Andrew Turner, Cineworld director of film booking, adding that: I can’t remember the last time this happened in the multiplex era.

Update: Body Count Down

27th February

And indeed Rambo failed to capture the top box office takings slot. It ended up 3rd to Jumper and Be Kind Rewind

In a decision welcomed by Tunisian researchers and novelists, the Ministry of Culture announced that several works previously banned by the Censorship Department will be freed for publication.

President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, to mark the twentieth anniversary of his ascension to the presidency, announced the cancellation of administrative censorship on books and publications three months ago. Ben Ali’s measure granted the right to deny publication of books to the Tunisian judiciary, where previously that censorship power had been vested in the Ministry of Culture. The decision also enabled publishers to withdraw their books from printing houses directly without obtaining a license from the ministry.

Most of the just-released titles deal with human rights in the Arab region, such as Human Rights in Arab Educational Institutions and Right to a Fair Trial in Arab World. Another book, Analysis of Discourse on Human Rights in Maghreb Countries, has been waiting for distribution approval since 1999. Other studies, such as the 2003 Political Participation Guide for Democratic Women, focus exclusively on issues in Tunisia.

Historian Abdejlil Temimi, who had been waiting to obtain distribution approval for five books from the Censorship Department, said the Ministry of Culture advised him that the works would be released. One of Temimi’s studies is titled Intellectual Censorship in Arab Countries.

Academic and researcher Saloua Charfi confirmed to Magharebia that the release decision included some of her own works. Finally, they released my book entitled Islamists and Democracy, which has been banned since 2000. However, there is now only one copy of that book. As to the remaining copies, they have been damaged in warehouses as a result of floods and rat bites, she said.

The Censorship Department released three additional studies conducted by Charfi: Human Rights in Tunisian Press, Monograph of the Tunisian Association for the Defence of Human Rights, and the Discourse of Tunisian Association for the Defence of Human Rights. Charfi said she would rush to distribute them to the public.

The government of Chad is using the current state of emergency to clamp down on journalists and members of peaceful opposition parties, Amnesty International have said. Amnesty said that the government has arrested at least three opposition members and that some newspapers in Chad have ceased publishing due to potential censorship, with many journalists fleeing the country.

Chadian President Idriss Deby last week declared a state of emergency throughout Chad, citing increased violence between government forces and rebels in the capital city of N'Djamena. The order bans most public meetings, imposes a curfew, authorizes government censorship of the press, and allows regional governments to regulate travel.

The recent fighting in Chad is the most recent eruption of longstanding hostilities between the Chadian government and several rebel groups seeking to depose Deby.

Adult rated video games could soon be sold in Australia after the Federal Government said it was considering updating the classification system for games to include an R18+ rating.

Unlike films, magazines and other publications, there is no adult classification for games in Australia, so any titles that do not meet the MA15+ standard are banned from sale by the Classification Board. Any changes to the censorship regime must be agreed to by the Commonwealth and all state and territory attorneys-general.

A spokeswoman for the Minister for Home Affairs, Bob Debus, confirmed the issue of whether or not to allow an R18+ classification for games would be discussed at the next Standing Committee of Attorneys-General meeting on March 28.

The games industry has long argued that the censorship regime is unnecessarily draconian and prevents adults from making their own decisions about the type of content they consume.

Research conducted by Bond University in Queensland for the industry body, the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEAA), found that the average age of Australian gamers is 28 and more than 50% of gamers are over 18. Another survey of 1601 Australian households, conducted by the university in 2005, found 88% of Australians supported an R18+ classification for games.

Bond University associate professor Jeffrey Brand, who wrote the research report, said Australia was the "only developed democracy" that did not have an adult classification for games.

He said the lack of an R18+ rating meant some games deserving of adult classification were being let through by the Classification Board as MA15+, and people who wanted to obtain banned games could easily get them from the internet or overseas.

The Politics Show for the South East on Sunday 24 February at 12:00 on BBC One.

Film censorship is hitting the big screen again, as Canterbury MP, Julian Brazier, believes violent films and video games could be responsible for acts of violence.

The Bogey Man, Death Trap, The Evil Dead and Zombie Flesh Eaters. Just a few films that over the years have been called 'video nasties'.

The Canterbury MP Julian Brazier believes films like these, and also violent video games could be responsible for people committing acts of violence.

He quotes the case of Warren Leblanc who admitted murdering his 14-year-old friend Stephan Pakeerah with repeated blows from a claw hammer and knife.

Stephan's mother has publicly attributed the murder to Leblanc's obsession with playing the video game Manhunt, although the trial judge did not confirm her view.

Brazier also talks about the film Eastern Promises. This, he says, includes graphic scenes of throat slitting, child prostitution and a man having an eye gouged out.

So next week Julian Brazier's Private Member's Bill to make the BBFC accountable to Parliament will get its second reading. He claims that in the last few years the BBFC has followed a policy of allowing increasingly violent and sexual material onto the market.

There are several points to Brazier' s Bill:

• He wants Parliament to choose the four main officers of the BBFC. At present the BBFC makes all it appointments internally.
• He believes Parliament should have powers to force the BBFC to tighten its guidelines
• He wants MPs to have the right to appeal against a classification. At present only the industry can appeal a decision - either to restore cut material or to lower a classification, but not to raise it or to have it banned.

So on Sunday we hear from Julian Brazier himself, and we get the views of a leading academic on whether there is any link between violence and the movies.

Update: No Accountability for BBFC Accountability Bill

25th February 2008

Thanks to DarkAngel on the Melon Farmers Forum
See Brazier on The Politics Show on YouTube

John Beyer was on there spouting the usual bollox. For those who haven't seen it I uploaded it to YouTube. I also tacked on the email replies at the end of the programme which, if they are anything to go buy, shows who is in touch with public opinion (and it ain't Brazier or Beyer).

Regarding public accountability, if I write to Brazier in opposition of his bill he would simply reply that I am not one of his constituents and I should write to my own MP about it.

So I write to my own MP and he tells me that he's not even going to be in Parliament on the day its being discussed.

So how exactly are MPs accountable to their public who's freedoms they are trying to restrict?

Pervez Kambaksh, the 23-year-old student, whose death sentence for downloading a report on women's rights from the internet has been speaking to The Independent from his Afghan prison.

In a voice soft, somewhat hesitant, he said: The judges had made up their mind about the case without me. The way they talked to me, looked at me, was the way they look at a condemned man. I wanted to say 'this is wrong, please listen to me', but I was given no chance to explain.

For Kambaksh the four-minute hearing has led to four months of incarceration, sharing a 10 by 12 metre cell with 34 others and having the threat of execution constantly hanging over him. His fate appeared sealed when the Afghan senate passed a motion, proposed by Sibghatullkah Mojeddeid, a key ally of the President Hamid Karzai, confirming the death sentence, although this was later withdrawn after domestic and international protests.

Since The Independent exposed the case of Kambaksh, eminent public figures such as the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. and Britain's Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, have lobbied Karzai to reprieve him. A petition launched by this newspaper calling for justice for Kambaksh has gathered nearly 90,000 signatures.

Kambaksh's ordeal began in mid- October after the downloading of the document about Islam and women's rights from an Iranian website. He was questioned first by some teachers of religion from the university where he is a student of journalism.

On 27 October he was arrested at the offices of Jahan-e-Naw, a newspaper for which he had carried out reporting assignments. It was about 10 in the morning. They told me that one of the directors of the NDS [the Afghan national intelligence service] wanted to see me. I was taken to a police station and sat around until 3 o'clock when they said they were arresting me over the website entry. When I protested they said they were doing this for my own safety, otherwise I may be killed.

On 6 December he was brought before a court in Mazar where the charges against him, accusing him of blasphemy and breaching other tenets of Islamic law, were read out. But then the proceedings concluded without any evidence being presented before the court.

He arrived at the court at the next session, on 22 January expecting a date to be set for the trial, only to hear numbing news. They normally sit for just a few hours in the afternoon. I was taken into the court just before it shut at 4 o'clock. There were three judges and a prosecutor and some details of the case were repeated. One of the judges then said to me that I have been found guilty and the sentence was death. I tried to argue, but, as I said, they talked to me like a criminal, they just said I would be taken back to the prison.

I was totally shocked. Afterwards I sat and tried to calculate just how long they had taken to judge my case. I thought at first it was three minutes, but then I worked out it was four. That was it, I have been in prison ever since. All I can hope now is that something can be done at the appeal. I would really like the appeal to be heard in Kabul, I think I will get a better hearing there.

Following the international outcry over the case, and the campaign by Mr Kambaksh's supporters, Afghanistan's Supreme Court has said that the appeal may take place at Kabul, away from local justice in Mazar, and that the hearing this time would be in the open. Justice Bahahuddin Baha also stated that the student would have the right to legal representation.

It has been reported that the Uzbek-language website Newsuz.com has been blocked in Uzbekistan.

After a series of critical publications on human rights issues, gas supply issues, and price growth, and also analytical publications on the recent elections, we began receiving letters with threats and demands to follow information posted on government sites. We did not do that and, as a result, out site was blocked, Newsuz.Com editor-in-chief Aziz Nosirov said.

Edison Chen is to suspend his career "indefinitely"
Actor and singer Edison Chen has apologised and promised to suspend his career in the aftermath of a sex photo scandal which has gripped China.

Several people have been arrested after 1,300 private shots which Chen had taken were put on the internet.

He told a news conference he was deeply saddened and wanted to apologise to all the people for all the suffering that has been caused.

Chen said he was stepping down from his showbusiness career "indefinitely".

Canadian-born Chen is a famous Asian actor and hip-hop artist. He appeared in the Infernal Affairs trilogy, which was later made into the Hollywood film The Departed. He was also in The Grudge 2 with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Chen said: I admit that most of these photos being circulated on the internet were taken by me. But these photos were very private and have not been shown to people and were never intended to be shown to anyone.

Hong Kong police say the photos were uploaded by staff at a computer repair shop which Chen took his laptop to.

The VAC is due to begin reconsidering its Manhunt 2 decision on March 11

Censors are trying to ban a violent video game, but flouting the law is easy.

A few clicks of a mouse was all it took to buy one of the most unpleasant, gruesome video games that has ever been released.

It is so grim that the title has been banned by the BBFC, despite which it’s readily available to purchase on the internet. I found it on eBay for £32 including delivery.

For what it’s worth, the game is dreadful, with bad graphics, jittery camera work and simplistic gameplay. However, the unrelenting, sadistic violence and the fact that it is so easy to buy (despite it currently being illegal to sell the game in the UK), raises disturbing questions about the process by which video games are classified.

Last month a High Court judge ordered the VAC to rethink its verdict on the premise that the committee had misinterpreted the law. The VAC is due to begin reconsidering on March 11, but there’s no guarantee it will change its mind. If it sticks by its decision, you can expect to see Manhunt 2 on sale legally shortly afterwards.

Australia would like to filter out X rated websites (ie adult hardcore) but they are being a bit cagey about being able to filter out the millions of sites that carry it.

The Government's internet filtering plans came in fo