Censor Watch

Watson & Oliver
BBC Two, 7 March 2012, 7.30pm

Watson & Oliver features two comedians, Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver, who perform a live act including shows at the Edinburgh Fringe. This was their first series on television: a comedy sketch show featuring pre-recorded sketches mixed with comedy routines in front of a studio audience. Regular characters, such as the Georgian Ladies and Candy and April, the Playboy Bunnies, are featured. This complaint concerns the third episode.

A complainant complained about the sexually explicit language and innuendo . He said that he was watching with his 5-year-old child and was appalled that terms such as slutty, genital frenzy, here's my jugs etc... were used. He specifically mentioned sketches featuring the Playboy bunnies and James Bond.

The BBC's Head of Comedy explained that Lorna Watson and Ingrid Oliver had established a reputation for unashamedly silly comedy which has broad appeal and which therefore sits well pre-watershed . The Head of Comedy accepted that some of the sketches contained a degree of innuendo but felt they were cheeky and mischievous rather than overtly sexual in tone . He quoted the Daily Telegraph's review ...it has a rare sense of comic mischief that teases but doesn't offend . Only one other complaint had been received, which he felt indicated that the vast majority of viewers found it acceptable for the timeslot .

The complainant was not convinced and the complaint was escalated to the Editorial Standards Committee who considered 3 sketches.

This sketch is entitled Absolutely No Sense and Sensibility and features two Georgian ladies pursuing two gentlemen, Sir Thomas and Mr Bridgewater. During the sketch, the two ladies prepare a picnic for the gentlemen and are trying to tempt them to eat. It includes the following dialogue:

• Oliver: Now, might you be persuaded to a mouthful of my juicy apple dumplings?
• Watson: Sir Thomas, can I tempt you to a handful of my sweet macaroons?
• Oliver: Surely you will not say no to a nibble on my almond puffs?
• Watson: Roly polys, Sir Thomas?
• Oliver: Fruit jellies?
• Watson: Peachy fritters?
• Oliver: Biscuits?
• Watson: Syllabubs?
• Oliver: French pancakes.
• Watson: Fried eggs?
• Oliver: Jugs. (holds up 2 glass jugs)
• Watson: Melons? (holds up two melons)
• Oliver: Tits on a plate?
• Mr Bridgewater: I beg your pardon? (Oliver holds up a plate with two fake blue tits sitting on it)

The second sketch is entitled Living with the Playboy Bunnies in which the two comedians appear dressed in the Playboy bunny outfits. The audience has seen a picture of an old man making a gurning face and when he calls to them off camera to join him, the two playboy bunnies argue about whose turn it is:

• Oliver/Candy: Well, I did Sexy Saturday
• Watson/April: I did Slutty Sunday
• Oliver/Candy: I did Missionary Monday.
• Watson/April: I did Tantric Tuesday.
• Oliver/Candy: I did Whipped Cream Wednesday.
• Watson/April: I did Threesome Thursday! On my own!
• Oliver/Candy: Well, I'm not doing it. You still owe me for Viagra Valentines

The third sketch features a pastiche of the James Bond films. Lorna Watson has received a letter informing her that she is being considered for the part of a Bond Girl. She comments:

• Watson: Well, I presume they're looking for someone with the face of a supermodel and a body that screams Hello, I'm sexually dangerous .
• Ingrid Oliver then asks her the name of the part, she replies:
• Watson: Jenny Talfrenzy.
• Oliver: Jenny Talfrenzy? Jenny Tal-, genital frenzy?
• Watson: I presume she's Italian.

The Committee noted that the series had received 23 complaints in total. For this episode, two people complained about the sexual content at 7.30pm. There were a further six complaints about other episodes, all referring to the Playboy bunny sketch, where viewers found the humour too sexual .

The Committee appreciated that the BBC had a long record of using cheeky sexual innuendos with humour and without causing offence in TV and radio comedy. Indeed, many of the BBC's traditional comedy classics relied on it. The Committee concluded that the sketches would be unlikely to offend an adult audience. The Committee also agreed that the sketches featuring the two Georgian ladies would be unlikely to cause concerns with regard to protecting children.

However, the Committee agreed with the complainant that some parts of the other two sketches were questionable for this time of the evening before the watershed in terms of protecting children. In particular, the Committee was concerned with the overall tone of the Playboy bunny sketch which contained sexual jokes and gestures. The Committee also felt that in the James Bond sketch it was debatable if it was appropriate to clearly articulate genital frenzy when referring to the Bond girl's name as Jenny Talfrenzy

The Committee was mindful that, for well-established series at 7.30pm, parents and carers would be able to make a judgement as what was suitable for their children to view. In this case, with a new series, parents could not reasonably be expected to have prior knowledge of the content. The Committee agreed that, in these circumstances, programme-makers should bear in mind that at this time of the evening some younger children may still be watching television. For this reason, the Committee believed that some of the content of this programme was at the margins of acceptability for this time of the evening. The Committee considered that even a slightly later slot of 8pm would have reduced the likelihood of those under 7 years of age watching it.

However, the Committee took into consideration that by 7.30 in the evening there is an increasingly adult audience watching television and the audience of younger children is declining. The Committee accepted that this comedy show would be unlikely to appeal to young children and that, in general, the schedule for BBC Two was not aimed at them.

The Committee concluded that overall the comic innuendos (which would be beyond the comprehension of the youngest children) did not breach generally accepted standards or the guidelines regarding scheduling and the watershed which are there to protect younger viewers.

The Committee concluded that this programme was not in breach of the BBC's Editorial Guidelines. However, the Committee expected the BBC to take note of its comments

A poster campaign for the high street retailers H&M Hennes & Mauritz lingerie collection included:

• a. the poster ad featured a model wearing a set of push-up bra and pants;
• b. the poster ad featured a model wearing a push-up night slip;
• c. the poster ad featured a model wearing a push-up bra;
• d. the poster ad featured a model reclining on a sheepskin rug wearing lingerie and stockings;
• e. the poster ad featured a model reclining on a bed wearing a set of push-up bra and pants;
• f. the poster ad featured a model reclining in a set of push-up bra and pants;
• g. the public transport ad featured a model wearing a set of push-up bra and pants.

1. Forty-seven complainants objected that the ads were offensive and demeaning to women.
2. Those complainants also objected that the ad was unsuitable for public display where they could be seen by children.

ASA Assessment: Complaints not upheld

1. Not upheld

The ASA noted the images in ads (a), (b), (c), (e), (f) and (g) featured the model wearing various types of lingerie and that the majority of the designs included push up bra's which significantly accentuated the cleavage. We considered that, within the context of ads for a lingerie collection, the images were sensual rather than sexual and that whilst some consumers may have found them distasteful, the images were unlikely to be seen as offensive or demeaning to women. With regard to ad (d), we noted the model was shown reclining on her front on a sheep skin rug and her body was more provocatively positioned than in the other ads. We further noted the model was looking directly at the camera through tousled hair in a mildly suggestive way. However, whilst we understood that some individuals would find the image to be distasteful, we considered that it was not explicit or overtly sexual. We therefore concluded that ads (a--g) were unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence or be seen to demean women.

On this point we investigated ads (a-g) under CAP Code rules 4.1 (Harm and offence) but did not find them in breach.

2. Not upheld

We understood some complainants were concerned that children would see the ads because of their locations on bus stops and on public transport. We considered ads (a), (b), (c), (e), (f) and (g) were only mildly sexual and considered that a placement restriction was unnecessary. Whilst we considered ad (d) was sexually suggestive the advertiser had put a placement restriction on all of the posters meaning that they were not placed with 100 m of a school. We therefore concluded that the ads were not irresponsibly placed.

On this point we investigated ads (a-g) under CAP Code rule 1.3 (Social responsibility) but did not find them in breach.

The Director of Breaking Dawn Part 2 , Bill Condon, has been hyping the DVD/Blu-ray release on March 2.

He ludicrously claims that a sex scene between Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart 'is so hot' that it had be to censored for the children's PG-13 rating. He says via a press release and in a making of DVD extra:

We had one shot that the MPAA complained about where there's a closeup of Rob kissing [Kristen's] shoulder. They thought they saw nudity, but there wasn't any, but they have filthy minds, clearly... We had to keep showing it to them until they were sure they weren't seeing anything naughty.

As Twilight series devotees know, there was a lot of ground to cover in adapting Breaking Dawn to the screen. Between the wedding, the honeymoon, the birth, and everything in between, naturally there were things that didn't make it into our final cut. But I wanted to make sure that for all the Twihards out there, there was a chance to see some of these cut scenes.

In a test case that could have significant implications for Google throughout Europe the company faced off against the Spanish data protection authority in the European Court of Justice.

From the Spanish government's point of view its data protection authority is pushing for the recently articulated right (of individuals) to be forgotten by having content or data about them removed from the search index upon request. From Google's perspective, if the court agrees with Spain, the outcome would be tantamount to granting individuals the right to censor Google.

The Spanish citizen, Mario Costeja, filed a complaint with the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) against Google and the newspaper La Vanguardia after discovering that a Google search for his name produced results referring to the auction of real estate property seized from him for non-payment of social security contributions.

The AEPD rejected Costeja's complaint against the newspaper on the grounds that the publication of the information was legal and was protected by the right to information but, with extraordinary inconsistency, upheld his complaint his complaint against Google, ordering the search engine to eliminate about 100 links from all future searches for Costeja's name.

Google refused to accept the ruling and filed an appeal which has now reached court.

In February 2012, Twitter introduced a policy that enables individual tweets and accounts to be blocked on a country-by-country basis. If a government submits a court order to Twitter, asking for a tweet or account to be blocked, Twitter will comply. But the blocking will only occur in the country in question , to users throughout the rest of the world, the affected content will look no different.

This past October, Twitter enacted this policy for the first time to block tweets from the account of the German extreme right-wing group, Besseres Hannover. The German government has formally banned and seized the assets of the group, and some of its members have been charged with inciting racial hatred and creating a criminal organization.

The group announced that it would challenge the blocking in court, but as things stand, Twitter's move to block the group's tweets was in accordance with local German law.

Twitter's general counsel, Alex MacGillivray, announced the issue on Twitter and linked to a copy of the request from German police to block the @hannoverticker account in Germany.

Australia's advert censor has thrown out a complaint against a Brisbane burger joint after they used an image of a woman licking a cow's face to promote their premium beef.

The Advertising Standards Board dismissed the complaint which claimed the Burger Urge advert to be loathsome, sick, wrong and perverted.

But the Board ruled most people would realise the image had been photoshopped, and while it would be considered distasteful by most people, it was not overly sexualised or provocative.

Australian Christian Lobby state director Wendy Francis spouted:

It's definitely a sexual sort of image. It says get intimate so we're not talking about a pet thing. The cow is dressed up as a man.

Francis has launched a campaign to make all outdoor advertising G rated and said people should feel confident they wouldn't have to see 'a woman making love to a cow". I'm not asking for a nanny state... [BUT] ...I'm just asking would somebody please make it so that our children are allowed to have their childhood.

Silent Witness
BBC One, 22 April 2012, 9pm

The complainant objected to a scene of sexual violence at the end of an episode of the BBC One drama serial Silent Witness which he said he had found extremely upsetting and thoroughly nasty . The complainant said that it was inappropriate to show such scenes at this time of the evening, and that the BBC had failed to provide adequate protection for members of the public from the inclusion of offensive and harmful material . The complainant referred to the fact that the preceding programme had overrun, meaning that those turning on to watch News at Ten would have seen the final moments of this episode of Silent Witness.

The Committee noted that this was the first episode of a two-part drama in which the team investigate various murders associated with Redhill prison. The team suspect that the prison staff are complicit in illegal drug activities and maybe the murders of various inmates. The final scenes are a flashback to the prison officer Kessler carrying out an assault and this is seen from the point of view of the investigating police officer, Bridges. The audience then realise the extent of the prison officer's corruption and that Detective Inspector Bridges is complicit as she does not report what she has seen.

The Committee concluded:

• that Silent Witness has an established format as a long-running series on BBC One between 9 and 10pm and the violent content, even though occurring at the end of the episode, was too explicit for this series, on this channel in the first hour after the watershed.

• that this programme was in breach of the Guidelines on Harm and Offence.

The complaint was upheld.

And for another opinion, the BBFC rated the first part of the episode titled Redhill to be: 15 uncut for strong threat and crime scene and autopsy images. In fact the second part sounds more challenging with the BBFC rating being: 15 uncut for strong bloody violence and threat.

A bus stop poster, for a table dancing club, was headed FYEO ... FOR YOUR EYES ONLY ... The Ultimate Table Dancing Club . The image featured two women in an embrace, in a swimming pool. The woman at the forefront of the image appeared to be topless, and had her head arched back and her eyes closed.

A complainant challenged whether the ad was:

1. offensive, because he believed it demeaned women and portrayed them as sex objects; and

2. unsuitable for display where it could be seen by children, because of its sexually suggestive nature.

For Your Eyes Only Ltd (FYEO) said they did not feel that the image used was inappropriate or offensive in any way and that it was no more revealing, or in some cases less revealing, than images used in ads for lingerie retailers.

ASA Assessment: 1. & 2. Upheld

Whilst the ASA acknowledged that the nature of the service advertised meant that any advertising which involved images of women, was likely to be seen as at least mildly sexual, we considered that the image in question did not fall into that category. We accepted that the nudity in the image was not overt but we considered that the model in the forefront of the image clearly appeared to be nude above the waist, because the majority of her breast was visible. We further considered that the models appeared to be engaged in a passionate sexual embrace and, in particular, that the facial expressions of both models were suggestive of sexual arousal.

We noted that the ad appeared in an untargeted medium and therefore had the potential to be seen by a large number of people who were likely to find the image offensive. Because we considered that it was overtly sexual and could be seen by anyone, including children, we concluded that the ad was unsuitable for outdoor display and therefore breached the Code.

The ad breached CAP Code rules 1.3 (Social responsibility) and 4.1 (Harm and offence).

Iceland's minister of interior, Ögmundur Jónasson, is backing a full online pornography ban for Iceland, which would be supported by an 'anti-shield' preventing internet users from accessing certain sites.

The minister's assistant, Halla Gunnarsdóttir, is even more misguided. She claimed in an interview that if we can send a man to the moon, we must be able to tackle porn on the internet. It is obvious that she is unaware how the internet works; "walls" around it won't work unless you want to create your own internet, very much like they are doing in Iran.

Thankfully, the possibility that this bill will pass through the parliament is near zero. The parliamentary committee tasked with discussing the censorship proposal, which I am part of, is looking into alternative ways to help parents to protect their children from online porn, mainly through free porn-filter software and educational means -- as suggested by a recent report produced by Unicef in Iceland.

Introducing censorship without compromising freedom of expression and speech is like trying to mix oil and water: it is impossible. I know my fellow MPs can often turn strange and dangerous laws into reality, but this won't be one of them.

...Read the full article

Update: Perhaps not all porn

17th February 2013. See  article from  guardian.co.uk

Hildur Fjo'la Antonsdo'ttir, a 'gender specialist' at Iceland University, said:

This initiative is about narrowing the definition of porn so it does not include all sexually explicit material but rather material that can be described as portraying sexual activity in a violent or hateful way.

Update: The clearest description yet of Iceland's proposed censorship of internet porn

27th February 2013. See  article from  guardian.co.uk

Halla Gunnarsdóttir is political adviser to the minister of the interior in Iceland. She is a former journalist and has an MA in international relations. She writes:

Pornography can reach children in different ways, but it is evident that the probability of a child becoming an adult without seeing porn is close to zero. This is a matter of concern since mainstream internet porn is becoming increasingly violent and brutal. It does not simply consist of images of naked bodies, or of people having sex but of hardcore violence framed within the context of sex. Young women are usually referred to as sluts, whores, bitches etc, and represented as submissive. Men, meanwhile, often act in a dominant, degrading and violent way towards them. A fairly typical example could include a mouth-penetration, performed to produce choking, crying or even vomiting. The violent misogyny produced by the porn industry has become our children's main resource for learning what sex is about, which is a cause of serious concern.

In response to the above-mentioned expert concerns, three ministries -- the ministry of the interior, the ministry of education, science and culture and the ministry of welfare -- called upon a wide range of professionals to discuss and analyse the societal effects of violent pornography and to contribute to the development of a comprehensive, holistic policy. Proposals emerging from this process are now being implemented under the auspices of the three ministries. These include increased emphasis on violence prevention, revision of sex education and the forming of a comprehensive policy on sexual health. The proposals on legal amendments -- now under consideration at the ministry of the interior -- are, however, the ones that have received the most attention.

• Firstly, a bill is being prepared with the aim of narrowing the legal definition of pornography -- the distribution of which is already illegal -- to encompass only violent and degrading sexual material. The goal is to make the important distinction between sex, on the one hand, and violence, on the other. This approach is based on the Norwegian penal code.
   

• Secondly, a committee, headed by the ministry, is now exploring how the law can be implemented. The key question pertains to the possibility of placing restrictions on online distribution of violent and degrading pornography in Iceland. Under discussion are both technical solutions and legal and procedural measures.

Attorney general Dominic Grieve has threatened legal action against those uploading pictures claiming to be of James Bulger's killers.  Google, Facebook and Twitter have been ordered by the police to remove photographs purporting to show one of James Bulger's killers.

Police served the three web giants with the injunction that bans the purported identification of Venables and Robert Thompson, who were released with new identities in 2001 after being jailed for the murder of Bulger in Liverpool 20 years ago.

Legal experts said the breach could result in a landmark mass contempt prosecution by the government, following a number of recent cases that brought cyberspace into direct confrontation with the law.

Keith Vaz, the Labour MP and chair of the Commons home affairs select committee, asked why Twitter was not taking down the photographs that are in breach of the injunction. Sinead McSweeney, Twitter's director of public policy in Europe, appeared alongside officials from Google and Facebook, said Twitter could not be expected to proactively monitor what is published on its social network across the globe each day. But she added that Twitter has established points of contact with law enforcement in the UK and that when informed of illegal content, appropriate steps are taken by the company.

The heavy metal band, Cradle of Filth , has cancelled an upcoming gig in Shanghai after learning that the band has been banned from mainland China. A statement from the group reads:

Unfortunately, at this time, the cultural section of the Chinese government have decided that Cradle of Filth are unsuitable to play in mainland China and so we are currently banned from playing there.

Therefore, the show on Tuesday 30 April in Shanghai has had to be moved to Hong Kong. The new venue is Kowloonbay International Trade & Exhibition Centre (Kitec) in Hong Kong on April 30th.

No official reason was given for the ban.

A statue in Paris of Jean François Champollion, the French archaeologist who deciphered hieroglyphics, has been condemned as derogatory and shameful by Egyptian Egyptologists.

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi carved the marble statue depicting Champollion standing with his left foot on a pharaohs head in 1875. It was put on display in the Parc Egyptian created by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette for the Universal Exhibition of 1877. In 1878, the statue was placed in its current location in the courtyard of the Collège de France.

The statue has triggered the anger of Egyptian Egyptologists and the antiquities ministry. Some Egyptian archaeologists sent a petition to the foreign and antiquities ministries condemning the statue as derogatory toward Egyptian Civilization. They urged the French government to remove this shameful statue.

Omar Al-Hadary, chairman of the Tourism and Antiquities Committee of the Revolutionary Youth Federation, asked the antiquities ministry to stop all French archaeological missions to Egypt until an official apology is made and the statue removed.

A judge in France has rejected a lawsuit filed by Dominique Strauss-Kahn which sought to stop the publication of a book written by a former lover.

Belle et B ê te (Beauty And Beast) outlines Marcela Iacub's fictionalised account of her affair with the former IMF chief. Iacub does not name Strauss-Kahn in her book, but has publicly stated that he is the protagonist, whom she describes as half man, half pig .

Although it can now be published, the book will have to include an insert, and Iacub and her publisher must pay 50,000 euros ( £ 43,100) in damages.

Strauss-Kahn had complained that he was horrified by the book. He told the judge that the book was a violation of the intimacy of private life .

His lawyers demanded that the book be banned or, failing that, an insert be added to each of the 40,000 copies of the first print-run, which had been due to go on sale on Wednesday. They did not provide details on what they wanted the insert to say.

A Shanghai People's Congress delegate called on the local government to institute a film ratings system after complaints arose about a popular Chinese movie released earlier this month.

The Hong Kong-directed film Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons , has drawn the ire of parents and media critics due to several scenes, including one in which humans were roasted alive in a cooking pot.

Some children complained about feeling sick to the stomach after watching the scenes, according to a news report on Shanghai Television Station.

Delegate Li Ming submitted a proposal last year suggesting that the local government create a ratings system that could serve as a model for the rest of the country. However, authorities did not directly reply to his proposal.

Local authorities could create a rating system based on those in Hong Kong or the US, said Shi Chuan, a professor of film studies at Shanghai University:

Along with ratings for violent and pornographic content, the system should also define other issues such as ethnic jokes, which might spark disputes over ethnic discrimination in China.

Chinese national film censors at SARFT turned down the idea of rating films in 2010.

The BBC may have discovered a new red line for the Chinese government: don't bring reporters near the Shanghai complex where China's suspected military hacking team is thought to be located.

The BBC says its World Service broadcast is being jammed inside China, preventing people there from hearing the program:

The jamming of shortwave transmissions is being timed to cause maximum disruption to BBC World Service English broadcasts in China.

The move is attributed to an incident when members of the Chinese military detained some BBC journalists who were trying to film outside the Shanghai complex where China's elite military hacker team is thought to work. The BBC journalists were held inside the building until they surrendered their footage.

The Shanghai-based Unit 61398 of the People's Liberation Army, as it is named in a report by the cyber security company Mandiant, is thought to be behind Chinese cyber-attacks on just about every federal agency and major institution in Washington.

A former FBI-profiler and risk assessor has spoken out about perceived causal links between gaming and outbursts of violence, warning US viewers that trying to establish that connection is to ignore the true causes of tragedies like December's shootings at the Sandy Hook school in Connecticut.

Having reported that perpetrator Adam Lanza had several games at his house when it was searched by investigators, TV company ABC broadcast a panel discussion about the issue.

Whilst various conservative and pro-gun lobbyists had laid the blame for Lanza's actions at the door of videogaming, former FBI analyst Mary Ellen O'Toole offered a different perspective:

It's my experience that video games do not cause violence. However, she continued, it is one of the risk variables when we do a threat assessment for the risk to act out violently.

It's important that I point out that as a threat assessment and as a former FBI profiler, we don't see these as the cause of violence, we see them as sources of fuelling ideation that's already there.

During the same discussion, Christopher Ferguson, a psychology professor at Texas A&M University, pointed out that rather than increasing as games have become more violent, youth violence has actually receded - although he claimed no causal connection there, either.

An Iranian news agency has digitally altered an image of Michelle Obama announcing the Oscar for Best Picture last night, in order to make her dress appear more modest.

The State-controlled Fars News Agency added a high neckline and cap sleeves to the silver Naeem Khan gown worn by the U.S. First Lady, who remotely presented the award from the White House, to Ben Affleck for his film Argo .

It was Photoshopped in order that the garment would be in keeping with the country's Islamic dress codes that require women not to expose too much skin.

And of the film Argo, Mohammed Hosseini, Iran's Culture Minister, said that the film distorted history for propaganda purposes.

Argo has been banned from Iranian cinemas, but on the streets of Tehran there is a healthy trade in bootlegged copies, with DVDs selling for less than a dollar each.

The Euro-Sleaze Collection is uncut and MPAA Unrated for:

• UK 2013 Severin R1 DVD at US Amazon released on 12th February 2013

• Sister of Ursula
• The Sinful Dwarf
• Hanna D: The Girl from Vondel Park

La sorella di Ursula is a 1978 Italy drama horror thriller by Enzo Milioni.
With Barbara Magnolfi, Stefania D'Amario and Anna Zinnemann.

The Sinful Dwarf is a 1973 Denmark/USA crime horror adult by Vidal Raski.
With Torben Bille, Anne Sparrow and Tony Eades.

The film is available in softcore and hardcore versions, presumably this is the hardcore version.

Hanna D: The Girl from Vondel Park is a 1984 France/Italy drama by Rino Di Silvestro.
With Ann-Gisel Glass, Donatella Damiani and Tony Serrano.

Promotional Material

THE SISTER OF URSULA - Severin Films presents an infamous slice of EuroSleaze that repeatedly thrusts at the abyss of bad taste. In the wake of their father's death, two beautiful sisters - sensitive Ursula (Barbara Magnolfi of SUSPIRIA) and promiscuous Dagmar (Stefania D'Amario of ZOMBIE) - come to a seaside resort for a relaxing vacation. But their idyllic getaway will soon become a depraved nightmare of kinky exhibitionists, dope-sick lotharios, lust-crazed lesbians and a psychotic killer who tears women to pieces with - no kidding - a phallus of massive proportion. Marc Porel (THE PSYCHIC) co-stars in this eye-popping combination of delectable sexploitation and vicious giallo, now fully restored from original vault elements and presented uncut and uncensored for the first time ever in America.

THE SINFUL DWARF - A young bride, promised the ads, left alone to the lewd passions of an evil dwarf ! Severin Films is officially going to Hell - and taking you with them - with the first time ever in America DVD release of what may be the sleaziest film in EuroCult history: Diminutive former kiddie-show host Torben Bille - who looks disturbingly like Jack Black in a trash compactor - stars as the pint-sized pervert who imprisons drugged teenage sex slaves in the attic of his drunken mother's decrepit rooming house...and that's just the first ten minutes! The delicious Anne Sparrow - in her first and understandably only screen role - co-stars in this towering achievement in graphic depravity, now fully restored from a 35mm print discovered hidden in a janitor's closet at the Danish Film Institute!

HANNA D: THE GIRL FROM VONDEL PARK - Within months of the release of the sweet-teen-turned-heroin-addict-prostitute hit CHRISTIANE F., European producers rushed to copy its shocking plot. But no film aimed lower than this 1984 filth-fest from writer/director Axel Berger , a.k.a. Italian SleazeMaster Rino Di Silvestro of WEREWOLF WOMAN and WOMEN IN CELL BLOCK 7 infamy. Dutch schoolgirl Hanna D, (Ann-Gisel Glass) delivers an eye-popping performance that takes her from coy teenage tease to depraved junkie whore, complete with a parade of perversion that includes voyeurism, mutilation, sleazy pimps, cheezy love songs and drunk nude mothers. Karin Schubert (BLACK EMANUELLE) and Tony Lombardo (RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR) co-star in this deliciously sordid saga filmed in Amsterdam, rescued from a bankruptcy auction in Rome, and presented uncut and uncensored for the first time.

Egyptian Arabic Booker prize winner Youssef Zeidan, the author of Azazil , is facing charges of blasphemy and contempt of Islam, Christianity and Judaism for his 2010 book:  Arab Theology and the Origins of Religious Violence.

In the non-fiction work, Zeidan tracks the relationship between man and God within the three monotheistic religions. Zeidan said the three religions sprang from one substance even though their differences are plain.

Zeidan was summoned to appear in front of the High State Security Prosecutor last week.

The case was brought by the Islamic Research Institute (IRI) and 11 Coptic organisations, claiming Zeidan had scorned Christianity and mocked the doctrine of the trinity, which is at the core of Christian belief. The IRI also accused Zeidan of sparking sectarian strife and encouraging religious extremism.

Zeidan went to State Security Prosecution headquarters in New Cairo and was released shortly afterwards. He was granted one month to respond to the complaints.

China's top media censor will expand pre-broadcast vetting to cover television documentaries, in a further extension of TV censorship.

China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) told TV stations and producers that all documentaries would have to be approved in advance of being shown, the Beijing Morning Post reported.

The notice would bring censorship of TV documentaries into line with requirements on non-fiction films, it said. A notice posted on SARFT's website said that TV production companies including joint Chinese-foreign co-productions should report documentary topics in advance.

EL James' Fifty Shades of Grey has spawned the inevitable spinoff merchandising. Everything from thigh highs with handcuff charms to handcuff and key earrings to suggestive messages that say Unleash your inner goddess can be found at Icing -- a well-known Australian mall jewelry store that many teen girls shop at.

Brook Berg with the nutter organisation, Family Resource Center, claimed parents need to pay attention:

When we expose our children, especially young children to this kind of thing, not only is it confusing but often times they don't really know all about it so that leads to Googling it and asking friends and sometimes not necessarily getting the true story.

The store Icing is part of the Claire's retail chain and on its Facebook page, it says their target demographic for the Icing store is young women 18 and older.

An employee of the Icing said the merchandise has had positive feedback as well, especially from fans of the book series.

US: Exploitation Double Feature is MPAA Unrated for:

• US 2013 Apprehensive Films [Exploitation Double Feature] R0 DVD at US Amazon released on 19th February 2013

Black Cobra Woman is a 1976 Italy erotic drama by Joe D'Amato.
With Jack Palance, Laura Gemser, Gabriele Tinti.

UK Version History

UK: Passed X (18) uncut for:

• UK 1977 cinema release titled Erotic Eva

UK: A short version was passed 18 without BBFC cuts for:

• UK 1994 Sheptonhurst VHS titled Hot Pants
• UK 1986 Sheptonhurst VHS titled Erotic Eva

Super Bitch is a 1973 Italy/UK crime drama by Massimo Dallamano.
With Ivan Rassimov, Stephanie Beacham and Patricia Hayes.

UK Version History

 

UK: Passed X (18) after BBFC cuts for:

• UK 1973 cinema release

UK: A short version was passed 18 without BBFC cuts for:

• UK 1987 Bookworm VHS titled Superbitch

UK: passed 18 uncut for strong violence and sexualised nudity:

• UK 2012 Arrow R0 DVD at UK Amazon

Promotional Material

The Exploitation Double Feature packs a one-two punch. Laura Gemser heats things up in Black Cobra Woman, a wild tale of sex, betrayal and murder perpetrated by the serpent kind! Also featuring Jack Palance!!

SuperBitch is an amazing piece of Euro-Crime from the 1970s! Full of hard violence, extreme car chases, hot naked women and enough machismo to give Dirty Harry a run for his money!

Kamal Haasan's Vishwaroopam is returning to cinemas in Malaysia, but only after 16 dialogue cuts were made to avoid offence to muslim viewers.

The film was yanked from Malaysian theaters the day after it opened on January 25, even though it had been approved by the Film Censorship Board (LPF). According to The Hollywood Reporter, the LPF acted in response to letters of protest filed by the Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress and the Federation of Malaysian Indian Muslim Associations complaining of religious insensitivity,

Film Business Asia reports that the distributor has not yet announced when the film would return to theaters. In the meantime, pirated DVD copies have circulated widely in Malaysia.

Getting the go-ahead from the Cairo Islamic Summit, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has re-energised its efforts to try and get the denigration of religions recognized as a criminal offence.

Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, director of cultural affairs at the OIC said:

Next session of the Istanbul Process on Islamophobia will be held in the first half of this year, and the session will squarely focus on the issue of criminalizing denigration of religions.

The OIC is of the firm view that any religion or its symbols should not be denigrated. The Cairo Islamic Summit endorsed this position and tasked the OIC secretariat to develop a unified strategy to impress upon the international community to take effective measures against such acts of incitement of intolerance and hatred that may lead to violence and loss of lives.

In an interview with the Saudi Gazette, Sheikh underscored the need for transposition of the international law to domestic one to effectively combat Islamophobia, which he claimed is a contemporary manifestation of racism mainly targeting Islam and Muslims . He said the OIC seeks establishment of an international observatory, based in Geneva, with a global mandate not only to monitor denigration of Islam but all other religions.

According to Sheikh, international law clearly states that denigration of symbols or persons sacred to any religion is a criminal offence. This law ratifies OIC's position and the only remaining problem is the absence of enforcement in the true spirit by member states.

Terry Sanderson, president of the National Secular Society, said:

We had thought the OIC had abandoned its plans for an international blasphemy law after it was roundly rejected by the United Nations, but here they are, coming at it again by a different route -- but with exactly the same end result, a blanket ban on any criticism of Islam. This is dangerous and dictatorial. We can see in Pakistan what horrors are perpetrated when these kinds of laws are in effect. Imagine it on an international scale.

The OIC may represent powerful interests, but its stifling and tyrannical approach to free speech must be resisted very strongly by the West.

A new ad campaign for Fresh + Sexy intimate wipes has the aim to help you freshen up before and after sex, so you're ready for whatever comes next, according to the campaign's website.

The ads range from tacky to vulgar and have caused a backlash from not so liberal websites such as Jezebel, The Huffington Post, and Buzzfeed.

Each of the ads features an animal or object with a double entendre joke as the headline. Some of the gems include a beaver with the text, A clean beaver always finds more wood , a woodpecker with A clean pecker always taps it and a peach with the line A clean peach always gets picked.

The creative director for the ad claimed that, We wanted to be fun and playful and bold all at the same time. And the campaign lets us be all those things.

Jezebel claimed that the ads to be demeaning of women; while Buzzfeed and Huff Po focused on the ad's humour. Jezebel made a cynical retort to  the ads with their headline: Unless Your Vagina Smells Like Windex, You Will Die Alone.

Following the news about the arrest of Singaporean photographer Leslie Kee, the fashionistas of Japan have begun to speak out against the charges of selling a book that contained obscene pictures.

The Tokyo-based artist, who has snapped pictures of a number of Japanese pop stars, as well as international celebrities like Lady Gaga and Beyonce, is facing up to two years in jail and/or fines as high as 2.5 million yen (approx. $27,000) for selling seven copies of a book at his gallery that had uncensored photos of male nudes.

Yamamuro Kazz, a Japanese magazine editor and fashion journalist, wrote on his website that he was surprised by Kee's arrest, questioning the police motivation as the books were only sold at the 41 year old's gallery event, a place only really known by people who are familiar with the artist and his works. The books, which are a part of the Photographer's Super series, and have roughly 50 pages each of pictures with nude males, were only sold to two different customers. In addition to Kee, two employees of the book's publisher were also arrested. Officials say the book was in violation of Japan's laws that require any pictures of male or female genitalia to be censored, which is most often done by pixellation, and frequently seen in the country's pornography. The police apparently found out about Kee's gallery showing and plans to sell the books from posts on his Facebook page.

Update: Printers Arrested

22nd February 2013. See review from  japandailypress.com

The ongoing police persecution of photographer Leslie Kee and his art book that contained uncensored images of male nudity has led to two arrests at the Tokyo printing company that printed the books. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police revealed that they took Hakkou Art's president Koichi Kodama, along with his son Takeshi, a sales department chief, into custody for printing 4,000 copies of Kee's Super series, where each book had roughly 50 pages of uncensored photos that supposedly violate Japan's repressive laws against nudity.

Hakkou Art is said to have received 17 million yen ($183,000) since December 2011 for printing 20,000 copies of the books. Both Kodama and his son have admitted to the charges, with Takeshi stating that they didn't want to publish photographs with nudity, however since Kee is such a big name, he couldn't refuse, also believing it would be beneficial for the company's future.

Kee's arrest sparked protest from Japan's fashion industry and internet users alike, with many calling the charges unnecessary and unjust.

Update: Shop staff arrested in continuing police persecution

18th March 2013. See article from gaystarnews.com

Tokyo's metropolitan police announced that it arrested staff of a gay store in the Shinjuku district for selling a book by photographer Leslie Kee that included images of full male nudity, which they ludicrously claimed to be obscene .

Policemen took into custody the 61-year-old manager of Lumiere, a shop located in Tokyo's gay quarter that sells DVDs and magazines, and one other employee.

The manager of Lumiere told officers that the editor of Japan's gay magazine Badi said that selling Kee's books is not illegal as they are considered artistic.

Article 175 of Japan's Penal Code prohibits the distribution, sale, or public display of obscene writings, pictures, or other materials. The law, however, does not define what specifically constitutes as being obscene, which as a result, the definition of obscenity is open to interpretation.

A Venezuelan television channel that takes a critical stance toward President Hugo Chavez accused the government of excluding it from a new digital television system, and it warned that the action could force it off the open airwaves.

Globovision is the sole remaining television channel in Venezuela that takes a stridently anti-government line. The channel said in a statement that it was arbitrarily excluded from the digital TV system despite having taken steps to be included during meetings that officials held to launch the project.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro announced the launch of the digital TV system saying that state channels will be participating as well as private channels including Venevision, Meridiano and Televen. He and other officials did not address the complaint raised by Globovision.

Globovision has long clashed with Chavez's government, and in recent years the National Telecommunications Council has opened eight investigations against the channel.

Studio 66 Nights
Studio 66 TV4 (Channel 927), 10 October 2012, 21:00 to 21:30

Studio 66 Nights is a segment of interactive adult chat advertising content broadcast on the licensed service known as Studio 66 TV4 (Sky Channel 927). The female presenters dress and behave in a sexually provocative way while encouraging viewers to contact the PRS numbers. The licence for Studio 66 TV2 is owned and operated by 965 TV Ltd.

Ofcom received a complaint that content on this service, broadcast between 21:00 and 21:30, contained explicit sexual images that were too strong to be shown at this time.

Ofcom noted that the advertising content featured a female presenter onscreen but, from approximately 21:07 onwards, the presenter was replaced with an advertisement shown full screen for three minute uncensored videos , downloadable to a mobile phone. The advertisement, which was repeated three times comprised a series of short clips taken from these uncensored videos , which included the following images:

• full screen close ups of bare breasts being massaged with oil and rubbed together;
• full screen close ups of a woman's buttocks being massaged with oil and cream and being slapped, and of women pulling down thongs between their buttocks;
• two females kissing and touching each other's breasts and buttocks;
• naked images of female presenters with their legs open or bending over to camera with a censored overlay placed on the genitals and anal area;
• naked images of presenters with hands or legs concealing the genital area; and
• an image of a presenter pulling down her bikini pants with a censored overlay which only partially covered her genital area.

The clips were accompanied by advertising straplines including: get this filthy video ; xxx content and more ; and get this video uncensored . These images were also accompanied by shortcode numbers which viewers could text to receive pictures.

Ofcom considered BCAP Code Rule 30.3:

Advertisements for products coming within the recognised character of pornography are permitted behind mandatory restricted access on adult entertainment channel only.

965 TV explained that the onscreen promotional video containing the clips taken from the uncensored videos was broadcast as a result of two errors. The first related to the promotional content that was broadcast and the other related to the product that was advertised.

Ofcom Decision: Breach of Rule 30.3

To assess the product being advertised, Ofcom sent a text message to a sample of the shortcodes shown onscreen with the same number 899**. As a result, Ofcom was sent details of a URL which gave access to explicit video and explicit still images. Some of these images were in close up. Ofcom notes that the Licensee has stated this content could only have been received by a handset which was age- verified by the mobile network operator. Indeed, Ofcom did receive a text message requesting age verification but we were still able to access the explicit sexual content without being required to provide any proof of age and this would have also been the case had a person under the age of eighteen used an adult's mobile phone to call the onscreen shortcode.

In Ofcom's opinion, this explicit sexual material was clearly equivalent to adult sex material 6 or stronger content such as that which would be given a British Board of Film Classification ( BBFC ) R18 rating. Both R18 equivalent content and adult sex material are clearly within the recognised character of pornography .

Any advertisement for this type of content is prohibited on a free-to-air service without mandatory restricted access.

Having reviewed the numerous onscreen images shown in this video promotion (which included: close-up images of bare breasts and buttocks with oil, mud and cream being applied and massaged into bare skin and the women's nipples; women slapping their buttocks; and naked women touching and kissing one another intimately), Ofcom is of the view that this material broadcast as part of an adult chat service would have breached BCAP Code Rule 32.3 if broadcast before 22:00 (as in this case), but, even if it had been broadcast after 22:00, it would potentially have been in breach of Rule 4.2.

Rule 32.3 states that:

Relevant timing restrictions must be applied to advertisements that, through their content, might harm or distress children...or that are unsuitable for them.

Rule 4.2 states that:

Advertisements must not cause serious or widespread offence against generally accepted moral, social or cultural standards.

This is a serious breach of the BCAP Code. Ofcom therefore puts the Licensee on notice that it is minded to consider a statutory sanction if there is any recurrence of this, or similar, compliance failings.

Breach of BCAP Code Rule 30.3

Ofcom also recorded a code breach for similar content on Studio 66 TV2 (Channel 938),

A circular for an internet dating site Comeletsplay.com featured four images. One image had a couple embracing alongside text stating GENERAL DATING . Another image featured a woman lying on her front wearing a bra and thong knickers alongside text stating COUGAR DATING . A third image featured a woman's legs with thong knickers pulled down to around her knees alongside text stating NO STRINGS DATING . A fourth image featured two men embracing and two women leaning in to kiss each other alongside text stating GAY DATING .

A complainant challenged whether the circular was irresponsible, because it was untargeted and featured images which were unsuitable to be seen by children.

Comeletsplay.com explained that over 45,000 copies of the circular had been distributed and they had received no complaints about it apart from this one. Following receipt of the complaint, they had shown the circular to various people and had listened to their comments. They said there were no negative comments from anyone and no one was offended by the circular. They said no one thought their children could or would be affected by the circular. They pointed out that the circular clearly stated that the information was for 18 and over and not for minors. They said more graphic images could be seen in lingerie catalogues which were sometimes posted through letterboxes.

ASA Assessment: Complaint Upheld

The ASA understood the circular had been posted through letterboxes and could therefore be seen by children. We noted that the image above the heading Cougar dating was of a woman lying on her front in string underwear and that her bare buttock was visible. We considered that the image, which showed partial nudity, was gratuitous and not suitable to be seen by children.

We noted that the image under the heading No strings dating was of a woman's bare legs from the thighs down and with her underwear pulled down to around her knees. We considered that although young children were unlikely to understand the image, older children were likely to understand the image was sexually suggestive, as it implied that the woman was available for sex. We considered it was therefore unsuitable to be seen by children.

For these reasons, we concluded that the circular was irresponsible because it was untargeted and featured images that were unsuitable to be seen by children.

The circular breached CAP Code rule 1.3 (Social responsibility).

A controversial billboard advertising ArrangementFinders.com has been taken down.

The massive sign featured porn star Bree Olson and carried the tag line, Because the best job is a b**w job.

It turned heads, created lively discussions and apparently drew the ire of nutters, eg Alderman Brendan Reilly.

It was unclear if the sign was removed by the billboard company, Urban Core Outdoor, or by ArrangementFinders.com.

A New Zealand business will challenge a ruling by the country's advert censor claiming its advertising campaign is somehow offensive.

Independent Forklifts has earned a slap on the wrist from the Advertising Standards Authority for using a sexualised and objectified woman on its vans.

The campaign features different women with a forklift in the background. The text reads:

You know you're not the first ... But does that really matter? Used Forklifts.

A complaint was upheld on the grounds the ad was offensive, saying it used inappropriate sexual appeal.

General manager Merv Dore disagrees and says he will appeal the decision:

There is so much of that sort of thing around; we feel a bit victimised really.

He said the campaign had been running for three years without complaint.

The advert censor said as the advert was on a vehicle, it would be highly visible to the general public, including children, rather than just its presumed target market of adult men.

Thai nutters have been whining at a bikini calendar for the Thai budget airline, Nok Air.

Nok Air announced on its Facebook page that people who participated in its online campaign would receive the airline's 2013 calendar. Models from Maxim magazine were hired for the calendar photo shoot. This was set around Nok Air planes.

A complaint was filed with the Ministry of Miserable Culture by Natee Theerarojanapong, leader of Chiang Mai Araya, who ludicrously claimed that the calendar should be banned because it tarnishes Thailand's image:

The campaign focuses on the country's bad reputation regarding sex services, and an image that other organisations have been trying to change.

The message being sent out by the airline could also be misinterpreted as encouraging passengers to sexually harass air hostesses, he spewed without the slightest shred of credibility.

Nok Air CEO Patee Sarasin said:

It was supposed to be a gift to our customers, and so far the campaign has received positive feedback, increasing the number of passengers. There were so many viewers that the webpage crashed.

Culture Ministry permanent secretary Prisana Pongtatpitakkul claimed the photos in the calendar were inappropriate. Being an airline, the pictures were not only viewed by local people but also by foreigners, she spouted. However, she admitted the ministry could not take any action against Nok Air because it had not broken any law by producing and distributing the calendar. The incident just reflects that modern society is full of businesses that lack integrity and social responsibility, she added.

Update: Calendar is a big hit thanks to the publicity

20th February 2013. See  article from  bangkokpost.com

Nok Air is unperturbed by criticism that it exploited women's bodies as a marketing tool in its 2013 calendar featuring bikini-clad Maxim models.

The budget airline is already promising that the 2014 calendar will be at least as daring.

We will surprise many people again, said chief executive Patee Sarasin, who is known for his unorthodox marketing tactics.

Nok Air's calendar, with women posing in front of jets in bikinis and skimpy clothing, was taken to task by miserablists including the Ministry of Culture, which accused the airline of lacking a sense of social and cultural responsibility .

Patee shrugged off criticism that the calendar tarnished Thailand's image:

These pictures of ours are no more exotic than what is already on the magazine stands. Everybody has the right to express his opinion. If they don't like it, they don't have to look at it.

Interest in Nok Air's calendar, which was Patee's own idea, has been overwhelming since its debut. Nok Air produced 3,000 calendars and 300 will be offered as part of an online promotion to its Facebook members through a random selection to be announced on Friday.

I reckon at least 100,000 people want one of the calendars, even well-respected types, said Patee, though the airline does not plan to have more calendars printed.

For over half a century, the comic book industry has been dogged by the work of one man, the anti-comics crusader and psychologist Fredric Wertham. His bestselling 1954 book The Seduction of the Innocent convinced parents and politicians alike that comics were a direct cause of violence, drug use, and homosexuality among young people. It led to the restrictive editorial code issued by the Comics Magazine Association of America, and a national movement to keep comics away from children and teens.

Though Wertham claimed his evidence came from thousands of case studies, it turns out that he was lying. A new investigation of Wertham's papers by University of Illinois information studies professor Carol Tilley has revealed that the psychologist fabricated, exaggerated, and selectively edited his data to bolster his argument that comics caused antisocial behavior.

...read the full article

A Good Day To Die Hard is a 2013 USA action thriller by John Moore.
With Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch.

We find John Moore deep in the bowels of the John Ford dubbing theatre on the Fox lot in LA where, surrounded by his trusted editing team, he's going over two separate versions of the movie. One version of the movie is Moore's Director's Cut, which will be substantially longer than the 97 minute-long theatrical version, with the Moscow-levelling car chase around 30% longer.

The second is the 12A version that Fox have requested specifically to play in the UK (the version that will play in the US is filled with swearing and splashes of claret, and is R-rated). On screen, we watch as someone has a gun put to his head, and his brains promptly blown out. That won't be in the UK, says Moore, half-laughing, half-sighing.

...Read the full interview

A Good Day To Die Hard is a 2013 USA action thriller by John Moore.
With Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch.

The movie opened in Singapore 10 days ago, but viewers are warned that the movie has been spoiled by some really clumsy sound editing.

For example, it seems that whenever Willis uses strong language, the word is replaced by an audio clip of Willis saying something that sounds like chia pet .

As in Yippee ki-yay, chia pet. Which, of course, makes no sense at all.

It's like watching a poorly dubbed movie on Channel 5 - except you've paid for it. It's so bad that the Shaw Theatres website has this disclaimer for the movie:

Please note, the audio inconsistencies within the original movie presentation are intentional.

20th Century Fox Singapore has chosen to mute out the vulgar language as to observe the PG13 rating requirements. Instead of editing them to keep the flow of action sequences intact.

Please be informed that no refunds will be entertained.

Ofcom said Psychic Today was in breach of broadcasting rules over two interviews with psychics Jenna and Crystal.

Jenna claimed she once spoke to someone who became a very close friend of Jackson, who died in 2009, whilst Crystal claimed she had been used by police in the hunt for Milly Dowler.

Ofcom ruled that both instances were in breach of its broadcasting rules, which states that services such as astrology, horoscopes and tarot readings should be advertised for entertainment purposes only. Advertising channels such as Psychic Today are not allowed to make claims for efficacy or accuracy or predict negative experiences or specific events .

Of the Dowler claims, a spokesman for Majestic TV said the interview contained no explicit claims:

other than as part of a background piece on the psychic --- to say she helped police in the past.

But Ofcom said:

The clear implication of these comments was that various UK police forces had employed Crystal to assist them and that the police would only employ Crystal if they believed that the information she might provide as a psychic would be accurate and efficacious.

Ofcom let the channels off this time but warned them that sanctions may be invoked on further transgressions. But of the channels knew that already

A billboard in Bristol has been labelled as supposedly offensive and derogatory towards women. The advertisement for an energy drink has in large letters Pussy, with smaller letters reading: The drink is pure, it's your mind that has a problem.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) confirmed to The Post that it has so far received 46 complaints relating to the company's nationwide advertising campaign and that a formal investigation had been launched.  A spokesman said people had complained that the adverts were offensive, overly sexual and derogatory towards women. Concerns were also raised that children were able to see the billboards.

Former Lib Dem city councillor Abdul Malik claimed the new billboard encouraged a negative perception of the area, but admitted that the area lacked respect and was in need of tidying up:

We have been working so hard with the traders association to tidy the street up and rebuild some respect and then this comes along.

I'm tired of this attitude that anything goes on Stapleton Road. I'm certain an offensive advertising board like this wouldn't been put up in the centre around the Council House.

Katy Attwater, who campaigns for One Billion Rising a feminist organisation added:

If it was a male equivalent, it wouldn't be allowed would it? There has been a lot of raising awareness of violence against women and I feel this sort of advert is in that class.

In terms of sexism this advertising campaign is the worst I have ever seen. The company tries to blame our dirty minds but even if that was the case they have to put that thought in someone's mind and they don't care providing they are making loads of money.

The BBC production of House Of Cards was submitted to the BBFC for video classification in October 1991. When the drama was originally broadcast by the BBC it was screened after the 9pm watershed. Centering around the Machiavellian antihero Francis 'I couldn't possibly comment' Urquhart, the murderous and twisting plot features sex, drugs and violence.

...See article with archive material contributing to the 15 rating.

Buddha images have joined Barbie dolls and characters from The Simpsons TV cartoon as banned items in Iran.

Authorities are currently confiscating statues and other images of the Buddha from shops in the Iranian capital to stop the promotion of Buddhism in the country , according to a report in the independent Arman daily. This appears to be the first time that Iranian authorities are showing an opposition to symbols from the East.

Saeed Jaberi Ansari, a censorship official for the 'protection of Iran's cultural heritage', called the Buddha images symbols of cultural invasion. He said authorities will not permit a specific belief to be promoted through such items.

As I understand, none of customers cared about Buddhism, they only bought it for decoration, said Reza Sanaei, a shopkeeper who sells the statues.

Reports say MPAA chairman Chris Dodd has warned against efforts to regulate violence in films and instead suggested that the film industry will work with the White House on voluntary steps to help parents decide what movies and TV shows are appropriate for children.

Campaigners and state lawmakers have been suggesting that the marketing of violent movies and videogames should be restricted.

Asked whether Hollywood there is too much violence in videogames and movies, Dodd said the industries give people enough choices across the spectrum, but warns that if you start to get into the business of trying to regulate content, that is a very slippery slope. Dodd said that the focus should be on giving people the information they need to make their choice of what to watch, adding that we are working to provide whatever support and assistance we can to the White House.

Dodd said more attention should be paid to mental health, noting that is the space where we really need attention.

Irvine Welsh has told of his delight after a ban on the sale of his book Porno in Turkey was overturned.

The follow-up to his best-selling hit Trainspotting was banned a decade ago because of its supposedly obscene content.

Turkish company Studio Image Publishers was taken to court along with the book's translator in 2002 and charged under obscenity laws with publishing pornographic material . They were found guilty and fined more than £ 1 million, but appealed against the verdict.

However, the ban has now been lifted following a lengthy legal battle and the book is back on the shelves.

An Egyptian court has banned the belly dancing channel, Al-Tet.

The court banned the channel for supposedly broadcasting on satellite without a license, but presumably the authorities wouldn't have agreed a licence anyway. The court ruling also accused the channel of airing provocative advertisements for sexual products and for facilitating escort-like services.

In May, the owner of Al-Tet, Baleegh Hamdi was arrested on suspicions of facilitating prostitution through his channel, but was later released.

Canadian drink censors have ordered stores in the province of Manitoba to remove bottles of Ron de Jeremy rum from shelves. The bottle features an image of Jeremy's face on its label above the slogan the adult liquor

Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries spokeswoman Andrea Kowal explained that they erred on the side of caution after it received several complaints.

But on Thursday the rum was back in stores, after the drinks censors changed their mind and deemed the bottle unoffensive.  Kowal told Canada's The National Post:

There's nothing offensive about the name of the product or its label; you have to know who Ron Jeremy is and what his former profession was --- and then that has to offend you,

The man behind the Ron Jeremy-dedicated booze said he was thrilled his product was back on shelves.

If, reluctantly, we accept that cinemas and distributors are looking for certificates that don't involve refusing someone a ticket (heck, that might require an usher), then can those of us who want to see our films unsullied at least have another option? Can we - as was suggested by one of our readers (JP) here - have in the UK a 15A certificate, that keeps the parental option open, but also prevents studios chopping films to fit in with existing guidelines?

...Read the full article

Comment: Some Things Are Just Not Meant For Children

17th February 2013. See  article from  cinema-extreme.blogspot.com

The other reason a 15A or PG-15 certificate would not be good for adult cinemagoers, is that there are sometimes things that are simply not aimed at, or intended for children. Sometimes films are made, that are made by adults, for adults, and only for adults.

...Read the full article

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is a 2012 USA action sci-fi by John Hyams.
With Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and Scott Adkins.

UK: The Unrated/NC-17 Version was passed 18 uncut for strong sex and bloody violence for:

• UK 2013 Studiocanal RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon released on 11th February 2013
• UK 2013 Studiocanal R2 DVD at UK Amazon released on 11th February 2013

See  review from  blogs.indiewire.com : "Combines Art House Intentions & Strong Action In A Franchise Return To Form"

Censorship History

There is also a cut US release.

See pictorial cuts details from movie-censorship.com . The Theatrical Version suffered 33s of cuts mainly due to bloody shootings in a brothel being toned down by reducing blood an injury.

See  interview with director John Hyams from  collider.com :

Hyams : Yeah, there is an NC-17 cut. The one that's On-Demand and in theaters is R. When they fight in the sporting goods store and he nails him with a bat, what did you see?

Collider : I think we see his face cave in a little bit. But the thing I remember most is the reaction shot of the girlfriend where she's looking at the main character and thinking, Oh... this guy might be less safe than anyone else around me.

Hyams : Right. So, you might have seen the R cut.

Collider : What's in the NC-17 version there?

Hyams : In the NC-17 version, at least in that scene in particular -- and that's just one moment -- you literally like half of his face fly off.

Collider : Yeah, I mostly remember the girl. But I figured you would have gotten the NC-17 for the scene where there's the naked guy who gets shot and stabbed a bunch of times.

Hyams : Yeah, somehow the guy's naked frontal didn't bother them. We had to take out one... that scene in the brothel, there were a bunch of cuts to that. I would say that there were cuts made to every action scene in the movie. Some of them not so drastic, most of them not so drastic. Just little bits here and there, maybe not lingering on something for so long. what [the MPAA] had said to me was that, outside of a few very specific images we had to get rid of, it was mostly just about the accumulation of the violence.

Collider : Yeah. It's grueling at a point. But it's never grueling in a way that made me want to stop watching. I wanted to find out what happened next. But it was an endurance test on some level.

Hyams : Right, right. So the NC-17 version might be a slightly greater endurance test. But it plays pretty much the same. We showed the NC-17 version at Fantastic-Fest. But the Blu-Ray will be the unrated version.

Promotional Material

Action movie legends John-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren are back in full force, with world-renowned British martial arts star Scott Adkins (The Expendables 2) in the most violent and thrilling Universal Soldier sequel yet.

Forced into hiding, a rogue troop of UniSols have formed an underground militia of deadly warriors. Lead by the merciless Andrew Scott (Lundgren) and Luc Deveraux (Van Damme), their plan is to rage a war of total destruction. Only one man can stop them. Hell bent on revenge for the death of his family, John (Adkins) is on a mission to hunt down and kill all UniSols, unless they find him first.

Features:

- Trailer
- Interviews with Jean Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and Scott Adkins 

The Three Stooges: The Movie is a 2012 US comedy by Bobby Farrelly & Peter Farrelly.
With Sean Hayes, Chris Diamantopoulos and Will Sasso.

UK: Passed 12 uncut for dangerous behaviour, but in a slapstick context for:

• UK 2013 20th Century Fox RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon released on 11th February 2013
• UK 2013 20th Century Fox R2 DVD at UK Amazon released on 11th February 2013

There is also a US release

Censorship History
 

UK: Passed PG for dangerous behaviour, but in a slapstick context after BBFC cuts for:

• UK 2012 cinema release

The BBFC commented:

This work was originally seen for advice. The company was advised that the film was likely to receive a 12A certificate but that their preferred PG classification could be achieved by making cuts in five sequences. These were to remove four sequences showing everyday objects being used in a potentially dangerous manner that young children may copy:

• a vegetable peeler used on a man's head,
• a cheese grater used on a man's foot,
• hair tongs used on a woman's tongue and
• a man's head in a microwave and
• a line of dialogue about teaching children to play with matches.

When the finished version of the film was submitted for formal classification, the recommended cuts had been made and the film was classified PG .

Later passed 12 uncut for DVD and Blu-ray

Promotional Material

 

Left on a nun's doorstep, Larry, Curly and Moe grow up finger-poking, nyuk-nyuking and woo-woo-wooing their way to uncharted levels of knuckleheaded misadventure. Out to save their childhood home, only The Three Stooges could become embroiled in an oddball murder plot@while also stumbling into starring in a phenomenally successful TV reality show.

Features:

• Deleted and extended scenes
• Knuckleheads: Behind the Scenes of The Three Stooges
• Did You Hear That? The Three Stooges sound effects
• The Three Stooges Mash-Up
• Theatrical trailer

A gunman has tried to shoot a Danish writer and prominent critic of Islam, but  Lars Hedegaard managed to fend off his assailant and was not injured in the attack.

Police said Lars Hedegaard, who heads two groups that claim press freedom is under threat from Islam, was the target of the shooting. A roughly 25-year-old presumably muslim gunman rang the doorbell at the writer's Copenhagen home and when he opened the door, the gunman fired a shot aimed at his head, but missed.

Hedegaard heads both the Free Press Society and the International Free Press Society. He was fined 5,000 kroner ( £ 570) in 2011 for over-generalising about honour killing in the muslim community.

Denmark's prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, condemned the attack. It is even worse if the attack is rooted in an attempt to prevent Lars Hedegaard using his freedom of expression, she told the Danish news agency Ritzau.

Update: I may be killed if I write this

16th February 2013. See  article from  spectator.co.uk

Lars Hedegaard, founder of Denmark's Free Press Society, speaks from a secret location after an attempt on his life

A Cairo court has ordered the government to block access to the video-sharing website YouTube for 30 days for carrying an anti-Islam film. Muslims across the world rioted in protest against the film.

Judge Hassouna Tawfiq ordered YouTube blocked for carrying the film, which he described as offensive to Islam.

The ruling, however, can be appealed and, based on precedent, might not be enforced. Similar orders to censor pornographic websites deemed offensive have not been enforced in Egypt because of high costs associated with technical applications but blocking YouTube might be easier to enforce.

Human rights lawyer Gamal Eid said the decision to ban YouTube stems in large part from a lack of knowledge among judges about how the Internet works:

This verdict shows that judges' understanding of technology is weak. The judges do not realise that one wrong post on a website does not mean you have to block the entire website.

Update: Ban Contested

16th February 2013. See  article from  networkworld.com

Egypt's telecoms censor says it is not viable for it to follow a court order to block YouTube in the country, and is appealing the ruling.

The order banning YouTube and some other websites for 30 days was issued by a Cairo court after it was brought to its notice that there was a proliferation of links to clips of the controversial Innocence of Muslims video, which is said to portray the religious character Muhammad in a derogatory manner.

It appears that YouTube's willingness to censor the video in Egypt did not go far enough for the Cairo Administrative Court, said civil rights groups Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The country's Ministry of Information Technology and Communications and the National Telecommunication Regulatory Authority decided after a meeting that to block YouTube would technically affect the use of Google search in Egypt with economic consequences to the country, according to a ministry statement.

The proposed ban on YouTube has also been criticized by the U.S. It's actually not quite clear to us at this moment how and whether that's going to be enforced across Egypt, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: But as a general matter, you know that we reject censorship as a response to offensive speech.

A Good Day To Die Hard is a 2013 USA action thriller by John Moore.
With Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch.

UK: Passed 12A for strong language and violence after advised category cuts were implemented for:

• UK 2013 cinema release

The film will be shown uncut in the US with an R rating (would be called 17A in Britain).  No doubt most of the western world will see this uncut version too.

The BBFC commented:

During post-production, the distributor sought and was given advice on how to secure the desired classification. Following this advice, certain changes were made prior to submission

This work was originally seen for advice in an unfinished form. The company was advised that the film was likely to receive a 15 certificate but that their preferred 12A classification could be achieved by making a number of cuts to both language and visuals. When the finished version of the film was submitted for formal classification, edits had been made:

• to reduce the number of uses of strong language (both fuck and motherfucker) and
• to reduce sequences of bloody violence, including blood sprays when characters are shot in the head, and punches to restrained individuals.

The formal submission was consequently rated '12A'.

Comment: So 20th Century

14th February 2013. See  article from  bleedingcool.com

Bleeding Cooll website asked 20th Century Fox why they censored the upcoming cinema release of A Good Day to Die Hard . This was studio's response:

Everyone at Fox is excited that John McClane is back on the big screen in the latest installment of the Die Hard franchise, this time with his son and on foreign soil in Russia.

We can confirm that working with the BBFC some minor cuts were made in order to achieve a 12A certificate.

We believe the movie will delight the Die Hard fans and the 12A certificate, similar to Dark Knight Rises and Skyfall , will allow both adults and teenagers to enjoy the latest movie in the franchise.

Comment: Proper Censorship

14th February 2013. From David

Ah, fuck. The director's so proud of making sure it's a proper R-rated movie this time, so naturally in the UK it gets cut down to be a 12A instead of a 15. I guess I'll be waiting for the inevitable harder cut DVD to see A Good Day To Die Hard.

And they better fucking not pull that 12 DVD, uncut 15 Blu-Ray shit.

Comment: Proper Censorship

14th February 2013. From Andrew

There's a lot of heat over this disgraceful decision to give us a butchered Die Hard 5 , and a lot of talk as to why the UK seems to get lumped with snipped versions STILL.

It seems to me that the BBFC's choice to offer a cuts advice service is to blame (as well as, of course, the studio for being happy to give UK audiences a neutered product). Do other censorship bodies from other countries offer to coordinate with the studio during the editing phase over exactly what cuts are needed to achieve a desired rating?

Do other countries not end up with so many butchered films because they don't offer this service, or to the same degree?

Well Germany, which tends to be the other European country most likely to cut films has decided that the will screen the uncut R Rated version. So maybe this Doe Hard fiasco will be just us.

Comment: A Good Day to Die Soft

15th February 2013. From MichaelG

This current trend for cutting films for the cinema (to make them available to a wider audience, naturally) is something of a paradox when you look at the situation once the film hits DVD and the film companies can't wait to get Extended Harder Cut or Uncut Version screaming at you from the cover of the box ('Taken 2' and Savages are the two latest examples I can recall). Anyone else think this is odd? They seem to be alienating the audience the film was intended for at its cinema release, but then clamouring to get them back for the DVD release, probably knowing full well (even though the BBFC don't seem to) that a younger audience are still going to watch an uncut version on DVD. Times have certainly changed since a cut cinema release would be further cut again for home viewing...

Comment: A Good Day to Blame Fox

15th February 2013. From Andrew N

Ok, first up, let me stress that i am in no way condoning any previous (Ferman era especially) BBFC decisions. HOWEVER, the current net trend of slating them, everytime something gets watered down, is pretty dumb. Seeing as the they are simply ADVISING distributors of what would need TO BE done, to get an inappropriate film, into an appropriate rating. I (like you) don't rate censorship in any way, shape, or form. HOWEVER, this is not about censorship. It's about the almighty Dollar.

Read the answer Fox gave to Bleedingcool.com, they completely dodged the question, and went straight for the sale. Familiar character, you all watched the last one yadda yadda yadda.

The thing is, John McClane has now become a caricature of the original character. He's not the dude from Die hard, he's an all American hero who can't be killed. And just to prove that, they put him in more and more ludicrous situations. Sadly, these situations are very appealing to young boys. Ticket buying, money spending young boys. And Fox knows this. Because despite the flood of net nerds digitally bashing the 4th movie, it did amazing business. Which means somewhere in the U.S. (the UK played at 15, regardless of the cut ) 10's of millions of people flocked to the local multiplex to see it.

And Fox knows this. Why wouldn't they?

So why the 12? Or to be more exact the 12A . Well it's the A that's Fox's ace in the hole. You see in the UK, ANYONE can see any film 12A or below. Providing they're with an adequate guardian. However, in the U.S. ANYONE can see an R rated film (again, providing they're with an adequate guardian). The only difference being that the R rating carries an age restriction of 17, not 12. So anyone under 17 can go and see McClane jumping out of windows into a questionable CGI drop. And here's where the line blurs, and the bean counters take notice.

Because that 5 year gap (12 - 17) is the EXACT demographic of today's Die hard fan. And while a BBFC 15 falls right in the middle, no parent in the UK can legally take a nagging 11 year old to see it. And those nagging 11 year olds spend a shit load of money, on tickets, concessions, and more to point, they always travel in groups.

Die hard is an adult film, would anyone really have objected to ANOTHER 15 rated Die hard movie in the UK (baring in mind, 3 out of the first 4 now carry this rating, and it's only a case of time before Die hard 2 is dropped to it)?

Yes they would've. But all of those people work for Fox, and couldn't give two shits about your viewing pleasure, as long as you (and more importantly your kids) keep paying.

Oh and as a final note, watch out for the (guaranteed) HARDER CUT on home video. As once again, Fox try to sell you something you should've already been privvy too.

Chances are, you'll buy it too.

In these cases of cutting adult films for kids, lay of the BBFC, and go for the money hungry distributors. They're the ones cutting your films. No one else.

Offsite: Do Newspaper film critics reckon Die Hard 5 is best left to the 12 year olds?

15th February 2013. See  article from  bbc.co.uk

Schizo is a 1976 UK thriller by Pete Walker.
With Lynne Frederick, John Leyton and Stephanie Beacham.

US: Uncut and MPAA R Rated for:

• US 2013 Redemption Re-mastered RA Blu-ray via UK Amazon and at US Amazon released on 12th February 2013

censorship History
 

UK: Passed X (18) after BBFC cuts for:

• UK 1976 cinema release

Thanks to Salote. The BBFC cuts were:

• Reel 5 - Shots of knife slashing across naked woman's stomach in flashback killing of mother by her daughter were considerably reduced.

The packaging for Image's 2001 US DVD release retains the controversial tag-line that was dropped from the film's UK theatrical campaign following complaints from mental health organizations: Schizophrenia...when the left hand doesn't know who the right hand is killing!

UK: Passed 18 after 1:03s of BBFC cuts for:

• UK 1987 Warner VHS

Full Length version passed 18 uncut with all cuts waived for:

• UK 2011 Argent R0 Blu-ray at UK Amazon
• UK 2008 Argent R0 DVD at UK Amazon

Summary Review: Psychological Terror Twists

Samantha and Alan are getting married, but William Haskins isn't pleased and begins shadowing Samantha as she tries to get on with married life. Haskins' attempts to frighten her drive Samantha to desperation, but she's having trouble convincing anyone that she's being stalked. Even her psychiatrist dismisses her concerns as part of her neurosis. As bodies begin turning up, Samantha's story becomes more believable, and her dark secret from the past begins to reveal itself.

Pete Walker and his loyal scriptwriter David McGillivray were pretty much England's most controversial duo of filmmakers back in the glorious seventies. They provided genre fans with provocative and violent films, stuffed with social criticism and obscene undertones.

Schizo blends an innovating slasher premise with some of the genre's oldest and most delightful clichés. Highly recommended!

Bully is a USA documentary by Lee Hirsch.
With Alex, Ja'Maya and Kelby.

US: The cut version is PG-13 rated for:

• US 2013 Starz/Anchor Bay (RA) Blu-ray via UK Amazon and at US Amazon released on 12th February 2013
• US 2013 Starz/Anchor Bay R1 DVD at US Amazon released on 12th February 2013

See review from  flix66.com : "Needs to be seen"

Censorship Issues

The Unrated Version was originally R Rated but surrendered this to enable an unrated, but limited, release in theatres. The producers appealed against the R Rating which was based on 6 uses of the word 'fuck'.

The appeal was turned down and the distributors cut the film for a PG-13 rating. The 6 'fucks' were whittled down to 3, and in particular, 3 or the more aggressive uses were removed from a scene on a school bus

Promotional Material:

From Sundance Award-winning filmmaker, Lee Hirsch, comes a beautifully cinematic, character-driven documentary following five kids and families over the course of a school year.

Offering insight into different facets of America's bullying crisis, the stories include two families who have lost children to suicide and a mother awaiting the fate of her 14-year-old daughter, who has been incarcerated after bringing a gun on her school bus. With an intimate and often shocking glimpse into homes, classrooms, cafeterias and principals' offices, this is a powerful and inspiring film that every educator, parent and teenager should see.

In a kneejerk reaction to the aftermath of the gang-rape in Delhi, it has been claimed that India's Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has formulated a new set of rules.

A CBFC source has claimed that a new censorship rules is:

No violence against women. Period. Not even a slap between a quarreling couple.

We have been given a free hand by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on how to tackle portrayal of women in films. Cinema needs to get more responsible. We will not allow any kind of violence against women. Even if there's slap by a spouse it will be cut.

The censorial axe will also fall heavily on songs and dances which show a woman being surrounded by a whole chorous line of male admiration. The CBFC source adds:

We have no objection to aesthetically done songs and dances. But why show the woman being surrounded by dozens of lusting-leering-cheering men?

There is a before-and-after affect happening in our society. There was violence and exploitation of the female before the Delhi rape. Now the circumstances have changed. And cinema won't be allowed to turn a blind eye to those changed circumstances.

We recently got a Bengali film called Deewana to censor in which a husband slaps his wife during a quarrel. The director explained to us that couples do get violent with one another in real life. And also that in the film, the husband makes up with the wife in the next shot. But sorry, the slap goes. We won't allow a single shot of violence, no matter what the context. Also, from now on, please keep the male chorus dancers away from the female form. No panting and lusting and certainly no touching of the heroine during these dances will be allowed.

However, Pankaja Thakur, CEO of CBFC, denied new censorship rules are being formulated:

There are no new censorship rules. The slap scene from the film Deewana does not have a fighting couple... Just a boy and a girl and it was a promo so nobody knows for sure how the girl is related to the boy. There is no such ban by the CBFC on the so-called item songs. Two such songs were cleared only two days ago in Zilla Ghaziabab. The CBFC is just cautious about depiction of violence on screen, and the context of the violence does matter. In a recent film, there is a scene of an old lady being pushed around by goons, which has been cleared only a day before.

Saudi Arabia's minister of media and censorship says observing the interactions of three million Saudis on Twitter is becoming difficult and calls for public involvement. Abdel Aziz Khoga, has also confirmed censorship of Twitter imposed by a series of government bodies, the Saudi Al-Watan Online reported.

Khoga called on Saudi citizens to raise their awareness and contribute to the censorship initiative taken up by the ministry. People have to take care of what they are writing on Twitter, the minister said. It is getting harder to observe around three million people subscribing to the social network in the kingdom, Khoga added.

Google may have to act quicker to remove potentially libellous posts from its Blogger platform following a court of appeal ruling in London.

The court ruled that a gap of five weeks between a complaint being made and the removal of allegedly defamatory comments on a blogpost could leave it open to a libel action, overturning a finding in the high court last year.

The case is being seen as a landmark action because it the first time the higher court has addressed the issue of Google's liability for defamation on its blogging platform.

In a previous case, Judge Eady said Google's responsibility for online slurs was no more than that of an unfortunate owner of a wall festooned with defamatory graffiti . Eady had noted a period of five weeks had elapsed between the letter of complaint about the remarks and their removal by Blogger, but said while this was somewhat dilatory it was not outside the bounds of a reasonable response .

The court of appeal found otherwise and said five weeks was sufficiently long to leave room for an inference adverse to Google Inc .

Lil Wayne's record label has sought to expunge all traces of a Lil Wayne rap from the internet, after the family of a murdered civil rights icon complained about its derogatory reference to him.

The track in question is Future's Karate Chop (remix), on which Wayne appears as a guest. Pop a lot of pain pills, Lil Wayne raps. Bout to put rims on my skateboard wheels/ Beat that pussy up like Emmett Till.

Airickca Gordon-Taylor, Till's cousin, said the lines were offensive not only to us, but to our ancestors and to women and to [the artists] themselves as young, black men . Till was only 14 years old when he was tortured and killed for reportedly flirting with a white woman in Mississippi. His death, in 1955, was a galvanising moment for the US civil rights movement, and thousands of people attended his funeral. His killers were acquitted, but, protected by double jeopardy , later admitted to the murder without suffering any legal consequences.

The Emmett Till line has been cut from the official version of Wayne's track. Epic Records said in a statement:

We regret the unauthorized remix version of Future's Karate Chop, which was leaked online and contained hurtful lyrics.

The Mamie Till Mobley Memorial Foundation, founded by Till's mother, is calling on radio stations to boycott Karate Chop (remix).

Savages is a 2012 US crime thriller by Oliver Stone.
With Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch and Blake Lively.

UK: The Extended Version/Unrated Version was passed 18 uncut for strong bloody violence, strong sex and drug use for:

• UK 2013 Universal [Theatrical + Extended] RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon
• UK 2013 Universal [Extended] R2 DVD at UK Amazon

US: The extended Version is uncut and MPAA Unrated for:

• 2012 Universal [Theatrical + Extended ] RA Blu-ray / R1 DVD Combo at US Amazon
• 2012 Universal [Theatrical + Extended ] R1 DVD at US Amazon

See pictorial version details from movie-censorship.com . The Extended Version provides additional background plot details:

• An unhappy and sometimes violent family life for Lado.
• A hospital bedside scene with Dennis and his cancer stricken wife.
• A scene with O spinning a yarn to her mother about a supposed holiday in Paris
• A scene with O getting momentarily pally with Marina in a conversation about love and bottox

Summary Review: Stand Out Cast

Pot growers Ben and Chon face off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend.

A little reminiscent of Tony Scott's True Romance with little guys taking on the big guys of the drugs world.

There are likable characters on both sides of the battle. Blake Lively is finally in a big screen role that suits her well. John Travolta's slimy crooked cop is just right. Salma the drug lord is quite darkly amusing. Benicio Del Toro's face does all the work as a an ultimate in sadistic bad guys.

Overall a good plot driven kind of feel good thriller with a stand out cast.

House of Whipcord is a 1974 UK horror thriller by Pete Walker.
With Barbara Markham, Patrick Barr and Ray Brooks.

US: Uncut and MPAA R Rated for:

• US 2013 Redemption RA Blu-ray via UK Amazon and at US Amazon released on 12th February 2013

UK Censorship History

UK: Passed X (18) after BBFC cuts for:

• UK 1973 cinema release

The cuts were:

• to heavily reduce the whipping scenes

Summary Review: A seventies gem.

An old man that lives in an old house conducts a correctional institute for girls. He is assisted my a matron who likes to get the girls into trouble and present them in front of the old man who thinks he is the law and he passes out punishment. Afterwards the girls get tied to a cross and whipped.

Pete Walker's film is both a sleazy seventies exploitation classic and a striking indictment of the justice system.

The atmosphere of the film is brilliant; Pete Walker always ensures that the action is sleazy, and yet oddly erotic at the same time. The film is very matriarchal, and it's the female characters that are the protagonists while the men exist in background roles. However, the film isn't feminist; and, in fact, is the exact opposite; as the director ensures that none of the women are portrayed in a favourable light.

Barbara Markham gives a powerhouse performance in the role of the head of the institution. Penny Irving is the young French victim at the centre of the story; but her performance is brought down by her ridiculous French accent!

A seventies gem.

On 12th February 2013, the government minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, Ed Vaizey, appeared before the House of Lords Communications Select Committee to give his opinions about media convergence.

One interesting point was that the government intends to extend internet censorship in the upcoming Communications white paper.

The government looks set to extend the onerous TV censorship regime administered by Ofcom to all channels appearing on a TV's Electronic Programme Guide. At the moment, internet TV channels are not subject to Ofcom's suffocating TV censorship. Vaizey feels that 'viewers expect' anything that looks like a TV channel which presents itself for channel hopping in the EPG to be subject to the same strict censorship as broadcast TV.

However channels presenting themselves via an app interface, seem likely to be let off the hook and censored according to the less strict censorship of the Video on Demand censor, ATVOD.

So anything featuring biased news such as Fox News, or else hardcore porn will have to stay off the EPG, and stick with being available only as an app. Vaizey's thinking is that viewers will not expect the same strict censorship for a channel that is more obviously internet based.

Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained has been passed A (adults only) in India with all the violence intact buts cuts to scenes with minor nudity.

Indian viewers will see a cut version with three missing sequences with fleeting nudity:

• a glimpse of the unclad form of Broomhilda, played by Kerry Washington, in a pit (she has been punished by her owner);
• the sight of Django, played by Jamie Foxx, emerging undressed out of a bathtub;
• and a trussed-up, nude Django.

Tarantino could well kick up a fuss about the cuts if he wished to. Hollywood's resident enfant terrible has final cut rights---the right to veto objections by producers and distributors and decide the final shape of his work.

This isn't the first time a Tarantino film has come to India a few minutes shorter than its original running length.

• The World War II drama Inglourious Basterds was released in 2009 without a scene in which an American soldier bashes in the head of a Nazi.
• The two-part Kill Bill, released in 2003 and 2004, was punished even more severely. The CBFC axed scenes of heads and limbs being chopped off. Another sequence indicating that the lead character, The Bride, is being raped and prostituted by a medical orderly while she is in a coma was censored.

Labour and the Lib Dems have cautiously welcomed Tory plans for a new press censor backed by royal charter in the wake of the Leveson inquiry. The plan proposes a censor with a royal charter supervised by a recognition panel . The Tories say their plans mean legislation, as proposed by Lord Leveson, is not required.

The Lib Dems said the ideas were a starting point for talks, while Labour indicated there was a prospect of a deal if changes were made.

The plans have been posted on the Department of Culture website, but make clear they are being published outside of the normal arrangements for collective agreement, and [do] not reflect an agreed position between the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties .

Royal charters are formal documents that have been used to establish and lay out the terms of organisations, including the BBC and the Bank of England, and cannot be changed without government approval. Under the Conservative plans, the charter could only be amended by the recognition body if the leaders of the three main political parties in the House of Commons agreed and any changes were approved in Parliament. Worryingly, if the Privy Council wanted to make changes to the charter it would not have to get the approval of the leaders of the three main political parties.

The independent self-regulatory body would be governed by an independent board supposedly appointed in a genuinely open, transparent and independent way, without any direction from industry or influence from government .

The board itself would be made up of a majority of people who were independent of the press but include a sufficient number of people with experience of the industry such as former editors and senior or academic journalists. Serving editors, current MPs or government ministers would be excluded.

Under the proposals, news websites published by both newspapers and other companies would fall under the remit of the press censor for the first time.

A TV ad, for the perfume Coco Mademoiselle, included scenes that showed the actress Keira Knightley being photographed on a bed. The photographer was shown unzipping her clothes before she undressed herself, showing her shoulders and part of her back. The actress was then shown dressed only in a bed sheet crawling towards the photographer before lying back on the bed. The photographer appeared about to kiss her when she put a finger to his lips and said lock the door .

The ad was cleared by Clearcast with no scheduling restriction.

A complainant, who saw the ad during the film Ice Age 2 , challenged whether the ad was suitable to be broadcast during a film that was likely to appeal to children, because she believed it was overtly sexual.

Chanel said there was no nudity in the ad, and none implied, but the character briefly revealed only her shoulders as part of a photo shoot, which was the setting for the ad. They said the photographer helped the actress remove her boots, rather than her clothes, as part of a wardrobe change during the photo shoot. Chanel said a degree of sexual charge was common in perfume ads but while the character was playful and sensual, she was not overtly sexual and her telling the photographer to lock the door was a distraction because the next shot showed that she had left. They said the ad was in line with most viewers' expectations of perfume advertising and that children might mimic actions they saw in the film as well as scenes in advertising. They believed the ad was not unsuitable for children and that it was therefore scheduled appropriately. They said they had not received any complaints directly.

ASA Assessment: Complaint Upheld

The ASA acknowledged that the undressing in the ad took place in the context of a photo shoot but nevertheless considered those scenes involved sexually suggestive content. We noted that the photographer was directly involved in unzipping the actress's garments and that there was a suggestion that she was naked aside from a bed sheet. We also noted that there was clear sexual tension between the pair and that they appeared about to kiss on the bed. We noted that Ice Age 2 was of particular appeal to children. We considered the ad was suitable for older children, but that the sexually suggestive material was unsuitable for young children. We therefore concluded that the ad was inappropriately scheduled and an ex-kids restriction should have been applied to prevent the ad from being broadcast in or around children's programming.

The ad breached BCAP Code rule 32.3 (Scheduling).

A man has been convicted in a jury trial for possession of dangerous pictures.

Sen Luo had about 800 videos on his laptop and hard-drives and jurors found him guilty of two counts of possessing extreme pornography.

One charge related to images involving animals while the second related to acts which caused damage to parts of the body.

The jury was told that some showed women strapped to machines and tortured with electrodes, pins being pushed into their breasts or hot wax poured into their body. [But hot wax is just for show, it is simply not hot enough to even register as painful].

Investigating Detective Constable Kim Negus had told the Old Bailey in London that she had to view Luo's videos with the sound turned down to cut out the screams of the women. She said:

These videos were disgusting and distressing. I viewed around 18 of them and had to have the sound down.

They featured oriental women but it is impossible to say how they came to be used for these images.

Judge Charles Wide said:

This is such an enormous amount of extreme pornography which must have been amassed over a period of time.

Police uncovered the collection when they were conducting an unrelated fraud inquiry.

 Luo will be sentenced next month.

Book covers can have a Proustian effect, taking you back to the moment when you first opened the covers, or triumphantly turned the final page. Yes, it's what's inside that counts, but how much nice when the inner delights are matched by a sympathetic showing on the outside?

No wonder there have been so many howls of outrage over two books in the last fortnight. First was the 50th anniversary edition of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar , all powder compact and perfect pout. Attractive, true, but it said nothing about the despair within. Then there's a new copy of Anne of Green Gables that has a dust jacket that's all wrong. A busty blonde teenager is plonked on the front, looking absolutely nothing like how the flame-haired, freckle-faced heroine is described within.

...Read the full article

Amazon.co.uk removed the 'offending' image in response to these nonsense articles about the 'outrage'.

Death Race: Inferno is a 2013 USA crime action thriller by Roel Reiné.
With Danny Trejo, Ving Rhames and Luke Goss.

UK: The Unrated Version was passed 15 uncut for strong bloody violence and strong language for:

• UK 2013 Universal R2 DVD at UK Amazon released on 4th February 2013

There is also a US R Rated Version

There is also a US release

See  review from  starburstmagazine.com : "Plenty under the hood to keep you amused"
See review from shocktillyoudrop.com : "Death Race 3 falls short by playing it way too safe"

Promotional Material

A new setting breathes life into this high-octane adventure where prisoners try to earn their freedom by competing in an off road race to the death in the African desert outside Kalahari Desert Maximum Security Prison. During his stay at the Terminal Island Prison, Carl Lucas has secretly transformed himself into the celebrated Frankestein: winner of three death races broadcast live around the world. Now having won his fourth race, Lucas finds himself just one victory away from earning freedom for himself and his pit crew. Weyland, the owner of the company behind the Death Race broadcasts, has big ideas about taking the Death Race out of the prison and into foreign venues. The rules of this adrenaline-fuelled blood sport continue to be simple, drive--or die. Strap yourself in for an insane thrill-ride!

The Knot is a 2012 UK comedy romance by Jesse Lawrence.
With Noel Clarke, Mena Suvari and Matthew McNulty.

UK: Passed 15 for strong language, sex references and sexualised nudity after BBFC category cuts for:

• UK 2013 Universal RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon released on 4th February 2013
• UK 2013 Universal R2 DVD at UK Amazon released on 4th February 2013
• UK 2013 cinema release

The BBFC commented:

• Distributor chose to reduce a focus on sexualised female nudity in a strip club scene in order to achieve a 15 classification. Cuts made in accordance with BBFC Guidelines and policy. An uncut 18 classification was available.

Censorship History:
 

UK: Passed 18 uncut for strong sexualised nudity for:

• UK 2013 cinema release. This release was shelved in favour of a cut 15 version

This entry has been deleted from the BBFC database

Promotional Material

When Jeremy (Matthew McNulty) wakes from his stag do with a transvestite in his bed and scant memory of the night before, Best Man Peter (Noel Clarke) and buddies Ralphus, Albert and Jack muddle through the fog of their hangovers to reach the church on time. Meanwhile, blushing bride Alexandra (Talulah Riley) wakes nervously from her hen night, which ended with sex-crazed Anisha bedding the male stripper. Fellow bridesmaids Sarah (Mena Suvari), Julie and Helen attempt to keep Alex sane as the moment arrives to walk down the aisle and say, "I do".

Both hilarious and heartfelt, The Knot is the perfect blend of British romantic comedy at its best.

Bonus Features:

• Interviews with Noel Clarke, Mena Suvari & Brett Goldstein
• To be an actor... with Brett Goldstein
• Voller
• Gala Screening with Cast & Crew
• Audio Commentary with Cast & Crew

I n a single, apparently off-the-cuff remark on the internet, Rupert Murdoch hinted that he may at last be ready to give way to Britain's miserabalists.

Responding to a fellow user of Twitter who described Page 3 as so last century , News Corp's chairman and chief executive commented:

Page three so last century! You maybe right, don't know but considering. Perhaps halfway house with glamorous fashionistas.

A News International spokesperson said the company was making no comment in relation to whether the Sun's topless Page 3 could be for the axe.

US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi had a good debate against the Fox News argument that violent video games are responsible for mass shootings in the United States.

On Fox News Sunday , host Chris Wallace challenged Pelosi on this plan, saying she should instead simply go to her friends in Hollywood and shame them into action:

As part of your plan, you call for more scientific research on the connection between popular culture and violence. We don't need another study, respectfully. I mean, we know that these video games, where people have their heads splattered, these movies, these TV shows -- why don't you go to your friends in Hollywood and challenge them? Shame them, and say, 'Knock it off?'

Pelosi responded that Democrats wanted concrete scientific evidence in order to write the best legislation possible, and countered that Wallace's assumption about violence in the media could be incorrect:

I understand what you are saying, Pelosi said. I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother. But, they -- not Hollywood, but the evidence -- says that, in Japan, for example, they have the most violent games and the lowest death -- mortality -- from guns. I don't know what the explanation is for that except they may have good gun laws.

When looking at the other largest video game markets around the world, there appears to be no statistical correlation between video game consumption and gun-related killings. Max Fisher at the Washington Post recently examined some of this data and found that:

countries where video games are popular also tend to be some of the world's safest (probably because these countries are stable and developed, not because they have video games).

Chinese authorities have hardened their line on foreign musicians, after Elton John infuriated them by dedicating a performance to outspoken artist and activist Ai Weiwei.

Police arrived to interview the singer shortly after he announced that the performance, which took place in Beijing last November, was dedicated to the spirit and talent of Ai Weiwei .

The English language edition of state-run newspaper Global Times attacked John. It said the singer was disrespectful when he forcibly added political content to the concert , adding:

If they had known that this concert would be dedicated to Ai Weiwei, many in the audience would not have come.

John's action will also make the relevant agencies further hesitate in future when they invite foreign artists ... [He] has raised difficulties for future arts exchanges between China and other countries.

The singer's remarks even prompted the culture minister, Cai Wu, to demand that only stars with university degrees be allowed to play in China in future, but this way later played down.

A human-rights activist has said that he feels honoured to have been sentenced to nine months in prison after he desecrated Chinese and Hong Kong flags.

It is the third time that Koo Sze-yiu, a Hong Kong citizen has been jailed for protesting against the mainland government. In court he labelled the Hong Kong government a stooge of the mainland, and told the magistrate that When I am released, I will do this again.

He was sentenced for desecrating flags on two occasions. In the summer of last year he burned the Chinese flag outside of the liaison office, China's office in Hong Kong. Then he waived Chinese and Hong Kong flags with holes cut in them at rallies in Hong Kong.

The South China Morning Post quotes the Hong Kong magistrate as saying:

Every country has her national flag ... and it is the symbol of the country and represents its dignity....No matter how lofty the purposes are, violation of laws will not be accepted by the public.

The citizen journalism website Global Voices detailed netizens support of Koo. Some users posted images of their own desecration of a Chinese flag in protest at his heavy sentence. inmediahk.net displayed this crab version of the flag on its facebook page. Crabs are a symbol of censorship in China because the word for river crab has a similar pronunciation to the word for harmony which is often used to justify censorship.

Press TV reports that it has been taken off the air in North America. It has been dropped from the Galaxy 19 satellite platform that allowed broadcasts both in Canada and the US.

Press TV is a prominent Iranian news station intended to broadcast propaganda that reflects an Iranian government standpoint.

Intelsat, the Luxembourg-based company that owns Galaxy 19, has made no comment on the decision.

The Wicked Lady is a 1983 UK adventure drama by Michael Winner.
With Faye Dunaway, Alan Bates, John Gielgud.

UK censor James Ferman requested cuts for the UK cinema version to the infamous horse-whip fight between Faye Dunaway and Marina Sirtis claiming that shots of whipped breasts should not be passed by the BBFC.

However he was overruled following protests by Michael Winner who was supported by Kingsley Amis, Karel Reisz, and Fay Weldon (among others) after they viewed a private showing of the film.

Fay Weldon has now claimed that she had been duped into supporting Winner. She claims that the 'uncut' version that she supported after a private viewing was in fact a cut version.

The film was passed uncut for cinema, but the offending whip fight was cut for the subsequent video release.

...Read the full  article

The Mail on Sunday has seen a top-level internal memo saying that the United Kingdom Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) can be scaled back . Sources suggest that ministers would halve the number of civil servants involved.

UKCCIS was set up in 2008 under New Labour charged with bringing together government departments, law enforcement agencies, academia, private industry and third-sector representatives such as charities and voluntary groups to collaborate on strategies to ensure child internet safety.

Department for Education sources said UKCCIS was still working on internet safety, but parts of the project had come to a natural conclusion. The Department refused to comment on the leak.

Iron Sky is a 2012 Finland/Germany/Australia action comedy sci-fi by Timo Vuorensola.
With Julia Dietze, Christopher Kirby, Götz Otto.

The Berlinale spectacle of last year, the science fiction comedy about Moon Nazis, Iron Sky is back!

The brand new Director's extended cut incorporating Timo Vuorensola's full vision will be screened for the first time in Berlinale for hundreds of fans and supporters on Sunday. Vuorensola explained:

I was able to bring in many of the scenes I really enjoyed and now are prepared in full quality. The film is now almost 20 minutes longer, and much more epic in pacing, and finally in the form I originally wanted it to be.

...Read the full article

Ludicrous council prudes have banned a poster for the Isle of Wight music festival from appearing on taxis because of a bare back.

The illustration, showing a purple-haired mermaid, has been used by the festival for the past five years.

Taxi drivers were left baffled when council bosses rejected the art deco-inspired design for being too rude.

Isle of Wight Festival promoter John Giddings tweeted:

Just had our @IsleOfWightFest taxi design rejected by the council for the mermaid being "naked" - hilarious!!

However, presumably due to widespread derision and newspaper pressure, the council changed its mind and relented on the ban. Bill Murphy, Isle of Wight Council head of planning and regulatory services, said:

Having looked at this issue I believe the decision was the wrong one. We will inform the taxi company that the council does not object to the design.

Studio 66 Nights
Studio 66 TV 1 (912), 13 September 2012, 21:15 to 21:40

Studio 66 Nights is a segment on the babe channel Studio 66 TV 2 (Sky Channel 938). The female presenters dress and behave in a sexually provocative way while encouraging viewers to contact the premium rate telephony services ( PRS ) numbers.

The licence for Studio 66 TV 1 is owned and operated by 965 TV Ltd.

Ofcom received a complaint that content on this service, broadcast shortly after the watershed, contained sexual images that were too strong to be shown at this time.

Ofcom noted a female presenter on screen wearing a pink, sleeveless one-piece outfit. In addition, she wore a white bra under the one-piece outfit and white high- heeled shoes. From around 21:15, and until at least 21:40, the presenter adopted various sexual positions: she sat with her legs open to camera; knelt facing away from the camera; and at various points during the broadcast moved onto all fours with her legs apart and thrust her bare buttocks to mime sexual intercourse. We also noted that the camera focused on her crotch, at various points throughout the broadcast, for varying lengths of time, while she adopted those positions.

For much of the time and when the presenter was talking to callers, the studio sound was muted and music was played over images of the presenter. However the presenter occasionally talked directly to the audience to attract PRS calls and we noted the following statements were broadcast at 21:18 and 21:27 respectively:

Boys, come on you have got to do better than that, I want your filthy phone calls right now. Like I always say boys, I'm here to be used, abused and absolutely annihilated by you. So let's do this, you sexy things.

Phil, where did you go? You sound like you know exactly how to work your way around a woman's body...Come and tell me every dirty thing you want to do with me boys and I will tell you every fantasy that I have, every way that I want you to have me.

Ofcom considered BCAP Code Rule 32.3:

Relevant timing restrictions must be applied to advertisements that, through their content, might harm or distress children of particular ages or that are otherwise unsuitable for them.

Ofcom Decision: Breach of Rule 32.3

Ofcom noted that between 21:15 and 21:40 the camera focussed on the presenter's crotch area when her legs were spread open to camera and when she knelt facing away from the camera. In addition she stroked her breasts and inner thighs, adopted various sexual positions and repeatedly mimed sexual intercourse, such as: kneeling on all fours and thrusting her bare buttocks up and down; and kneeling upright and moving her body up and down. The presenter also sat, sometimes for prolonged periods, with her legs open to camera, although her crotch area was obscured at times by the on-screen graphic showing the premium rate number. We noted that the presenter made the statements at 21:18 and 21:27 set out above, when she was kneeling on all fours with her buttocks angled to camera and sat with her legs wide open to camera, respectively.

In Ofcom's view, these images, combined with the on-screen graphics of women with bare breasts and the sexual language noted above used on occasions, resulted in the material being sexually provocative in nature. This behaviour and imagery is clearly prohibited by the Chat Service Guidance. Therefore Ofcom concluded that this material was clearly unsuitable for children.

Breach of BCAP Code Rule 32.3.

Finnish Minister for Justice, Anna-Maja Henriksson, is backing extending Finland's current pornography censorship to move beyond child pornography.

Under current Finnish law, the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) maintains a blocklist of foreign sourced child pornography websites, as it cannot take direct action against them. Specifically, the Minister eyes expanding the list to involve websites that include pornographic material showing animals, and violent porn.

The idea does not have unanimous support even within the Finnish government, however. Finland's Interior Minister, Paivi Rasanen, doubts the need to expand pornographic censorship at all. Indeed, even Finland's own child pornography blocklist has, in the past, included websites that had nothing to do with such vile content.

To most people, animal porn also would be distasteful, if not downright sick, but does the spread of those kinds of videos or images demand the same special censorship enforcement afforded to child pornography?

Where the proposal would raise most questions however, is the inclusion of violent pornography. Who decides what violent pornography is?

Lawyers for three members of the feminist protest group Pussy Riot are contesting their convictions in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

The complaint filed on Wednesday alleges that the group's conviction violates four articles of the European Convention on Human Rights guaranteeing freedom of speech, the right to liberty and security, the prohibition of torture and the right to a fair trial.

Update: Released

24th December 2013. From Amnesty International newsletter

Late last week, Russia announced that a new Amnesty Law will see many prisoners of conscience released. Among those due to be reunited with their families are singers from the punk band, Pussy Riot, who have been serving a two-year sentence for Hooliganism , and the Greenpeace Arctic 30 -- a group of environmental activists detained in September this year.

The Amnesty Law will not erase the criminal records of those wrongfully convicted, but is a step in the right direction and will no doubt benefit many victims of injustice.

A US high-school student could face a criminal conviction after posting a joke on Twitter.

In a case reminiscent of the UK's now-infamous Twitter Joke Trial , Scrimalli, 18, of Scranton, Pennsylvania has been arrested for terroristic threats after joking ahead of a local schools basketball game on 4 February:

If there is a Facebook or twitter fight tonight over the HC MV game I will just blow up the schools and students involved. #goonsquad.

The game was stopped in the first quarter and the venue evacuated. The authorities are pressing ahead with charges. Local Assistant District Attorney Gene Riccardo is quote as saying Two municipalities, two school districts have been impacted by that decision so that's why we're going forward with these charges.

Classmates and friends on Twitter have rallied around the hashtag #PrayForTorre.

Lisa and the Devil is a1974 Italy/West Germany/Spain horror by Mario Bava and Alfredo Leone.
With Telly Savalas, Elke Sommer and Sylva Koscina.

The Original Version is Lisa and the Devil. Later the film was significantly re-edited into The House of Exorcism

UK: The Original Version was passed 15 uncut for strong violence, gore and sex for:

• 2013 Arrow [Lisa and the Devil + House of Exorcism] RB Blu-ray/R2 DVD Combo at UK Amazon released on 4th February 2013

See review from  cine-vue.com : "A hypnotic brew of painterly colours and dreamlike atmosphere"

Summary Review: Lisa and the Devil vs The House of Exorcism

Lisa (Elke Sommer) is a foreigner in a tourist group. While admiring a fresco of the devil (which looks amazingly like Telly Savalas), she hears music and is drawn to it, abandoning the tourist group in the process. This leads her to a man (Telly Savalas) carrying a life-sized dummy. Lisa recognizes him as the devil from the painting and from this moment on the viewer is taken for a nightmarish journey that's hard to tell which is actually real or a hallucination. Not that the end result is a mess, far from it; it is remarkable how Bava holds such a non-linear plot together so well where other filmmakers before and since failed and it's easy to see why this is Bava's favourite film. The cast ensemble is excellent and so is the direction. It's definitely one of his best.

Unfortunately Leone couldn't find a distributor for this film. Seeing the success of The Exorcist, Leone had Bava reshoot some scenes that had Lisa possessed (spouting profanities, spewing pea soup, and so on). Bava balked at filming material he felt was blasphemous, so he walked and Leone finished filming the scenes, edited them into Lisa And The Devil, and called it The House Of Exorcism. The end result is really pathetic and an insult to Mario Bava's movie.
 

Promotional material

From the father of Italian Horror Mario Bava ( Black Sunday , The Whip and the Body ) comes a tale of nightmarish surrealism and supernatural suspense.

Lisa (Elke Sommer) - an American tourist travelling in Spain - loses her tour party and seeks refuge in the tumbledown mansion of a blind countess after being guided there by the distinctly satanic butler of the house, Leandro (Telly Savalas Horror Express , Kojak ). The Son of the Countess notices Lisa s striking resemblance to his dead lover and pursues her as a night of murder, strange eroticism and dark hallucinations begins.

Re-cut in the US to cash in on the popularity of William Friedkin s The Exorcist and released as The House of Exorcism (included in this special edition) the original Lisa & the Devil is Bava at his abstract and delirious best, delivering a 70s horror classic and a masterclass in cinema as feverish nightmare.

Features:

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of both versions of the film: Lisa and the Devil and The House of Exorcism producer s cut
• Optional English and Italian audio on Lisa and the Devil
• English SDH subtitles on both features and a new English subtitle translation of the Italian Audio of Lisa and the Devil
• Audio Commentary on Lisa and the Devil by Bava biographer and expert Tim Lucas
• Audio Commentary on The House of Exorcism by producer Alfredo Leone and star Elke Sommer
• Introductions to both films by author and critic Alan Jones
• The Exorcism of Lisa Assistant Director Lamberto Bava, screenwriter Roberto Natale, Roy Bava and Bava biographer Alberto Pezzotta discuss the making of both versions of the film
• Deleted Scene
• Original trailers
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
• Collector s booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic and author Stephen Thrower illustrated with original stills and archive posters

Elite Nights
Studio 66 TV 2 (938), 15 July 2012, 03:00 to 03:55

Elite Nights is a segment on the babe channel Studio 66 TV 2 (Sky Channel 938). The female presenters dress and behave in a sexually provocative way while encouraging viewers to contact the premium rate telephony services ( PRS ) numbers.

The licence for Studio 66 TV 2 is owned and operated by 965 TV Ltd.

Ofcom received a complaint that content on this service, broadcast from 03:00, contained images that were inappropriate on a free-to-air service.

Ofcom noted there were two female presenters on screen at this time. The first female presenter was wearing black shoes, a pair of yellow knickers with party all night printed on the back and a black top pulled down to expose her breasts. The second presenter was wearing a pink thong under a pink one-piece outfit, which was pulled down to reveal her breasts. During the broadcast the presenters stroked each other's thighs, buttocks, stomachs and breasts. They also adopted sexual positions, such as on all fours with their buttocks to camera and also lying side by side with their legs intertwined, and while in these positions mimed sexual intercourse, sometimes for quite prolonged periods.

Ofcom also noted that while the female presenters filled most of the screen there were graphics on the right of the screen showing still images of women, all of whom were topless and in some cases naked, although their genitals were obscured. These images were accompanied by short code numbers which viewers could text to receive pictures and video content of the women, for example TXT XXX to 899** and TEXT FERNANDA TO 899** . In the bottom left-hand corner of the screen we noted there were graphics that were text only, such as FILTHIEST X RATED VID OF THE MONTH! TEXT JULY TO 899** , and TEXT BABE TO 899** .

Ofcom considered BCAP Code rules:

• Rule 4.2: Advertisements must not cause serious or widespread offence against generally accepted moral, social or cultural standards.

• Rule 30.3: Advertisements for products coming within the recognised character of pornography are permitted behind mandatory restricted access on adult entertainment channels only.

Ofcom Decision

Widespread Offence

On 27 July 2011, Ofcom published revised rules on the advertising of telecommunications-based sexual entertainment services and PRS daytime chat services. For example the rules explicitly state that adult chat broadcasters should:

[T]ake particular care if two or more presenters appear together on screen. If there is any contact between the presenters of an erotic or sexual nature (for example kissing, stroking, or contact between thighs, breasts or genital areas) or any miming or simulation of a sexual act performed by one presenter on another, in Ofcom's view there is a high risk of causing serious or widespread offence against generally accepted standards.

Sidebar Adverts

The still graphics included in these advertisements comprised still images of women, all of whom were topless and in some cases naked. In addition, the on-screen graphics were accompanied by text which included: FILTHIEST X RATED VID OF THE MONTH! TEXT JULY TO 899** and TXT XXX to 899** . This in Ofcom's view clearly indicated to the viewer that if they texted the relevant word or term to the on-screen short code number they would be provided with access to explicit adult material.

To assess the product being advertised, Ofcom sent a text message to a short code shown on-screen. As a result Ofcom was sent details of a URL which gave access to explicit video images of a female masturbating. Some of these images were in close- up. Further, although we received a text message requesting age verification, we were able to access the explicit sexual content without being required to provide any proof of age. We noted the Licensee's argument that viewers would only have been able to obtain the video clips and images if their handset had been age-verified by the relevant mobile network operator. However, we considered this did not remove or weaken the duty on the Licensee to ensure that the products advertised on this channel were acceptable on a free-to-air service. In Ofcom's opinion this explicit sexual material was clearly equivalent to that which would be given a British Board of Film Classification ( BBFC ) R185 rating. Both R18 equivalent content and adult sex material 6 are clearly within the recognised character of pornography .

Therefore any advertisement for this type of content was prohibited on a free-to-air service without mandatory restricted access, regardless of whether the images featured in the on-screen advertisement were edited or masked in an effort to make them non-explicit and suitable for broadcast on a freely available service or whether handsets to which the clips were downloadable had been age-verified by the relevant mobile network operator.

Rule 1.18 of the Broadcasting Code makes clear in giving the meaning of mandatory restricted access that this must consist of a PIN protected system (or other equivalent protection) which cannot be removed by the user, that restricts access solely to those authorised to view [i.e. adults] . As Ofcom's assessment of the on-screen promotions demonstrated (see above), we were able to freely access the explicit sexual content which was being advertised without being required to provide any proof of age. These advertisements for products within the recognised character of pornography were therefore shown on these channels without mandatory restricted access as required by Rule 30.3 of the BCAP Code.

Advertising for pornographic content is not suitable for broadcast at any time on any interactive adult chat service available free-to-air, regardless of the type of images broadcast as part of the advertising content.

Breaches of BCAP Code Rules 4.2 and 30.3

A poster, displayed on a bus, featured an image of a woman wearing a bra with her hands on her hips. Text stated SEXY IS BACK ... THE NEW LA SENZA OPENS NOV.12 484 OXFORD ST.

A complainant challenged whether the ad was:

1. likely to cause serious or widespread offence; and

2. unsuitable to be displayed where it could be seen by children.

ASA Assessment: Complaint not upheld

1. Not upheld

The ASA noted there was no explicit nudity in the image and that the ad was for lingerie. Because the image clearly related to the product being sold, we considered that those who viewed the ad were less likely to regard it as gratuitous or offensive. We considered that the model's pose and facial expression were no more than mildly sexual and that the strapline was light hearted in tone. Whilst we acknowledged that some viewers might consider the images distasteful, we concluded that the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code rule 4.1 (Harm and offence) but did not find it in breach.

2. Not upheld

We acknowledged that the model was wearing a bra and displaying her cleavage, alongside a strapline that included the word sexy . However, because the ad was for an underwear range and the image was no more than mildly sexual, we considered that the ad was not unsuitable to be displayed where it could be seen by children and concluded that it was not socially irresponsible.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 1.3 (Social responsibility) but did not find it in breach.

BSkyB has claimed that computer-based parental controls were not enough to protect kids who use web-based services on a variety of devices. So network-level filtering will be applied to the service at some point in 2013.

The company quietly announced its plan in a blog post by Sky brand director Lyssa McGowan:

[W]e've been investigating ways to help provide a whole-home solution in which web content can be filtered out not by a particular device, but at a household-level so that parents can define the type of access they want blocked and the filtering will apply across all connected devices in the home.

And I'm delighted to be able to confirm that Sky has committed to offering a whole-home solution to all of our more than 4 million broadband customers. We will also introduce reporting tools to parents so they will know each and every time any changes have been made to the settings they've applied, to ensure they are happy with the settings at all times.

It's not yet clear whether website blocking will be turned on by default but it would be most likely be offered as an option to those that request it.

In December, Prime Minister David Cameron described on-by-default network-level web filters as a crude system for blocking inappropriate content. The blocking is so overbroad and low quality that adults soon ask for the blocking to be removed.

Vine - Twitter's new video clip sharing app - has had its age rating increased to 17+ on Apple's store, the highest option. The software had previously been rated suitable for 12-year-olds.

It follows complaints that some of its six-second segments were pornographic.

Blogging service Tumblr and photo-sharing service 500px have also seen their iPhone and iPad apps boosted to the maximum age rating over the past fortnight.

And by the same logic, all web browsers will soon be 17 or 18 rated too.

Over-50s social website Saga Zone is set to be shut down on 26th February citing racist, homophobic and offensive comments

Over-50s group Saga say that it isn't economic to pay for the man power required to police offensive comments.

It comes after dozens of its users have complained of being blocked from posting on Saga Zone, seemingly because Saga Zone have not got to grips with dynamically allocated IP addresses.

Saga Zone released a statement on its website claiming it would shut down the site as of February 26 after its users were posting controversial and offensive content :

We are sad that the site has been used to post offensive messages and that we cannot continue to run Saga Zone with the threat to the brand that this content poses.

This means that from today the forums are now 'read only so you can no longer post comments.

However, you can still access your account to retrieve your content. The site will be switched off from 26th February 2013.

Paul Green, a spokesman for the company, explained further:

There were some particularly vicious exchanges recently about the Middle East and some people were banned after accusations of making anti-semitic or anti-arab comments.

The majority are a good group of people but a minority caused concern with offensive and potentially racist or homophobic comments.

We even discovered what I believe are called trolls with multiple online personalities, because messages were coming from the same computer -- sometimes with names from both sexes.

Nutters in a Japanese town are whineing about a replica of Michelangelo's Renaissance sculpture, asking for it to be donned with underwear.

Okuizumo has 16-foot replicas of the sculpture which they installed in parks last summer, thanks to donations from a local businessman.

Residents who object to the statues claim they are concerned about their children seeing it.  Yoji Morinaga, a town official said:

Some people have told the town's legislators that toddlers are afraid of the statues because they are so big and they appeared unexpectedly over the summer.

They are statues of unclothed humans, and such pieces of art work are very rare in our area. Some people apparently said the statues might not be good for their children.

Though most of the town's 15,000 residents have expressed approval of the statues, some have asked that he wear underwear.

There are no plans to put underwear on the David replicas at the moment, as the town believes residents will learn to appreciate them as they are if given enough time.

Connecticut State Senator Toni Nathaniel Harp has introduced a bill, SB No. 328, An Act Concerning Minors and Violent Point-and-shoot video Games .

The proposed bill aims to prevent minors (under 18s) from using violent point-and-shoot video games in public arcades. The bill does not address what ratings these games might have (would it prohibit the use of games by minor even if they are rated Teen by the ESRB) or what the penalty for operators or businesses that violate the statue.

The Philippines Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) has announced that it is extending its remit to buses.

MTRCB chairman Eugenio Villareal said that the agency now restricts movies and programming shown in public transportation, particularly in buses. He said that the board only allows the showing of G-rated or general patronage movies in public places. Local and foreign films that have been rated R or restricted should not be shown in public transportation.

Villareal said that the viewing of Rated R movies having violent, sexual or sensual content had been particularly frequent in provincial-bound transportation the past years.

Black Sunday is a 1960 Italy horror by Mario Bava.
With Barbara Steele, John Richardson and Andrea Checchi.

UK: Passed 15 uncut for:

• UK 2013 Arrow [Mask of Satan + Black Sunday + I vampiri] RB Blu-ray/R1 DVD at UK Amazon released on 4th February 2013

Features both the longer European Version (Mask of Satan) and the cut US Version (Black Sunday)

Censorship history
 

UK: Banned by the BBFC for:

• UK 1961 cinema release

From IMDb. The shorter re-edited US print which was missing around 3 minutes of violence including:

• cuts to the burning of Vajda,
• the eye gouging, and
• the infamous mask/branding scene
• plus some character changes (Javuto became Asa's servant in the US version).

UK:  Longer European Version was passed 15 uncut for:

• UK 1992 Redemption VHS

Summary Review: Wonderful black and white film

A vengeful witch and her fiendish servant return from the grave and begin a bloody campaign to possess the body of the witch's beautiful look-alike descendant.

Italian director Mario Bava exploded onto the horror scene with Black Sunday. The movie succeeds fantastically at conveying a bleak atmosphere of horror.

Promotional Material

Legendary Scream Queen Barbara Steele (Shivers, Caged Heat) stars in this classic slice of gothic terror from the father of fantastic Italian cinema Mario Bava (Lisa & the Devil).

A beautiful witch is sentenced to death for her evil deeds by her own brother, condemned to die by having a metal mask hammered onto her face before being burnt at the stake. As she passes, she puts a terrible curse on all her future descendants as the spikes of the death mask pierce her flesh... But when two unwitting travellers discover her final resting place and worse, drip blood on her resting corpse, they unleash her once again in all her stunningly beautiful, terrifying glory....

Banned in the UK on its release, Black Sunday is a groundbreaking film that opened the door for Spaghetti horror in all its gory glory

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentation of two versions of the film; The Mask of Satan the European version with score by Roberto Nicolosi & Black Sunday the re-edited and re-dubbed AIP version with Les Baxter score, on home video for the first time
• Three audio versions: Optional Italian, European English and AIP English re-dub and re-score
• English SDH subtitles for both English versions and a new English subtitle translation of the Italian audio
• Audio Commentary with Bava biographer and expert Tim Lucas
• Introduction to the film by author and critic Alan Jones
• Interview with star and horror icon Barbara Steele
• Deleted Scene from the Italian version with notes by Tim Lucas
• International Trailer
• US Trailer
• Italian Trailer
• TV Spot
• I Vampiri (1956) Italy s first sound horror film directed by Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava
• US I Vampiri Trailer The Devil s Commandment
• Trailer reel trailers of all the major works by Mario Bava including rarities from the early part of his career
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham Humphreys
• Collector s booklet featuring new writing on the films by Matt Bailey and Alan Jones, illustrated with original archive stills and posters

Channel 4's Big Fat Quiz has been cleared of wrongdoing despite a couple of hundred complaints inspired by Daily Mail hype.

In a verdict which the Daily Mail claims shocked MPs and campaigners , Ofcom predictably said it would not investigate the show. Ofcom spokesman Rhys Hurd said:

We assessed the complaints and decided not to investigate for a number of reasons.

It was a post-watershed programme which started at 9pm and was preceded by a warning of strong language and adult humour.

We considered that the issues raised by the complainants did not warrant further investigation because the incidence of potentially offensive material was justified by the context in which it was presented.

We took account of the fact that the programme had been broadcast by Channel 4 since 2007.

It is a well-established programme and known for its incidence of challenging comments and risque humour.

Tory MP Mark Pritchard spouted:

I am disappointed that Ofcom has not taken this issue seriously.

These comments caused gross offence and went beyond the realms of decency. I'm surprised Ofcom has decided not to investigate a matter that caused offence to hundreds of people through the country. It needs to be far more robust.

Banned by the advert censor, ASA

A TV ad for the MTV series The Valleys featured young people at a house party. Scenes included a woman bouncing on the sofa so you could see her pants, a man flexing his pecs, a women flexing her breasts in a low cut top, two women kissing, men and women kissing and a woman pulling up a man's top and touching his stomach.

The voice-over said, The harder they party, the harder they fall. Will they make it in Cardiff, or will they just end up back in the valleys? Brand new reality, coming soon to MTV .

The ad was cleared by Clearcast with an ex-kids restriction, which meant it should not be shown in or around programmes made for, or specifically targeted at, children.

Four complainants objected that, due to its sexual content, the ad was inappropriately scheduled before 9pm when children might see it.

Clearcast said that when assessing the ad they had considered previous decisions on ads for similar reality TV shows and for products which used innuendo or partial nudity in their treatment. They felt the ad did not go any further in terms of real or implied sexual content and considered an ex-kids restriction was sufficient.

ASA Decision: Complaints Upheld

The complainants had seen the ad between 8pm and 9pm during Eddie Stobart: Trucks & Trailers and the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and believed that, due to its sexual content, the ad was not appropriate to be shown before 9pm. The ASA understood that the ad also been broadcast before 7.30pm. The ad did not contain any explicit nudity, but did include a number of shots that focused on breasts and a number of suggestive scenes such as a woman moving her hand down a man's torso, and two women being photographed on a mobile phone while kissing. Many of the interactions between individuals at the party were depicted with a sexual element and we considered that the overall tone of the ad was sexual. We therefore considered that the ad was not suitable for broadcast when younger children might be watching. We concluded that the ad was not suitable for broadcast before 7.30pm and that the scheduling restriction applied was not sufficient.

The ad breached BCAP Code rule 32.3 (Scheduling of television and radio advertisements).

Update: Banned by the TV Censor Ofcom

6th February 2013. See  Broadcast Beulletin [pdf] from  stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk

The Valleys (Trailer) MTV Base,
14 September 2012, 10:10 (and also on other MTV channels at various times pre-watershed, between 28 August 2012 and 9 October 2012)

The Valleys, a reality series which started on MTV in September 2012, featured a group of nine young people from the valleys in south Wales brought together in a house in Cardiff hoping to achieve their ambitions. The pre-watershed trailer for this new series was shown across MTV channels. It explained the format of the series and introduced the characters of the nine young people featured.

A complainant alerted Ofcom to the trailer when shown on the morning of 14 September 2012 because of concerns regarding the sexual tone of its content. The complainant considered it to be unsuitable for broadcast during the day when children were available to view.

On reviewing the trailer, Ofcom noted that it was about 30 seconds long. It included images edited together in quick succession of a house party where the nine young people from the valleys were partying energetically with one another. The voiceover at the end of the trailer said: Can these nine party animals make it in Cardiff or will they just end up back in the valleys? Brand new reality starts Tuesday 25th September only on MTV.

Ofcom noted that the brief images in the trailer included those of:

• a woman, shot from the back, appearing to kiss a man's nipple as he pulls his shirt up;

•  a man lifting his t-shirt and flexing his chest muscles and a close-up shot of a woman, wearing a low-cut dress revealing her cleavage, flexing her breasts;

• a man and a woman kissing one another as she strokes her hand down his side and then a shot of the two of them walking towards a room or corridor;

• two women play-fighting in a bathroom with foam; and

• two women kissing as they are filmed on a mobile phone.

Ofcom considered the material raised issues warranting investigation under Rule 1.3 of the Code, which states:

Children must...be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them.

MTV stated that it considered the trailer suitable for broadcast pre-watershed. The Licensee said that the trailer was viewed by the compliance team on several occasions and discussed extensively. The aim was to ensure the trailer struck the balance between the necessary protection of under-eighteens, the provisions of the Code and conveying the nature of the series to the audience. None of the scenes or individual shots featured in the trailer came from any episode of the series.

Ofcom Decision: Breach of Rule 1.3

Ofcom noted that several of the edited images in the trailer showed physical interactions between the young people featured in The Valleys. It was this interaction which, in Ofcom's opinion, created an implicit but unmistakeable sexualised tone with the purpose of reflecting the adult editorial nature of the post-watershed series. For example, Ofcom noted: the two women kissing; the man and woman kissing while the woman strokes the man's torso in a suggestive manner; the woman appearing to kiss a man's nipple; and the woman flexing her breasts in a low-cut dress in response to a man flexing his chest muscles. There was no nudity but Ofcom noted that there were images of a man's naked torso, a woman's cleavage, and women wearing skimpy party dresses. In Ofcom's view, the cumulative effect of the scenes in this trailer, when viewed together, resulted in a clear adult tone which was in general unsuitable for a pre-watershed audience.

Broadcasts of the trailer however may have been appropriately scheduled when shown later in the evening relatively closer to the 21:00 watershed when children were less likely to view.

Ofcom concluded that this trailer was not appropriately scheduled so as to protect children and therefore it breached Rule 1.3.

Media Convergence Witnesses

Peter Johnson, CEO, and Ruth Evans, Chair, ATVOD pitched their case to a House of Lords Committee about why the banks should be dragooned into banning internet porn.

Interestingly, the ATVOD pair admitted that porn is the only issue that ATVOD has any complaints to look into. The other 3 areas of the ATVOD remit, sponsorship, product placement and inciting hatred have only resulted in 1 complaint between them, and that was rejected.

So perhaps it isn't surprising that ATVOD need to big up the child protection issue, otherwise they may be out of a job.

The basic argument for enlisting the banks is that ATVOD suffocation of British companies achieves little apart from driving business offshore. then they need something to attack foreign businesses. And banking payment systems have been suggested as the tool.

However because adult porn is basically legal, then the banks will probably not want to get involved. But ATVOD claim that the Obscene Publications Act (OPA) makes it illegal for kids to see as it supposedly 'depraves and corrupts' them. ATVOD therefore claim that adult porn available to under 18s is therefore illegal under the OPA and hence the banks could be reasonably asked to ban payments services from porn websites.

The ATVOD pair admitted though that the OPA is hardly used with about 8 convictions in the last year.

Of course Johnson and Evans didn't mention the fundamental flaw in their claims.

How can the depiction of sex, something that nearly everybody does, be so harmful to under 18s. Especially as they are well prepared for sex via ongoing sex education and the simple fact that it is probably near the number one topic of conversation for nearly all of society, particularly teenagers.

Porn may be undesirable, and embarrassing to parents but can it really 'seriously harm children' or else 'deprave and corrupt' them.  And if it does, we should surely know about it, because they all watch the stuff anyway.

An in-game ad for the film Paranormal Activity 4 , which appeared around the game apps Angry Birds and Draw Something , included scenes of a person being dragged across a room by an invisible force. Another scene showed a young women talking to a friend online as a shadowy figure appeared behind her.

Three complainants challenged whether the ad was likely to cause fear or distress to children and was irresponsible, because it appeared during games likely to be played by children.

ASA Assessment: Complaints Upheld

The ASA welcomed the fact that the game owners, Rovio and Zynga, acknowledged that the ad was not appropriate for display around the mobile games Angry Birds and Draw Something . Although we accepted that Paramount had instructed their agency in good faith, errors had clearly been made by the various parties involved in placing the ad. We considered that the ad contained scenes that could be distressing to children and we concluded that its placement around mobile games that might be played by both adults and children was irresponsible.

The ad breached CAP Code rules 1.3 (Responsible advertising) and 4.2 (Harm and offence).

We told Paramount to ensure that all agencies instructed to buy advertising space for their ads took account of the context in which the ad was to appear, to avoid the risk of causing undue fear or distress.

Close to a dozen pastors, reverends and bishops crowded the entrance to the Steen Outdoor Advertising building in Southwest Philly on Tuesday to protest a billboard that makes a cheeky edit to the 7th Commandment.

Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery, reads the I-95 ad for an online adult sugar daddy-mistress matching service, with the Not artfully crossed out.

A.J. Perkins, a marketing rep at arrangementfinders.com notes that the Toronto-based website site is family friendly, but his definition refers only to the fact that outright nudity is prohibited. The home page greets visitors with shapely lingerie-clad legs framing a would-be paying customer and the tagline, Intimacy with a Twi$t.

A group of Port Richmond third-graders from nearby St. George Catholic School already protested the sign last week. Philadelphia Unification Church Pastor Crescentia DeGoede said her group gave the company notice they were going to hold a protest of their own three days ago, after Steen representatives refused to meet with area religious leaders.

Perkins couldn't speak to the future of the sign, but said its efficacy was assured by a 600 percent increase in members from the area sign-ups in the past few weeks.

The BBFC and MyMovies have announced an extension to their existing partnership that sees the digital agency providing a comprehensive film content and video technology service for the new BBFC website. The recently launched platform brings film ratings with detailed BBFCinsight content information and resources for parents, teachers and students, under one roof for the first time, with MyMovies being the BBFC's preferred supplier for official video and image requirements across a diverse range and depth of titles.

Once provided, all film trailers are age rated by the BBFC, with only trailers rated U, PG, 12A and 15 available. To protect children no trailers rated 18 are made available on the website and to help protect teenagers from accessing unsuitable content, trailers rated 15 also require users to submit their date of birth before viewing. Users also need to enter their date of birth in order to search for, or access information about adult films.

The Thai government plans to ask Youtube to remove a video clip joking about the sex industry in Thailand.

The clip is a parody of a commercial for the Rosetta Stone foreign language learning programme. The spoof was produced by popular American late-night television show Saturday Night Live .

In the video, foreigners are interested in learning the Thai language so they know how to say things like, How much? , Is that for the whole night? or How can I take off your clothes? in Thai.

Culture Minister Sonthaya Khunploem said that the Culture Watch Centre is working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an effort to have the video removed from Youtube.

The government will also claim to the United States embassy that the commercial spoof is tarnishing Thailand's image and will ask the embassy to explain the situation to the producer of Saturday Night Live, Sonthaya said.

Rather ironically the Thai culture minister is the brother of the Mayor of Pattaya which is very much the capital of the tourist sector of the sex industry. Perhaps the minister should consider that his actions are contributing to an image of hypocrisy and internet censorship.

One Thai commenter kindly translated the culture ministers diplomacy speak:

Even though it might be true, the producers should not offend Thailand this way.

Update: Censored?

5th February 2013.  See  article from  nationmultimedia.com

YouTube has removed the Rosetta Stone Thai spoof video clip produced by US late-night TV show's Saturday Night Live that portrays Thailand in a negative light, mocking the country as a destination for sex tourists. Well at least according to Apinand Poshaya-nond, deputy permanent secretary for culture, who 'confirmed' the removal yesterday.

Apinand said yesterday that the ministry would explain the situation later to the producer of Saturday Night Live .

Meanwhile you can watch the 'offending' video on...you've guessed it... YouTube !

Comment: What a proper minister of fun would have said

6th February 2013.  See  article from  notthenation.com

This video is neither accurate nor humorous, and relies on outdated stereotypes to make fun of our nation and culture, said Thailand's minister of fun: The truth is that Thai prostitutes and those who provide sex services are fluent in English.

The minister blasted the video's ignorant suggestion that foreign tourists who wished to experience the unique pleasures of Thailand's extensive commercial sex services needed to undergo expensive and difficult language training.

Our sex tourism industry is one of the world leaders in the field, and we have serviced millions of satisfied customers -- male and female -- for decades. English, Chinese, German, Japanese, Russian, French, and Arabic-speaking sex tourists from around the world know that you don't need to speak a word of Thai to enjoy sex in Thailand. We are proud of this and will fight to maintain our image.

Note to Broadcasters Re Adult chat and daytime chat services

Ofcom guidance clearly sets out what Ofcom considers to be acceptable to broadcast on daytime and adult chat services, both pre- and post-watershed. Ofcom has also made clear to licensees in numerous published decisions what sort of material is unsuitable in daytime or adult chat advertising content broadcast without mandatory restricted access.

Recent assessments and investigations by Ofcom into complaints about daytime and adult chat services have highlighted three areas which cause concern. Ofcom has therefore decided to amend the existing guidance to daytime and adult chat broadcasters to take account of these issues. The revised guidance link is effective immediately.

Ofcom requires daytime and adult chat broadcasters to take careful note of the following three points in particular, which are reflected in the amended guidance:

Presenters' clothing on daytime chat services

During daytime chat content, all dress and behaviour should be non-sexual in tone and apparent intent. Therefore presenters should wear clothing that adequately covers their bodies (in particular their breasts, genital areas and buttocks. Presenters should not wear revealing underwear, swimwear, gym wear or fetish clothing (for example nurse, secretary or police officer outfits);

Transition

The watershed is at 9pm and adult chat advertising is acceptable between 9pm and 5.30am only. Adult chat broadcasters should ensure that the transition to more adult material at 9pm, and from adult chat to daytime chat at 05:30am, is not unduly abrupt; and

R18 and equivalent products

Under BCAP Code Rule 30.3, advertisements for R18 and equivalent products (such as websites, video content or images that contain R18 material or its equivalent) are allowed on services with mandatory restricted access only. Ofcom has published on pages 53-59 and 60-66 of this Bulletin findings which illustrate how we apply BCAP Code Rule 30.3 and our interpretation of this rule regarding the advertising of websites and products that fall within the recognised character of pornography.

Ofcom also formally notifies daytime and adult chat broadcasters that as a result our continuing concerns about the compliance of material broadcast on these services with BCAP Code requirements, we are commencing a targeted monitoring exercise of all services broadcasting daytime and adult chat content.

Broadcasters are put on notice that any serious or repeated failings in this area are likely to result in Ofcom taking further regulatory action, for example, the consideration of the imposition of statutory sanctions.

Maniac is a 2012 France/USA crime horror by Franck Khalfoun.
With Elijah Wood, America Olivo, Sammi Rotibi.

It has now been passed 18 uncut for strong bloody violence for:

• UK 2013 cinema release

Perhaps a notable uncut rating as the response from film festival screenings was that it was very likely to be cut.

The film has also been mentioned as a possible first victim for the BBFC's change of guidelines on the subject of violence and sexual violence. The BBFC listed an extended set of factors to be taken into account when considering sexual violence. The press release about the change of rules gave few clues about the practical effects of the rule change, so hopefully the uncut release of Maniac is an indication that the rules haven't "tightened up" quite as much as the tabloid press suggested.

There seem to be two running times noted for the film, 89 and 93 minutes. However uncut festival screenings were amongst those noted as 89 minutes so perhaps just technical differences on how it is projected.

Update: Confirmed by Metrodome

5th February 2013. See  article from  blu-ray.com

Metrodome Distribution have informed blu-ray.com that it has been confirmed by the BBFC that Franck Khalfoun's Maniac has not been cut back from its original Fright Fest reel which has now been rated as an 18.

Keir Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said too many investigations into comments on networks such as Twitter would have a chilling effect on free speech:

I think that if there are too many investigations and too many cases coming to court then that can have a chilling effect on free speech.

This is about trying to get the balance right, making sure time and resources are spent on cases that really do need to go to court, and not spent on cases which people might think really would be better dealt with by a swift apology and removal of the offending tweet.

There is a lot of stuff out there that is highly offensive that is put out on a spontaneous basis that is quite often taken down pretty quickly and the view is that those sort of remarks don't necessarily need to be prosecuted.

This is not a get-out-of-jail card but it is highly relevant. Stuff does go up on a Friday and Saturday night and come down the next morning. If that is the case a lot of people will say: 'That shouldn't have happened, the person has accepted it, but really you don't need a criminal prosecution.' It is a relevant factor.

Starmer stressed that people who wrote libellous tweets, or messages that broke court orders or were threatening, would still face prosecution.

After Kamal Hasan's Vishwaroopam faced ban from the Tamil Nadu government, the government has constituted a panel to examine issues of certification under the Cinematograph Act 1952 to ensure than films cleared by Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) do not get disrupted thereafter.

The committee will be chaired by Mukul Mudgal, a retired Chief Justice, the ministry of information & broadcasting (I&B) said in a press statement.

The 8 member panel would also have Lalit Bhasin, chairperson, Film Certification Appellate Tribunal, Sharmila Tagore, former chairperson, CBFC and Javed Akhtar along with others, it added.

According to the ministry, the committee has been asked to review the mandate and functioning of central board of film certification (CBFC) and recommend measures including statutory changes to enable CBFC to deal with contemporary requirements of certification and increased transparency/efficiency.

The Thai government plans to ask Youtube to remove a video clip joking about the sex industry in Thailand.

The clip is a parody of a commercial for the Rosetta Stone foreign language learning programme. The spoof was produced by popular American late-night television show Saturday Night Live .

In the video, foreigners are interested in learning the Thai language so they know how to say things like, How much? , Is that for the whole night? or How can I take off your clothes? in Thai.

Culture Minister Sonthaya Khunploem said that the Culture Watch Centre is working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an effort to have the video removed from Youtube.

The government will also claim to the United States embassy that the commercial spoof is tarnishing Thailand's image and will ask the embassy to explain the situation to the producer of Saturday Night Live, Sonthaya said.

Rather ironically the Thai culture minister is the brother of the Mayor of Pattaya which is very much the capital of the tourist sector of the sex industry. Perhaps the minister should consider that his actions are contributing to an image of hypocrisy and internet censorship.

One Thai commenter kindly translated the culture ministers diplomacy speak:

Even though it might be true, the producers should not offend Thailand this way.

Update: Censored?

5th February 2013.  See  article from  nationmultimedia.com

YouTube has removed the Rosetta Stone Thai spoof video clip produced by US late-night TV show's Saturday Night Live that portrays Thailand in a negative light, mocking the country as a destination for sex tourists. Well at least according to Apinand Poshaya-nond, deputy permanent secretary for culture, who 'confirmed' the removal yesterday.

Apinand said yesterday that the ministry would explain the situation later to the producer of Saturday Night Live .

Meanwhile you can watch the 'offending' video on...you've guessed it... YouTube !

In the case of  Yildrim v Turkey  the European Court of Human Rights decided that a Court order blocking access to "Google Sites" in Turkey was a violation of Article 10.

Yildrim owned and ran a website hosted by the Google Sites service, on which he published his academic work and his opinions on various matters.  On 23 June 2009 the Denizli Criminal Court of First Instance ordered the blocking of an Internet site whose owner had been accused of insulting the memory of Atatürk . The order was issued as a preventive measure in the context of criminal proceedings against the site's owner.

The blocking order was submitted for execution to the Telecommunications Directorate (TiB). Shortly afterwards, the TiB asked the court to extend the scope of the order by blocking access to Google Sites, which hosted not only the site in question but also the applicant's site. The TiB stated that this was the only technical means of blocking the offending site, as its owner was located abroad.

The TiB blocked all access to Google Sites and Yildrim was thus unable to access his own site. All his subsequent attempts to remedy the situation were unsuccessful because of the blocking order issued by the court.

The court decided that \the effects of the measure in question had been arbitrary and the judicial review of the blocking of access had been insufficient to prevent abuses. There had therefore been a violation of Article 10 of the Convention.  The court held that Turkey was to pay the applicant 7,500 euros (EUR) in respect of non pecuniary damage.

Indian movie maker Kamal Hassan has reached a settlement with Muslim organizations in southern India and agreed to delete seven scenes from his latest spy thriller Vishwaroopam.

The Tamil Nadu government had banned Hassan's film in the state following protests from several islamic groups objecting to the film's portrayal of muslim baddies.

Hassan and Muslim leaders reached an agreement after more than five hours of talks. Islamic groups have promised to call off their protests against the film and withdraw legal cases that they have filed against the filmmaker.

Update: Madras High Court refuses ban

6th February 2013. See  article from  thehindu.com

The Madras High Court has refused to ban Vishwaroopam citing that cuts have been agreed in Tamil Nadu and that the film is being shown in the rest of the country.

From a BBC article about the prevalence of murder stories on TV.

Vivienne Pattison is director of Mediawatch UK, a campaign group that fights for family values in the media, and against graphic violence. But even she says murder has a role to play:

I don't think there's anything wrong with the subject being covered on television per se, it's how it's dealt with, she says.

There is clearly a huge amount of difference between the treatment of murder in say The Killing - which invites the viewer to solve the case, EastEnders - which usually looks at motivation and the emotional fallout from the event, and the Saw franchise - the films of which are little more than gore fests of torture porn.

The latter I do consider to be more problematic as they remove the humanity of the victims and so the death itself becomes entertainment.

...Read the full article

The first all-girl rock band to come out of Kashmir has been forced to cancel their live shows after receiving rape and death threats on Facebook.

Award-winning Pragaash , which means light, have been targetted since December when they won a prize at their first public performance. Following the concert, comments appeared on Facebook from extremists who said the teenage girls should be raped and then drowned.

The threats seem to be a follow up to a fatwa issued by the Grand Mufti Bashir-u-Din. The mufti said that music is not good for the society and the girls should focus on inculcating better values. He further said that all the bad things happening in today's society is due to music.

The band members, Farah Deeba, guitarist Aneeka Khalid and vocalist-guitarist Noma Nazir, refused to talk on the issue but were reportedly shaken by the threats.

Omar Abdullah, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, is one of the most high profile people to speak out in support of the band. Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has come out in support of the band He said:

Shame on those who claim freedom of speech via the social media and then use that freedom to threaten girls who have the right to choose to sing.

He added that police would look into whether any of the people found making threats can be charged.

Children are as upset by violent videos on YouTube that feature animal cruelty or beheadings and by insensitive Facebook messages from divorced parents as they are by online bullying and pornography, according to the biggest survey of young British people and their internet use.

The research will be unveiled by the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) on Tuesday, Safer Internet Day, when a charter of rights and responsibilities for children online will also be launched.

The survey, conducted for the council by academics, asked 24,000 children 25 questions about internet use, including have you ever seen anything online that has upset you? Hundreds of schools around Britain were enlisted to help canvass the children, who were aged up to 16.

Andy Phippen, professor of social responsibility at Plymouth University, who helped to devise the report, said:

Upset is caused by a broad range of issues, very varied, and not all sexual content. One memorable answer from a primary school child who was asked what most upset him was when my Dad told me on Facebook he didn't want to see me any more.

Sonia Livingstone, professor of social psychology at the London School of Economics, told the Oxford Media Convention last month that LSE research, which asked 8,000 children aged nine to 16 about the disturbing things they had seen on the internet, supported this picture. She added:

There is a lot of attention given to pornography and bullying on social media, but they also mentioned beheadings, flaying, cruelty to animals.

Accessing pornography online, the main concern of parents responding to a government consultation last autumn, did not feature highly in the teenagers' responses.

The euphoria of the Arab Spring has given way to the sobering challenge of creating rights-respecting democracies, Human Rights Watch said in issuing its World Report 2013. The willingness of new governments to respect rights will determine whether those uprisings give birth to genuine democracy or simply spawn authoritarianism in new forms.

The uncertainties of freedom are no reason to revert to the enforced predictability of authoritarian rule, said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. The path ahead may be treacherous, but the alternative is to consign entire countries to a grim future of oppression. The tension between majority rule and respect for rights poses perhaps the greatest challenge for the new governments, Human Rights Watch said. Leaders in the Middle East are naturally eager to exercise their new electoral clout, but they have a duty to govern without sacrificing fundamental freedoms or the rights of minorities, women, and other groups at risk.

Three additional essays in the World Report address other threats to human rights. One describes the need to regulate business operations around the world, especially in an era of globalization, to protect the rights of workers and people negatively affected by company operations. The second says that in responding to environmental crises, governments and others frequently focus on the harm to nature, neglecting the human rights impact on people in the crisis zone. The third essay highlights how arguments of tradition and cultural relativism are used to deny women and minorities human rights that should be universal.

The rights of women are a source of contention in many countries as Islamists gain electoral power. Some opponents contend that such rights are a Western imposition, at odds with Islam or Arab culture. International human rights law does not prevent women from leading a conservative or religious lifestyle if they wish. But too often governments impose restrictions on women who seek equality or autonomy. Calling such rights a Western imposition does nothing to disguise the domestic oppression, compelling women to assume a subservient role.

The problem of unbridled majority rule is not limited to the Arab world. A vivid demonstration was found in Burma, where a long-entrenched military dictatorship gave way to a reform-minded civilian government. Still, the Burmese government has been reluctant to protect the country's minority groups or even speak out about abuses against them, most notably the severe and violent persecution of the Muslim Rohingya.

Reign of Assassins is a 2010 China action film by Chao-Bin Su.
With Michelle Yeoh, Woo-sung Jung, Xueqi Wang.

UK: An edited version was passed 15 without BBFC cuts for strong violence for:

• UK 2013 cinema release

UK: An unknown version will be released for:

• UK 2013 Entertainment One R2 DVD at US Amazon released on 23rd February 2013

The uncut version runs at ~120:00s whereas the UK cinema releases runs at 102:59s

Promotional Material

In ancient China, in a time of inter-clan warfare, Drizzle is the top assassin of a gang known as The Dark Stone. In order to escape from The Dark Stone and rid her life of violence and bloodshed, Drizzle decides to undergo a drastic procedure to alter her appearance, to change her name to Zeng Jing (Michelle Yeoh), and to move to the Capital. Keeping a low-profile as a shopkeeper, she falls in love with and marries a messenger (Jung Woo-Sung). However, their peaceful life is soon disrupted when Zeng's identity as Drizzle is unveiled in a dramatic fight and confrontation with The Dark Stone, who will stop at nothing in their efforts to rule the martial arts world.

House at the End of the Street is a 2012 USA/Canada thriller by Mark Tonderai.
With Jennifer Lawrence, Elisabeth Shue and Max Thieriot.

UK: The cut Theatrical Version was passed 15 without BBFC cuts for strong violence, threat and hard drug use for:

• UK 2013 Momentum RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon released on 28th January 2013
• UK 2013 Momentum R2 DVD at UK Amazon released on 28th January 2013

In the US the Theatrical Version was shown in the cinema with a child friendly PG-13. To try and beef it up for home video it was released in an Unrated Version. However UK viewers will get the children's Theatrical Version.

See pictorial cuts details from movie-censorship.com . The Unrated Version is 3:26s longer of which about half is violent material probably left out for the US PG-13 rating. The additional material makes for a better movie but does not transform it into a horror film.

US : MPAA Unrated for:

• US 2013 Relativity [Theatrical + Unrated] RA Blu-ray via UK Amazon and at US Amazon released on 4th February 2013
• US 2013 Relativity [Theatrical + Unrated] R1 DVD at US Amazon released on 4th February 2013

David is a 2013 India crime drama romance by Bejoy Nambiar.
With 'Chiyaan' Vikram, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Jiiva.

UK: The Tamil Version was passed 12A for moderate violence and threat after BBFC category cuts for:

• UK 2013 cinema release

The BBFC commented:

Distributor chose to make cuts to remove:

• a scene of violence (a man being set alight after being doused with alcohol) and
• a scene of bloody self-harming (a man cutting his arm with a knife)

in order to obtain a 12A rating. An uncut 15 classification was available.

See article from in.omg.yahoo.com :

Director Bejoy Nambiar has decided to remove Lucky Ali's song Ya Hussain from his new film David after some groups objected to it.

A section of the Muslim community had urged Nambiar to remove the song as they felt it does not befit their definition of propriety. The song accompanied a sequence in the film, which showed a Moharram procession. Nambiar explained:

They (Muslim groups) objected to the song. But they were kind enough to accept my invitation to discuss the matter. After a lengthy discussion, it was decided that it would be better if I didn't hurt anyone's sentiments. So I've decided to remove the song.

There is also a Hindi Version featuring 3 Davids as opposed to 2 Davids in the Tamil Version

Update: Banned in Pakistan

2nd February 2013. See  article from  tribune.com.pk

The release of bi-lingual Bollywood action thriller David was banned in Pakistan by the film censor board in Islamabad.

Certain groups within the Indian community recently protested against the film and challenged a sequence in the film which showed a Moharram procession during a song. Director Bejoy Nambiar invited some of the protesters to view a private screening of the offensive content so that an agreement could be reached. However, after the song titled Ya Hussain was viewed by the section of the audience in question, Nambiar himself decided to cut it from the film, based on their reactions.

The Chairman of Pakistan's Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) Rai Akbar told The Express Tribune that the film had been screened and the board felt that it failed to pass the criteria due to its controversial nature. He waffled:

It was very clear that the film could not be screened in Pakistan, because it failed to pass the basic criteria given by the censor board. There were several issues with the film, but our main point was that the film was not suitable for viewing in Pakistan.

Local distributor Amjad Rasheed, head of International Multi-Group of Companies, agrees that there are several moments in the film which portray religion in a negative light:

The CBFC has stopped it because of some covert religious references in the film and I as a distributor completely stand by their decision.

A poster ad, which was seen on phone boxes, included an image of the singer Pink, who was crouched down wearing stockings and suspenders. Text stated P!NK The TRUTH ABOUT LOVE OUT NOW .

Two complainants challenged whether the ad was:

1. likely to cause serious or widespread offence, particularly in an untargeted medium, because they believed it was overtly sexual; and

2. unsuitable to appear where it could be seen by children, in particular because it appeared on the route to a high school and on a housing estate.

ASA Assessment: Complaints not upheld

The ASA noted the singer was crouched down wearing stockings and suspenders and had part of her midriff and lower back exposed. We also noted, however, that text partially obscured the singer's lower half. Nevertheless, while we acknowledged the use of such an image was not directly relevant to the product being advertised, we considered the pose and facial expression shown were not overtly sexual and therefore considered the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence. We noted that the ad appeared in an untargeted medium but, because its content was no more than mildly sexual, considered it was also suitable for display where it could be seen by children. We therefore concluded that the ad did not breach the Code.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code rules 1.3 (Responsible advertising) and 4.1 (Harm and offence) but did not find it in breach.

Piranha is a 1978 USA comedy horror sci-fi by Joe Dante.
With Bradford Dillman, Heather Menzies-Urich and Kevin McCarthy.

UK: Passed 15 for strong gory horror for:

• UK 2013 Second Sight RB Blu-ray at UK Amazon released on 28th January 2013

See  review from  starburstmagazine.com : "a 1970s treat which has admirably stood the test of time"

Censorship Issues

The film has never been cut by the BBFC but it was previously rated 18. It was downgraded to 15 in 2002.

Promotional Material

When two hiking teens go missing around Lost River Lake private investigator Maggie McKeown teams up with the local drunk to look for clues. Their search takes them to a secret military base where they inadvertently let loose an experimental strain of mutant piranha. Now the guests at every resort downriver are on the menu!

Producer Roger Corman, director Joe Dante and screenwriter John Sayles serve up one of the great gorefest cult classic of the 70's.

Features

• Audio Commentary with Director and Producer

• Behind The Scenes

• Making Of

• Bloopers and Outtakes

• Stills Gallery

• Radio and TV Spots

A video ad for Converse boots, seen on www.last.fm, featured on-screen text which stated DO CONVERSE MAKE BOOTS? which was followed by scenes of women and the on-screen text YES! , intercut with images of boots and the on-screen text CONVERSE BOOTS! . The ad featured still images of a woman biting into chicken; a video clip of the upper torso of a woman in a bikini washing a car; a woman lifting her chin; and the upper torso of a woman in a bikini splashing water in the foreground, with two women in bikinis in the background. The pace of the editing quickened as the ad progressed. The ad did not feature sound.

A complainant challenged whether the ad was offensive, explicit and sexist.

Converse Europe (Converse) said the ad and accompanying campaign were designed to raise awareness at a consumer level that Converse made boots in addition to the canvas shoes and high tops most widely associated with the brand. They used the simple question: Do Converse make boots? which was answered with a light-hearted, humorous parody of the much-quoted phrase Yes, yes, yes in an attempt to capture emphatically the answer to the question in a tongue-in-cheek manner. They said the intention was to be humorous rather than to push at the boundaries of what might be deemed sexually explicit. They stated that, although the banner images featured women, and some in bikinis, there was no nudity and they felt that the stylised production quality of the images and the speed at which the images followed each other meant that, even at face value, they were not overtly sexual to the point of being widely offensive. They said the images used simply showed women posing with a care-free attitude intended to convey excitement and a sense of abandonment rather than being explicitly sexist or in any other way derogatory toward women.

ASA Assessment: Not upheld

The ASA noted that the ad featured images of women with varying expressions and dress, quickly intercut with images of Converse boots and the repeated on-screen text YES! . Although we acknowledged that some of the women's expressions, in combination with the repeated text YES! , would be interpreted by some viewers to be suggestive of an orgasm, we also noted that the text YES! appeared in response to the question DO CONVERSE MAKE BOOTS? and considered that the images and approach were intended to be humorous and tongue-in-cheek, and that most viewers would see it as a comical parody, rather than sexually suggestive or explicit.

We considered that the images of the women in bikinis were fleeting and brief. We noted that one woman was wearing her bikini near palm trees and another appeared to be having a water fight, which suggested circumstances where women might ordinarily be in bikinis, and therefore did not consider the use of those images was gratuitous, exploitative or sexist.

Whilst we accepted that some of the images and the humour used in the ad might not appeal to all tastes, we considered that the average viewer would recognise the ad as comical and tongue-in-cheek and considered it was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence to audiences. We therefore concluded that the ad was not in breach of the Code.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code rule 4.1 (Harm and offence), but did not find it in breach.

Vimeo introduces its new ratings system in a blog post:

As the home for exceptional original videos and the people who make them, we have an unflinching belief in the integrity of visual storytelling, including --- in some cases --- material that may make some viewers uncomfortable. But the truth is that one cannot ignore the naked, the violent, and the swearing when striving to capture the breadth of the human condition. Uncomfortable subjects, even discomfort itself, are essential components of our shared experience, and artists need the freedom to express them.

Though often essential to artistic expression, so-called mature content can be decidedly less essential for certain audiences, such as children, office workers with their computer speakers turned up too loud, and people who'd rather not encounter particular things. To make sure Vimeo remains accessible to all audiences, we're introducing content ratings, which let viewers know what's in the video they're about to watch. All videos on Vimeo will now have a little badge next to their title: All Audiences, Mature, or Not Yet Rated.

This means we'll ask creators to tell us if there's nudity, violence, or illegal substances (e.g., plutonium) in their videos, which can still be uploaded to Vimeo as long as they comply with our Guidelines.

Ratings are just the first step along a path that will make Vimeo more accessible to all audiences. The eventual goal of this project is to create a system that enables viewers to filter out mature content, or opt to see only videos that have been intended for all audiences.

Vimeo will always be the place to find an audience for your original creative work, but sometimes it means giving people a heads up if a face is going to explode or if someone is going to take their jean shorts off.

After Apple pulled the 500px photo app from iTunes over a porn controversy, it seems Tumblr is doing what it can to avoid the same fate by adding a 17+ age warning to its iPhone and iPad app.

The multi media extension for Twitter now restricts new users and updaters to those aged 17 or older. (The age is set at 17 rather than 18 to pay lip service to US commercial censorship that denies a platform to adult only content, so that companies can claim to be family friendly. 17 rated material is fine as it is deemed not quite adult only. Hence nearly every mainstream film or game that is rated 18 in Europe, is rated 17 in the US. The R rating for films and the M rating for games are both 17 ratings).

You must be at least 17 years old to download this app, Tumblr writes in its description of the app in the iTunes App Store, because it contains Frequent/Intense Sexual Content or Nudity.

Russia's Safe Internet League is set to impose a walled garden of just half a million sites selected by the authorities on a trial set of internet users.

The Safe Internet League has announced that they had secured an agreement between itself, the governor of the Kostroma Region and all 29 internet services' providers that work there to conduct the experiment dubbed Clean Internet .

The experiment will start in February once providers change their user agreements so that subscribers will only have access to a so called white list of web-sites approved by the league's censors. Those who wish to venture beyond the 500,000 approved websites will have to sign an additional agreement stating that they are doing so at their own risk.

The initiative would most likely bar Kostroma victims from visiting half of all Russian web-sites, and a far larger proportion of international sites.

League censors say that web-site owners would have to file requests to list their resources among the safe content and such a move would happen only after censors check into the application. If they find pornography, violence, extremism or other illicit or illegal content on the site it will be excluded from the white list forever.

The head of the unregistered Pirate Party of Russia, Pavel Rassudov, said the Safe Internet experiment was pure censorship and violated the Russian Constitution that guarantees the right to information access. He also pointed out that the Safe Internet League's monopoly on censorship decisions seemed strange and creating a broader panel for the purpose would be more appropriate.

An executive from the Foundation for Development of Internet Technologies and Infrastructure, Matvey Alekseyev, also said that it was not clear who granted the league's experts the right to dictate their understanding of safety to ordinary internet users.

It's been revealed today that TV censor Ofcom has received complaints from viewers of Dancing On Ice after judge Jason Gardiner told contestant Shayne Ward -- after his performance of Livin' La Vida Loca in last weekend's School Disco themed week -- It was more like Livin' La Vida locked-in syndrome.

Jason's remarks caused Shayne to nervously laugh, while his pro-skate partner Maria Filippov looked puzzled and bemused.

A few viewers apparently found Jason's comment far from amusing and posted a few trivial comments on Twitter.

Update: Whingers Locked Out

5th March 2013. See  article from  entertainmentwise.com

Following Jason's remark, 29 complaints were made, but television regulator Ofcom have decided NOT to initiate a full investigation into the comment, explaining to the Mail Online that the comments were justified at the time:

Ofcom decided the remark was justified by the context. What he said did not exceed the expectations of the audience as Jason Gardiner is well-known for his acerbic comments about contestants and is often quite critical of them.

Feminists are set to gather in Birmingham in a bid to stop shops from putting saucy magazines in the view of children.

Shelve It! is a drive calling on newsagents, supermarkets and petrol stations to position lads' magazines at least 1.75m off the floor. The campaign, by Birmingham-based Women's Networking Hub, includes a website rating retailers on how and if they sell adult mags.

Campaign co-ordinator Shahida Choudhry claims the magazines have a harmful effect. She said she had become ashamed of Birmingham:

We only have to walk into our local store for a pint of milk to witness the dehumanization and sexualisation of girls and women -- in full view among the men's health and lifestyle magazine titles.

The enhanced, plucked, botoxed, tweezed, and altered images in lads' mags are selling superficial warped ideals of women and girls, invading and shaping how we view ourselves.

Now a one-day conference is set to be held on February 26, and will be attended by dozens of feminist nasties, including UK Feminista, Object and the Young Foundation.