and Government spin

From The Times see full article

New rules to prevent the publication of politically damaging memoirs by former politicians and civil servants will not be in force until after Alastair Campbell’s diaries are released, The Times has learnt.

The Government was due to announce restrictions on the publication of memoirs, diaries and biographies that may cause damage to the confidential relationships between ministers last September.

The move was in response to the controversial memoir by Sir Christopher Meyer, which called ministers who visited the US “political pygmies” and quoted John Prescott talking about war in the “Balklands” and “Kovosa”.

But the proposals have failed to materialise, despite a promise from Sir Gus O’Donnell, the head of the Civil Service, in February that they would be released “within a week or two”.

The delay has outraged opposition politicians, who suspect that Tony Blair is personally delaying their introduction to allow Campbell’s diaries maximum room for manoeuvre.

The Cabinet Office denied last night that the delay was connected to the Campbell diaries.

The new guidelines would restrict authors from publishing anything that may cause damage to international relations, may cause damage to national security and may cause damage to the confidential relationships between ministers, and between ministers and civil servants, or which would inhibit the free and frank exchange of view and advice within government.

Mysterious disappearance of freedom of speech during police interrogation

From Tamil Star see full article

Kelvikuri was completed in 17 days and went to the Censor Board. The problems started then. On the premise that the film depicted the police force in poor light, the Censor asked 2 police officers to see the film. When they police officers said they were horrified at the depiction of the police in the film, the Censor Board refused to give the clearance certificate.

What is so terrible in Kelvikuri for such strict action?

Simple! The hero's wife is taken by police for interrogation. There she dies under mysterious circumstances and no satisfactory explanation is given. The angry hero barges into the police commissioner's house and makes hostages of the inmates. He then invites the police officers one by one and takes revenge on them.

People under interrogation missing from police stations, committing suicide by hanging, people dying under mysterious circumstances are all everyday happenings in India. People protesting for justice against such actions of police are also common.

Whatever happened to freedom of speech?

   
Ruddock to publish paper discussing extension of censorship

From The Age see full article

Books, DVDs, computer games and internet sites supporting terrorist acts will be the targets of tough new censorship proposals released by the Federal Government this week.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock will release a discussion paper outlining plans to expand the definition of material that can be banned in Australia.

The proposed bans would include changes to customs legislation to prevent material entering Australia, and tighter film and literature classifications.

A leaked copy of the discussion paper showed any material that encouraged someone to commit a terrorist act would be banned.

It said a lot of material might be controversial but that was not enough for it to be banned, and said the new guidelines would not cover "hate material".

Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls warned that any changes must be needed to maintain "fundamental freedoms", and material should not be banned if it simply "expressed different points of view".

The discussion paper said there were community concerns about the public availability of material that advocates people commit terrorist acts, and it was not certain the national classification scheme adequately blocked material.

The proposal would amend the National Classification Code to include the requirement that publications, films and computer games that "advocate terrorist acts" be refused classification.

"Advocate" is defined as material that counsels or urges doing a terrorist act, provides instruction on doing a terrorist act or directly praises a terrorist act, where there is a risk such praise could encourage someone to commit a terrorist act.

Patriotic movies or games that glorify war will be specifically excluded from tough new anti-terrorism censorship laws.

The discussion paper said "patriotic battle movies" were unlikely to advocate terrorist acts. But impressionable people needed to be protected from material that encourages people to carry out acts of terrorism through techniques such as praising terrorist acts or issuing calls for action based on ideological or religious duty.

Iran to filter 'immoral' mobile phone messages

From Gulf Times see full article

Iran’s telecommunications ministry will start filtering “immoral” video and audio messages sent via mobile phones.

The Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution has instructed the ministry to buy the equipment needed to prevent any misuse of Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).

It did not give details of the techniques it would use to filter such messages, when it would start or how it would define “immoral” messages

Contributing to the hype for God of War II

Based on an article from the Daily Mail see full article

Electronics giant Sony has sparked a row over animal cruelty and the ethics of the computer industry by using a freshly slaughtered goat to promote a video game.

The corpse of the decapitated animal was the centrepiece of a party to celebrate the launch of the God Of War II game for the company’s PlayStation 2 console.

Images of the party have appeared in the company’s official PlayStation magazine – but after being contacted by The Mail on Sunday, Sony issued an apology for the gruesome stunt and promised to recall the entire print run.

At the event, guests competed to see who could eat the most offal – procured elsewhere and intended to resemble the goat’s intestines – from its stomach. They also threw knives at targets and pulled live snakes from a pit with their bare hands.

Topless girls added to the louche atmosphere by dipping grapes into guests’ mouths, while a male model portraying Kratos, the game’s warrior hero, handed out garlands.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare said it was "outrageous" that the animal’s death had been used "to sell a few computer games". A spokesman said: We are always opposed to any senseless killing of an animal and this sounds like a gruesome death. We condemn Sony’s actions. It is stupid and completely unjustified.

The party features across two pages of the latest edition of the company’s PlayStation magazine, which was due to hit newsstands on Tuesday but has already been sent to subscribers.

The article, based on a Sony Press release, shows more vivid pictures from the event under headlines such as Topless Girls! and Flesh Eating? It asks readers how far they would go to get hold of Sony’s next-generation console, the PlayStation 3.

How about eating still warm intestines uncoiled from the carcass of a freshly slaughtered goat? At the party to celebrate God Of War II’s European release, members of the Press were invited to do just that . . .

In God Of War II players follow Kratos into battle against a series of fearsome characters from Greek mythology. Sony describes it as an adult-rated, fast-paced bloodbath – and enormous fun to boot. Bigger, better and as brutal as ever.

Former Minister Keith Vaz, Labour MP for Leicester East and a long-time campaigner against violent computer games, branded the stunt "distasteful and irresponsible: The slaughter of animals is not something that should be done to advertise a product. Sony as a global entertainment company has a social responsibility. At this event it failed in that responsibility. I think people should think very carefully before bringing games like this into their homes. I would understand if customers wanted to boycott other Sony products such as their televisions because of this controversy."

The company, which released the game in the UK on Friday, admitted that the stunt had been a mistake. In a statement it said: Sony does not condone or sanction any inappropriate behaviour by its staff or sub-contracted staff. It has come to our attention that at the God Of War II launch showcase, an element of the event was of an unsuitable nature. We are conducting an internal inquiry into aspects of the event in order to learn from the occurrence and put into place measures to ensure that this does not happen again.

The Sony spokesman said the animal had not been slaughtered for the event but had been bought from a local butcher by the Greek company hired to stage the event.

   
Selling Whatawhoppers about Australia's new censor

From The Age see full article

Prime Minister John Howard says he was not involved in the appointment of his close friend Donald McDonald as the new national censor.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock appointed the former chairman of the ABC as national censor, despite criticism from the states that proper selection procedures had not been followed.

Howard said he supported the attorney-general's decision but did not have anything to do with the appointment: I, in fact, absented myself from the cabinet room when the appointment was discussed.

Howard said Mr McDonald was the right person for the job, regardless of their friendship.

McDonald, 68, will take up his four-year appointment on Tuesday 1 May. His previous positions include Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation from 1996 to 2006, Chief Executive of Opera Australia from 1987 to 1996 and General Manager of the Sydney Theatre Company from 1980 to 1986.

Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls lashed out at the Federal Government yesterday, describing Mr McDonald's appointment as "an absolute disgrace".

"The process and appointment of Mr McDonald stinks to high heaven and it shows that the Federal Government and the Attorney-General no longer even pretend to engage in a proper process," he said.

   
Christian Voice blasphemy prosecution of Jerry Springer: The Opera continues

From Ekklesia see full article

The High Court has allowed a legal challenge by activist Stephen Green to a magistrate's decision not to issue a private prosecution for blasphemy over Jerry Springer the Opera.

Mr Justice Underhill has granted a judicial review of the ruling of District Judge Caroline Tubbs not to issue a summons on the application of the head of a small group, Christian Voice, which made big media waves when the BBC and others mistakenly thought it had galvanised 50,000 protestors against the Jerry Springer show.

Both religious and non-religious groups opposed to the UK’s blasphemy law, which protects an Anglican version of Christianity from insult due to the establishment of the Church of England under the Crown, believe that, contrary to Mr Green’s designs, his case may finally help to bury the archaic legislation.

Stephen Green made a case in January 2007 against both the Director General of the BBC, Mark Thompson, a Christian himself, who allowed Jerry Springer the Opera to be screened on BBC2, and the show's producer, Jonathan Thoday, who staged it at the Cambridge Theatre in London's West End and then in a nation-wide tour.

But sitting at Horseferry Road Magistrates' Court, the District Judge refused to allow the summons to be issued.

The judicial review will proceed to a full hearing. However, Mr Justice Underhill was careful not to prejudge either the hearing or any ultimate prosecution.

He declared: I should in the circumstances of this case emphasise that I am saying no more than that the challenge to the District Judge's decision was arguable. That does not necessarily mean that it will succeed; still less that any eventually prosecution would succeed.

Legal observers suggest that the case might have been accepted to test a wider issue about private prosecutions in such cases, rather than because of the merits of Mr Green’s claims. The High Court will give a date for the judicial review hearing in a couple of weeks, but it could still be a long time in coming.

   
Jack Valenti bows out

From INS News

Jack Valenti, a colorful former White House aide who became Hollywood's top lobbyist in Washington for four decades and created the modern movie rating system, died Thursday.

Valenti, who was 85 died of complications from the stroke at his Washington, D.C., home.

Dan Glickman, a former congressman from Kansas who succeeded Valenti as head of the MPAA after his retirement in 2004, called Valenti a giant who loomed large over two of the world's most glittering stages: Washington and Hollywood.

President Bush said Valenti helped transform the motion picture industry. He leaves a powerful legacy in Washington, in Hollywood, and across our nation.

Valenti's introduction of a national movie ratings system in 1968 -- G, PG, R and X -- helped stave off calls for government censorship while allowing filmmakers and studios freedom to embrace complex and mature themes.

PG-13 was added in the mid-1980s in response to gruesome elements of otherwise kid-friendly movies such as Gremlins and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. X, which had largely become linked to hard-core pornographic films, became NC-17 (no one under 17 admitted) in the 1990s.

   
and the censors are 'idiotic'

From the BBC see full article

Other councils are now understood to have followed Bristol's lead to overrule film censors and allow under-18s to see the new Shane Meadows film This Is England.

The BBFC had given the film an 18 certificate because it contained a scene of racist violence.

Although local authorities have the power to set their own classifications, this is only done on rare occasions.

A Bristol councillor who sat on the committee which imposed a 15 certificate called the BBFC's 18 verdict was "idiotic". Councillor Ron Stone said: It was a unanimous decision of the committee that there was nothing we saw in the film which was any worse than you would see probably on Channel 4 or one of the main TV channels at peak-time viewing.

We felt it was idiotic that what is basically a very good film and very well made, on a difficult but social issue, should be prevented from being seen by the audience it was targeted at. I think the censors actually are wrong in giving it an 18 certificate.

The film stars newcomer Thomas Turgoose as a lonely schoolboy whose soldier father was killed in the Falklands War. He is taken under the wing of an older gang which is true to the original skinhead movement, influenced by the ska and reggae movements. But the gang falls under the influence of a National Front supporter recently released from prison, and the film climaxes in a race attack.

Other councils across the UK are now understood to be following Bristol's lead include the local authority in Grimsby, Turgoose's home town.

The BBFC said it was a "borderline" 15/18 rated film but had been given the higher classification because of the race attack scene and its accompanying language.

What we are concerned about is young people seeing this in a context where they are not in a position to discuss the issues, and where it may come across as more attractive than offensive, said a spokeswoman. It is not a common occurrence for local authorities to set their own classifications, but they are certainly within their rights to do so.

Religious broadcasting tends to focus on the out of the ordinary... [...like resurrection, virgin birth, heaven, hell, miracles...]

Love your neighbour unless he's gay

From the Daily Mail see full article

The BBC is to relay a 'gay Mass' from San Francisco this Sunday, the first time such a service has been broadcast.

The 50-minute Mass at the Most Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in the predominantly gay Castro district of the city will feature prayers and readings tailored for the gay community.

The church has been described as an "inspiration" to gay and lesbian Christians around the world because of its ministry to homosexuals. But it has also infuriated many Catholics in the U.S. who have complained about such activities as transvestite bingo nights during which sex toys and pornographic DVDs were handed out as prizes.

John Beyer of Mediawatch UK, said he thought it was a mistake to broadcast the service: Religious broadcasting, apart from Songs of Praise, tends to focus on the out-of-the-ordinary and having this particular service I think will cause offence to people who feel that such practices are wrong and are taught as such in holy scripture: The BBC really ought to be focusing on mainstream services which are more in keeping with the public service requirement that it has.

However, Father Donal Godfrey, the U.S. Jesuit priest celebrating the Mass, said he was delighted the BBC was exploring how gay people fit into the perspective of the Christian narrative: Being gay is not special. It's simply another gift from God who created us as rainbow people."

The recording will go out at 8.10am on the BBC Radio 4 Sunday Worship programme.

Comment: Beyer Going to Hell?

Dan writes to John Beyer

Dear Mr Beyer,

Just read your views on the BBC showing a "gay mass".

You say this will offend people who think homosexuality is wrong. But should religious broadcasting only take one view (that's it's wrong) on homosexuality?

You also say that the BBC should stick to the mainstream and honour it's public service requirement. Does that public requirement mean only appealing to Christians who think that being gay means going to Hell?

   
Distributor interest massacred

From The Times see full article

Two Hollywood productions face being shelved indefinitely because their stories echo last week’s massacre on a university campus.

Distributors are refusing to touch the films Dark Matter, starring Meryl Streep, which is about an alienated Asian student who shoots fellow students and professors, or The Killer Within, about an American student who goes on a similar rampage.

One British distributor, who declined to be named, said: These films are too close to the knuckle.

Pam Rodi, an executive at Myriad Pictures, which produced Dark Matter, said: We still believe in the movie and the story that it's telling. Hopefully a film like Dark Matter gets inside the mind of someone with these kinds of issues without glorifying them.

The films’ makers will be hoping to stimulate interest by promoting it at the Cannes Film Festival next month.

Depicting censorship, revisionism and aboriginal political correctness

From Globe & Mail see full article

Murals in the rotunda of the British Columbia Legislature depicting native women as bare breasted and native men as subservient will be taken down more than 70 years after they were painted.

After a debate that touched on censorship, historical revisionism and government policies on aboriginal affairs, Liberals and New Democrats joined together to vote overwhelmingly in favour of correcting what they described as a grievous wrong. Only three of 71 legislators voted against a motion to endorse a proposal to bring down the murals.

Premier Gordon Campbell said shortly before the vote in the legislature. The decision to take down the murals sends a clear and unequivocal message that the contributions of aboriginals are valued.

Aboriginal leaders have being pressing to have the murals removed for decades, calling them offensive, demeaning and historically inaccurate. They have said that aboriginal women did not go topless in front of the European settlers. They also objected to the subservient manner of the chief before the judge.

   
Bill introduced to tax porn sales

From X Biz see full article

A California Assembly bill introduced by Assemblyman Charles Calderon, D-Whittier, is seeking to tax the sale, storage, use, or other consumption of adult materials, the percentage of which has yet to be determined.

Assembly Bill 1551 would levy a tax on adult products and on adult bookstores’ gross receipts from the retail sale of adult materials in an effort to combat supposed secondary effects. The bill alleges that the presence of brick-and-mortar adult retailers have negative effects on the community.

Funds from the tax would go to four places: local law enforcement to combat criminal activity in the vicinity of adult stores; programs to address decreased property values resulting in losses in property tax; provision of funding to address increased educational costs and funding to address related health issues including disease transmission and mental health treatment.

According to FSC attorneys, this bill is fraught with constitutional problems, said Matt Gray, FSC’s California lobbyist: and unfairly singles out the industry, while falsely promoting myths about adult entertainment.

   
Timed to exploit a Virginia Technicality?

Based on an article from the Washington Post see full article

Federal regulators, supposedly concerned about the effect of television violence on children, will recommend that Congress enact legislation to give the government unprecedented powers to curb violence in entertainment programming.

The Federal Communications Commission has concluded that regulating TV violence is in the public interest, particularly during times when children are likely to be viewers -- typically between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The agency's recommendations -- which will be released in a report to Congress within the next week, agency officials say -- could set up a legal battle between Washington and the television industry.

For decades, the FCC has penalized over-the-air broadcasters for airing sexually suggestive, or "indecent," speech and images, but it has never had the authority to fine TV stations and networks for violent programming.

The report commissioned by members of Congress in 2004 concludes that Congress has the authority to regulate "excessive violence" and to extend its reach for the first time into basic-cable TV channels that consumers pay to receive.

First Amendment experts and television industry executives, however, say that any attempt to regulate TV violence faces high constitutional hurdles, particularly regarding cable, because consumers choose to buy its programming.

Further, any laws governing TV violence would have to define what violence is. The FCC report contains broad guidelines but leaves the details up to Congress.

Parents are always the first and last line of defense in protecting their children, but legislation could give parents more tools, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said yesterday regarding the report. I think it would be better if the industry addressed this on its own, but we can also give parents" help through regulation.

The FCC's conclusions probably will form the basis of legislation being drafted by Sen. Jay Rockefeller who is a Commerce Committee member.

The FCC is finishing its recommendations amid heightened sensitivity to the issue, given the round-the-clock TV news coverage of the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech.

Call for DVD ban on challenge to greenhouse theory

When did scientific fact become a reason for censorship? Perhaps these people should call for the banning of all religious works too on the grounds of misleading nonsense.

From The Guardian see full article

Dozens of climate scientists are trying to block the 7th May DVD release of a controversial Channel 4 programme that claimed global warming is nothing to do with human greenhouse gas emissions.

Sir John Houghton, former head of the Met Office, and Bob May, former president of the Royal Society, are among 37 experts who have called for the DVD to be heavily edited or removed from sale. The film, the Great Global Warming Swindle, was first shown on March 8, and was criticised by scientists as distorted and misleading.

In an open letter to Martin Durkin, head of Wag TV, the independent production company that made the film, the scientists say: We believe that the misrepresentation of facts and views, both of which occur in your programme, are so serious that repeat broadcasts of the programme, without amendment, are not in the public interest ... In fact, so serious and fundamental are the misrepresentations that the distribution of the DVD of the programme without their removal amounts to nothing more than an exercise in misleading the public.

The programme featured scientists known as climate sceptics. It argued that mainstream researchers ignore evidence that counters the consensus that most recent warming is down to human activity. It said there were problems with the computer models that predict future climate change and that solar activity, not greenhouse gas emissions, is to blame for recent warming. Wag TV called the programme a "definitive response to Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth". Scientists complained that the programme makers distorted evidence, and made elementary mistakes such as claiming that volcanoes produce more carbon dioxide than human activities, when in fact they produce less than 2% of that caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

Ofcom said it had received 246 complaints, and was investigating. The letter was coordinated by Bob Ward, a former press officer with the Royal Society. He said: This isn't about censorship, it's a question of quality control. We have no objection to the DVD being distributed if all the errors are corrected, but if they correct all the errors then the whole premise of the program will fall to pieces.

   
Record industry executive suggests voluntary restrictions

From The Sydney Morning Herald see full article

Hip-hop executive Russell Simmons recommended eliminating the words "bitch," "ho" and "nigger" from the recording industry, considering them "extreme curse words."

The call comes less than two weeks after radio personality Don Imus' nationally syndicated and televised radio show was cancelled amid public outcry over Imus calling a women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos."

Simmons, co-founder of the Def Jam label and a driving force behind hip-hop's huge commercial success, called for voluntary restrictions on the words and setting up an industry watchdog to recommend guidelines for lyrical and visual standards.

We recommend that the recording and broadcast industries voluntarily remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words 'bitch' and 'ho' and the racially offensive word 'nigger', Simmons said in a statement.

Yet Another Chinese Internet clean up

From AVN see full article

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday launched a campaign to rid the country's Internet of "unhealthy" content and make it a springboard for Communist Party doctrine, according to state television report.

With Hu presiding, the Communist Party Politburo—its 24-member inner council—discussed cleaning up the Internet, and during the meeting Hu promised to place the oft-unruly medium more firmly under propaganda controls.

Development and administration of Internet culture must stick to the direction of socialist-advanced culture, adhere to correct propaganda guidance, according to a summary of the meeting read on the news broadcast: Internet cultural units must conscientiously take on the responsibility of encouraging development of a system of core socialist values.

   
Soaps reach the limit of acceptability

From the Daily Mail see full article

Media watchdog Ofcom said violence in programmes such as Coronation Street and EastEnders - both shown before the watershed, at a time when children are likely to be watching - has reached the 'limit of acceptability'.

The move was prompted by four episodes of Emmerdale, broadcast last September, which showed a woman being shot in the chest.

The regulator said: Ofcom recognises that these programmes are aimed at an adult audience and that, to reflect real life, producers will include challenging material.

However, given that these programmes are generally transmitted some time before the 9pm watershed, such content must be treated with particular and due care.

ITV, which said the shooting episode had been one of the most popular in Emmerdale's history, apologised for having caused offence. But it defended its decision to run the storyline, saying: While our stories do not condone violent acts, it need not and should not shy away from them.

Censored Star Trek episode eventually to air in Ireland

From SyFy see full article

The 17 year old episode, The High Ground from Star Trek: The Next Generation never aired in Ireland. Was it censorship? Or was it an effort to keep the peace?

The beef the government and critics have had against the episode is a simple line Data speaks in the episode that says Ireland won't unite until 2024, and only then because the terrorists in that region would be successful. Ireland spent years with constant infighting, and in 1990, didn't seem to have any end in sight.

But peace was achieved in Ireland well before 2024, with those fighting putting down their guns, and with "unionism" taking root in the country.

Ireland wasn't the only country that never had a chance to witness The High Ground on state TV. None of the United Kingdom has seen the episode where Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) is taken hostage by a terrorist organization that feels violence is the only way they're going to be heard.

Mediawatch-UK invite MPs to 'Conference'

Based on an article from the BBC see full article
See TV: The Cause of All Evils for more on Aric Sigman's views of TV

Mediawatch-UK have organised a conference called Children and Media. It will be held at the House of Commons and target MPs

One of the speakers will by Dr Aric Sigman who will call for TV rationing for children and that the TV should be banned from their bedrooms. He also argues that children under three should watch no TV.

Thailand to introduce film ratings

From Monsters & Critics

Thailand's ministry of culture has drafted a new Thai Film Act to be submitted to national legislators in an effort to update the kingdom's currently archaic censorship system.

It's now ready for the NLA (National Legislative Assembly), senior ministry official Ladda Tangsuphachitold The Nation newspaper. The major change is that it will introduce a film-rating system.

The Thai film industry has been petitioning governments for decades to amend the current Thai Film Act that was promulgated in 1930.

Under existing legislation, Thai and foreign films are subject to appraisals by a strict censorship board, dominated by senior police officers, that have a reputation for cutting out all explicit sex scenes and anything deemed offensive to the national religion, Buddhism, or themes thought politically sensitive.

The industry has been lobbying to have the current censorship system replaced by film ratings, such as 'R' for films restricted to adults.

The debate over film censorship became a news items last week when the award-winning Thai film Saeng Sattawat (Syndromes and a Century) missed its local debut in Thai theatres on Thursday because Thailand's board of censors insisted on cutting several 'sensitive' scenes.

   
Chinese book censor faces the axe

From Javno See full article

China's chief censor is likely to lose his job amid criticism over a ban on books that has highlighted the country's strict media controls.

The South China Morning Post said Long Xinmin, director of the General Administration of Press and Publication, would soon be demoted to a deputy director of the Central Party Literature Research Centre.

One source told the paper it might be due to Long's handling of the January ban of eight books examining sensitive events in China's recent Chinese history, such as a book about long-dead Peking Opera stars written by Zhang Yihe.

While banning of books, magazines and newspaper has long been common in one-party China, the censorship office has come under intense international and domestic criticism since Long took up his job 15 months ago.

The South China Morning Post said Zhang applied to a Beijing court on Wednesday to overturn the ban on her book on the high-pitched matters of traditional opera.

   
Recommended censor unsuitable for governmental guidance

From The Age see full article

A close friend of Prime Minister John Howard will get the job as Australia's chief censor at the expense of a recommended candidate.

The appointment will go to Donald McDonald, the former ABC chairman, who has never hidden his friendship with Howard. He will become director of Australia's reformed classification board despite a selection panel's recommendation of another candidate, who has not been named.

Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock, who made the appointment, was adamant yesterday that the Prime Minister had nothing to do with his friend winning the job.

But the move angered state attorneys-general meeting in Canberra, with Victoria's Rob Hulls saying it was a case of "jobs for the boys". The meeting of attorneys-general also decided to delay talks on Ruddock's plan for tough new laws on racial incitement until their next meeting in July.

Critics have linked the appointment to the Government's desire to take a firmer stance against literature that incites or instructs terrorism.

Ruddock refused to identify candidates for the position but in a letter to state attorneys-general he said: The selection committee made a recommendation to me for the director of the classification board. However, having considered the recommendation, I believe that Mr Donald McDonald, AC, would be a better candidate.

He wrote that McDonald had the skills to handle work that can be controversial and attract significant media attention", and his appointment would ensure the board remained "broadly representative of the Australian community.

The Office of Film and Literature Classification has recently been absorbed into the federal Attorney-General's office after being an independent body since its inception in 1995.

   
Shell reclassifies Penthouse & Playboy as sophisticates

Based on an article from World Net Daily see full article

Shell Oil Co. has determined Playboy and Penthouse no longer are pornography, but instead are "adult sophisticates," according to a company statement.

The issue arose when nutters of the Florida Family Association contacted Shell about the sale of such magazines at convenience stores owned by Circle K in southeastern parts of the United States.

David Caton, executive director of the pro-family organization, said his group asked Shell to require Shell-branded Circle K Stores to stop selling the pornography, as it has done in the past with other retailers: However, Shell Oil Company has decided instead to change their definition of pornography, unlike all other major oil companies, to exclude Penthouse and Playboy magazines which are sold by Circle K Stores.

The confirmation came in an e-mail from Otto O. Meyers III, a Shell executive, who told the Florida Family Association those stores selling Penthouse are not selling pornography: In regard to your inquiry about specific Circle K locations, our investigation has concluded that these stores are not selling pornography as one would think the general public defines it, but rather 'adult sophisticate' magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse.

BA ridiculed over censorship of Richard Branson cameo

From The Telegraph see full article

Richard Branson, the Virgin Atlantic chairman, who makes a brief cameo appearance in Casino Royale, the latest James Bond film, is somehow missing from the version shown on British Airways flights.

In the cinema version, Sir Richard is seen passing through a security arch at Miami airport. However on BA flights, while he can be seen from the back, the scene when he turns round and faces the camera has gone.

This is not the first occasion that BA has been sensitive about the appearance of its rival on screen. Scenes filmed in Virgin's premium cabin were cut out of The Wedding Date before it was deemed suitable for BA passengers.

The decision to cut Sir Richard from the film was taken by BA's in-flight entertainment team, which vets films on grounds of taste and suitability before allowing them to be shown.

The fractious relationship between the airlines dates back to their legal battles on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1990s. After an apparent thaw, hostilities appeared to resume last summer when Virgin was identified as the "whistle blower" that triggered a price-fixing investigation in Britain and the United States.

A BA spokesman confirmed that changes had been made to Casino Royale. All films are screened .... we want to ensure they contain no material that might upset our customers.

   
Games not involved in Virginia Tech killings

From CNET News see full article

In the rush to explain massacres like the one at Virginia Tech, experts including popular TV psychologist Dr Phil McGraw dusted off a familiar scapegoat, violent video games, movies and other media.

The mass murderers of tomorrow are the children of today that are being programmed with this massive violence overdose, McGraw said on CNN's Larry King Live.

Common sense tells you that if these kids are playing video games, where they're on a mass killing spree in a video game, (or where) it's glamorized on the big screen, it's become part of the fiber of our society.

You take that and mix it with a psychopath, a sociopath or someone suffering from mental illness and add in a dose of rage, the suggestibility is too high.

From Slashdot see full article

I imagine it's been a hard week for a lot of people; gamers in particular have been jumping to defend their hobby from the likes of Dr. Phil and Jack Thompson, both of whom were quick to link gaming and the tragedy in Virginia. Despite their vigor, it seems like game enthusiasts can breathe easily this week. As far as most people can tell, gaming was in no way involved. Even the mainstream media is coming to realize that gaming isn't always the right place to turn when youth violence grabs the headlines.

   
BBFC review policies on video games

From the MCV see full article
see also BBFC Video Games Report [pdf]

The BBFC is set to alter its system of deciding on age ratings after new extensive research into video games showed that interactivity could actually limit the effect of violence on gamers.

The BBFC currently uses the same set of parameters for rating both movies and games, but this week’s report has led the body to a new understanding of key differences between the two mediums.

We’re looking to review our games classification policy in the next few months – and that’s one of the reasons for this research, BBFC spokesperson Sue Clark told MCV.

We have traditionally taken the view that because a game is interactive, by definition we need to be more careful. But when you watch a film you actually have less control than when you play games. It’s easier for you to lose that sense of reality.

One of the key conclusions of this report is that interactivity actually helps players distance reality from adult experiences in games.

   
The inevitable tragic aftermath

Thanks to Dan who suggested the following runners

• Violent movies 6/4
• Video games  3/1
• Marilyn Manson 10/1
• Rap music 10/1
• TV programmes 12/1
• Pornography 15/1
• The actual killer himself 100/1
• Guns 100/1
• US gun laws 100/1

From The Times see full article

An ultra-violent South Korean revenge thriller may have partly inspired the massacre. In videos that he posted to NBC in New York on the day of the killings, Cho Heung Sui imitates two distinctive images from Oldboy.

The South Korean-born student depicts himself wielding a hammer in imitation of the film’s hero, who embarks on a murderous rampage against the people who held him captive for 15 years and destroyed his life. Elsewhere in the videos, filmed over six days, he holds a gun to his head, copying another scene from the film.

Unhappy schooldays play a role in the plot. Oldboy was the second film in Park’s acclaimed Vengeance trilogy. In an interview with The Times in 2004, its star, Min Sik Choi, described his character as the loneliest, most miserable character on Earth . . . like a dry wooden block with only revenge on his mind and nothing else, not even emotion.

Nick James, editor of Sight and Sound, the film magazine, said: Oldboy is a very, very distinctive film and the most highly regarded of the films now labelled Asian Extreme cinema but it is also so ludicrously over the top that no sane person could mistake it for reality.

Other cultural clues to Cho’s state of mind were being debated on the internet yesterday. Another pose in the NBC videos shows him holding guns in both hands. It recalls the films of the Hong Kong action director John Woo and a publicity shot of the actor Laurence Fishburne, used to promote The Matrix Reloaded in 2003.

From The Telegraph see full article by Gerald Kaufman

The most chilling aspect of the Virginia Tech massacre is that its perpetrator, Cho Heung-sui, a South Korean, was directly inspired by a recent South Korean splatter movie, Oldboy as well as by the Columbine high school massacre in 1999.

However, even after the Virginia Tech bloodbath there is no sign that those in power in America have drawn the lesson that one way of diminishing the possibility of such lethal events is by removing the apparently God-given right of every American to carry a lethal weapon and facilitate a situation in which 11,000 people a year die as the result of gun violence.

But another issue that demands urgent consideration is the apparent God-given right of every film-maker to depict what was described in the 1971 film A Clockwork Orange as "lashings of the old ultra-violence." In fact, the so-called ultra-violence in that movie, though deeply unsettling, was as nothing compared to the sanguinary content of Oldboy or of the John Woo murder movie Face/Off, which Cho seems also to have seen and, Heaven help us, been inspired by.

Now of course the makers of Oldboy and Face/Off were in no way minded to seek to have the bloodshed in their films motivate real-life killings. Yet, in a world where the boundaries between film/video/DVD and real life are wearing thin almost to non-existence, with the ghastliest events filmed on mobile phones and then immediately beamed around the world, it may be that the time has come for film-makers to exercise at least a modicum of self-censorship, now that institutional censorship of films has vanished pretty well to the point of total evaporation.

I am not saying that all copies of Oldboy or Face/Off, or other such movies, made in the Far East, Hollywood, or elsewhere, should be destroyed. I am saying that all movie-makers, whether they regard themselves as artists or simply manufacturers of conveyor-belt would-be entertainment, should accept that they have a wider responsibility than simply to enable aimless people to pass the time until their next visual fix.

Canadian private member's bill smells bad.

From the p2pNet

Canada's conservative MP Joy Smith has introduced the Clean Internet Act. The private member's bill would establish an Internet service provider licensing system to be administered by the CRTC along with "know your subscriber" requirements and content blocking powers.

Smith introduced it by warning against the use of the Internet to support human trafficking and added that the bill would address the fact that child pornography is not okay to put on the Internet throughout our nation, though the Criminal Code already does that.

• an ISP licensing system to be administered by the CRTC that is defined so broadly that it would seemingly capture anyone offering a wifi connection
• a "know your subscriber" requirement where ISPs would be required to deny service to past offenders (though the ISP would escape liability if upon learning of an offending customer, it terminated service and notified the Minister of Industry)
• a new power that would allow the Minister of Industry to order an ISP to block access to content that promotes violence against women, promotes hatred, or contains child pornography. ISPs that fail to block face possible jail time for the company's directors and officers.
• the Minister of Industry can prescribe special powers to facilitate searches of electronic data systems (ie. lawful access)

Given that this is a private member's bill, it is very unlikely to become law. But this bill would not look out-of-place in countries that aggressively censor the Internet.

Racism directive will threaten free speech

From the BBC see full article

European interior ministers have agreed to make incitement to racism an EU-wide crime, but have stopped short of a blanket ban on Holocaust denial.

The agreement makes it an offence to condone or grossly trivialise crimes of genocide, but only if the effect is incitement to violence or hatred.

The deal follows six years of talks, and will disappoint Germany, which pushed hard for a Holocaust-denial law. Berlin has also had to drop a proposal for an EU-wide ban on Nazi symbols.

Under the agreement, incitement to hatred or violence against a group or a person based on colour, race, national or ethnic origin must be punishable by at least a year in jail. However, member states can choose to limit prosecutions to cases likely to disturb public order.

Punishing incitement to hatred against religion will only be compulsory in cases where it amounts to inciting hatred against a national or ethnic group, race or colour.

Some countries will have to put the agreement to parliamentary vote, before it is finally adopted. Each member state will then have two years to bring its laws into compliance.

Officials said the wording was carefully designed to avoid criminalising films or plays about genocide, or discouraging academic research. But dissemination of "tracts, pictures or other material" is punishable if it is designed to incite violence or hatred.

Countries where it is already a crime to deny the Holocaust will stick to their existing rules, but other countries will not be obliged to help them with judicial investigations.

From The Telegraph see full article

British bloggers said yesterday that free speech on the internet is under threat from draconian new laws, which could see them jailed for up to three years.

Europe's justice ministers have agreed genocide denial and race hatred legislation that will outlaw remarks on the internet carried out in a manner likely to incite violence or hatred.

The measures are contained in the European Union's Racism and Xenophobia Directive and could hit controversial European bloggers, even if their websites are hosted in America. The directive is set to enter British law before 2010.

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said: "We don't need yet more law to combat racial hatred and incitement to violence. We already have British law dating back to 1861."

As religion is often worthy of hatred

From The Scotsman see full article

Britain has narrowed the scope of a European Union-wide ban on incitement to religious hatred in a proposed anti-racism law.

The British move means EU justice ministers are likely to agree this week on anti-racism legislation that will be significantly watered down from original proposals put forward six years ago.

The new legislation requires EU states to punish incitement to hatred against religion only if it is a pretext to incite hatred against a group or person because of national or ethnic origin, race or colour, a draft seen by Reuters shows.

One EU diplomat said this was a longstanding British demand, aimed at making sure that religion could be criticised as long as it was not done with racist intent.

Diplomats stressed that countries could continue to punish hatred against religion more broadly even once the EU text is adopted, as tougher national rules would still be allowed.

The EU has struggled for almost six years over proposals for an EU-wide anti-racism law which would include harmonised rules on punishing claims that the Holocaust of European Jews by Nazi Germany never took place, as well as racism in general.

But EU states failed to agree on a way to outlaw genocide denial, and diplomats said countries had agreed on a compromise that would allow them to retain their own legislation.

   
Even before the fallout from the Virginia Tech tragedy

From 1P Start see full article

It’s no surprise that Jack Thompson has stepped up in the wake of the Virginia Tech tragedy to push his rhetoric. Regardless of the details of this attack, video games are sure to be pushed to the forefront as a primary cause. Some gamers have set it upon themselves to fight Jack Thompson and all those who would use this horrible event to their own ends.

Empire Arcadia (A website devoted to cultural development through gaming) has set up an event called Fellowship of the Gamers. Here is what the organization says about the pending event:

This demonstration is to show that gamers will not take the blame of this tragic matter but we will do what we can to help put an end to terrible events like this. We reiterate and urge that all leaders of gaming communities, organizations down to the last gamer to set aside 10 hours of this day to pay respect and come together not just as gamers but as HUMAN BEINGS for peace.

Fellowship of the Gamers will take place on May 5th, 2007 in New York City at Bryant Park. The event starts at 1pm EST.

for making Britain violent

From Metro see full article
Image from www.moonbattery.com

Ken Livingstone launched a vitriolic tirade against violent TV, films, gangsta rap and Margaret Thatcher, blaming them all for making Britain violent.

The London mayor claimed hit TV series 24 'seems to justify torture', and also laid into Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.  Livingstone said the film simply glorifies violence rather than showing people that use their brain power to achieve their goal.

The Thatcher years helped create a generation of people whose children did not have a moral code, he claimed.

He also said some rap music was behind the current spate of violence and society's moral breakdown.

   
BBFC published research re playing video games

From the BBFC see also BBFC Video Games Report [pdf]

Video games tend to polarise opinions in a way that other entertainment media do not. People who do not play them cannot understand their attraction and that lack of understanding can lead to some games being demonised. While there is research designed to show the short term physical reactions of video games players, there is very little information about why people play video games and what impact they think playing games has on them. The BBFC today published the results of a research project involving video games players ranging from children as young as seven through to players in their early 40s; parents of young games players; games industry representatives; and games reviewers.

The research set out to gain insights into a number of issues including:

• the attractions of playing video games
• what impact games players think playing has on them and their behaviour
• whether the interactivity element of games alters the experience
• what players think about the violence in some games
• how they choose which games to play
• what parents think about video games.

The key findings of the research were:

• that children begin playing games at an increasingly early age, but that the overall age of games players is getting older
• there is a sharp divide between male and female games players in their taste in games and how long they spend playing
• female games players tend to prefer ‘strategic life simulation’ games like The Sims and puzzle games and spend less time playing than their male counterparts
• male players favour first ‘person shooter’ and sports games and are much more likely to become deeply absorbed in the play
• younger games players are influenced to play particular games by peer pressure and word of mouth, but negative press coverage for a game will significantly increase its take up
• people play games to escape from every day life and to escape to a world of adventure without risk which is under the control of the gamer, unlike the real world
• games provide a sense of achievement and are active, unlike television and films which are passive. However, games are better at developing action than building character and as such gamers tend to care less about the storyline than making progress in the game
• gamers appear to forget they are playing games less readily than film goers forget they are watching a film because they have to participate in the game for it to proceed. They appear to non-games players to be engrossed in what they are doing, but, they are concentrating on making progress, and are unlikely to be emotionally involved
• gamers claim that playing games is mentally stimulating and that playing develops hand eye coordination
• violence in games, in the sense of eliminating obstacles, is built into the structure of some games and is necessary to progress through the game. It contributes to the tension because gamers are not just shooting, they are vulnerable to being shot and most gamers are concentrating on their own survival rather than the damage they are inflicting on the characters in the game. While there is an appeal in being able to be violent without being vulnerable to the consequences which similar actions in real life would create, gamers are aware that they are playing a game and that it is not real life
• gamers are aware that violence in games is an issue and younger players find some of the violence upsetting, particularly in games rated for adults. There is also concern that in some games wickedness prevails over innocence. However, most gamers are not seriously concerned about violence in games because they think that the violence on television and in films is more upsetting and more real
• gamers are virtually unanimous in rejecting the suggestion that video games encourage people to be violent in real life or that they have become desensitised. They see no evidence in themselves or their friends who play games that they have become more violent in real life. As one participant said: I no more feel that I have actually scored a goal than I do that I have actually killed someone. I know it’s not real. The emphasis is on achievement.
• non-games playing parents are concerned about the amount of time their children, particularly boys, spend playing games and would prefer that they were outside in the fresh air. However, they are more concerned about the ‘stranger-danger’ of internet chat rooms. While the violence in games surprises them and concerns some of them, they are confident that their children are well balanced enough to not be influenced by playing violent games
• while parents agree that there should be regulation of games some are happy to give their children adult games because they are “only games”.

David Cooke, Director of the BBFC said:

The BBFC classified just under three hundred video games last year. Most games in the UK are classified under a pan-European voluntary system, but those with adult content are required to come to us. We take this part of our responsibilities under the Video Recordings Act very seriously. Our examiners actually play the games for up to five hours, assessing all levels of the games and considering all the key issues. Players and the parents of young players can be sure that all aspects of the game have been taken into account before reaching a classification. We require key issues to be flagged and aids such as cheat codes to be supplied to us. We take context into account, and examine works in a way which is as thorough and penetrating as anywhere in the world.

The element of interactivity in games carries some weight when we are considering a video game. We were particularly interested to see that this research suggests that, far from having a potentially negative impact on the reaction of the player, the very fact that they have to interact with the game seems to keep them more firmly rooted in reality. People who do not play games raise concerns about their engrossing nature, assuming that players are also emotionally engrossed. This research suggests the opposite; a range of factors seems to make them less emotionally involving than film or television. The adversaries which players have to eliminate have no personality and so are not real and their destruction is therefore not real, regardless of how violent that destruction might be. This firm grasp on reality seems to extend to younger players, but this is no reason to allow them access to adult rated games, as they themselves often admit that they find the violence in games like Manhunt very upsetting. Parents should not treat video games in the same way they would board games. We will continue to examine very carefully those games which come to us, to flag any concerns we have and, if necessary, to use our statutory powers.

There is no question that video games are an important form of entertainment for an ever increasing number of people. As the technology improves the games will become more and more realistic and it is important that games are properly rated to protect younger players from the games with adult content, which the BBFC does. This research provides some valuable insights into why people play video games and what effect they think playing has on themselves and friends. It has also highlighted parental attitudes to video games. We hope that it will provide some food for thought for the industry, and everyone who has an interest in the impact of games and we will be taking the research outcomes into account as we review our games classification policies over the coming months.

IWF publish their annual report

From IWF see Annual Report 2006 [pdf]

The IWF  have a remit to minimise the availability of potentially illegal internet content, specifically:

• child abuse images hosted anywhere in the world
• criminally obscene content hosted in the UK
• incitement to racial hatred content hosted in the UK

However the report rightfully concentrates on action against child abuse images and there is little if anything mentioned about actions against adult obscene content.

The IWF have added a note about avoiding the term 'child pornography'. They say: Please note that the terms ‘child pornography’ or ‘child porn’ can act to legitimise images which are not pornography. Rather, they are permanent records of children being sexually abused and as such should be referred to as child abuse images.

The Mary Whitehouse Story to air on BBC

From The Mirror see full article

Julie Walters is to play moral standards crusader Mary Whitehouse in a film by her archenemy, the BBC.

Devout Christian Whitehouse became a household name after starting her campaign against "blasphemy, bad language, violence and indecency" on the airwaves when she heard The Beatles say "knickers" on a show in 1964.

Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story was written by Amanda Coe, who helped script Channel 4's Shameless. It will reveal how former BBC director general Hugh Carleton Greene reacted to her attacks by commissioning a nude painting of her with five breasts for his office.

Executive producer Leanne Klein said the 90-minute film, based on first-hand accounts, would be filled with humour.

Court judgement challenges freedom of expression

Based on an article from The Guardian see full article

The courtroom struggles of two Canadian women - one an international folk star, the other her former close friend - have far-reaching implications for press freedom

Loreena McKennitt is a Canadian folk star and Niema Ash is a travel writer who became a close friend of McKennitt until the friendship turned sour.

In order to try to come to terms with the collapse of their relationship - "a cathartic exercise" - Ash decided to write a biography which she entitled Travels With Loreena McKennitt: My Life as a Friend. To ensure control, Ash also arranged to publish it herself.

Published in June 2005, the book is essentially about the nature of celebrity, though it clearly dwells on intimate personal matters too. McKennitt has given many interviews herself but had previously stopped the publication of another book about her songs, citing her right to privacy. So Ash cannot have been too surprised when she launched a legal action to ban the book. She later reduced that to a demand that 38 separate sections be deleted, some of them as small as five lines.

But it was the cause of action that was so surprising. She did not sue for libel, which is fairly normal in such circumstances, but claimed the book breached her privacy.

An affronted Ash refused to accede to the demand and, having previously armed herself with insurance, decided to fight the case. Once the insurers' money ran out, its lawyers were forced to retire, and Ash represented herself in the high court. It is impossible to know whether Mr Justice Eady's decision would have been different if Ash had had the benefit of an experienced barrister, but his ruling certainly astonished the legal community.

In finding for McKennitt, and insisting that eight of the 38 instances should be expunged, the judge tipped the balance away from freedom of expression for the media, and towards the the legitimate expectation of citizens to have their private lives protected.

He drew heavily on the controversial European court of human rights victory by Princess Caroline of Monaco over pictures of her taken in public. Eady decided that information does not forfeit its "private" quality simply because it concerns events that could have been witnessed in a public place or because third parties are involved. In other words, authors cannot assert they have a right to freedom of expression if, in telling their own life stories, they reveal information about someone else's.

Now, following the refusal of the House of Lords to hear a further appeal, it is possible to get to grips with the issues. There is a possibility of a petition to the European Court of Human Rights, but that has not deterred Ash from deciding to talk openly about the case for the first time.

Ash has now published a new version of the book, deleting the offending material but adding a chapter which deals with the trial. It was held in private and I think that was grossly unfair, she says. As for the judgment itself, let me just say that I believe it was seriously flawed.

But it's hard to see, from the available evidence, that Ash was anything other than decent and fair and truthful. It isn't a kiss-and-tell book, she says. It's about friendship and fame. It's my story, and I should be allowed to tell it.

Magazine challenged for likening god to traffic cop

From Middle East Times see full article

A senior Islamic cleric is taking a writer and a culture magazine editor to court for offending Islam after writing a poem comparing God to a "traffic policeman".

Sheikh Youssef Al Badri, of the government Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, together with 18 other plaintiffs, is suing poet Helmy Salem and Ahmed Higazi, the editor-in-chief of the culture publication Al Ibdaa, for "blasphemy" and "offending the divine being."

The plaintiffs complained of the insolence of the writer to portray God as a traffic policeman.

For kissing Richard Gere!

From the BBC see full article

Actor Richard Gere has sparked protests in India after kissing Celebrity Big Brother winner Shilpa Shetty at an Aids awareness rally in New Delhi.

Demonstrators in Mumbai (Bombay) set light to effigies of the Hollywood star, while protesters in other cities shouted "death to Shilpa Shetty".

The protesters said Gere insulted Indian culture by kissing the hand and face of the Bollywood actress. Public displays of affection and sex are still largely taboo in India.

Shetty downplayed the incident, saying: it was not so obscene. This was not such a big thing for people to over-react in such a manner. I understand people's sentiments, but I don't want a foreigner to take bad memories from here. I understand this is his culture, not ours.

The Aids awareness rally focussed on India's truck driving community, with Gere leading proceedings by shouting "no condom, no sex" in Hindi. The crowd whooped with delight and whistled as the 58-year-old clasped Shetty and kissed her on the face several times.

After the actress recovered her balance, Gere offered her a gallant bow.

Protesters said his embrace of one of the country's leading ladies had been "vulgar" and demanded an apology from the film star.

   
Fast tracking an extension of censorship

From The Sydney Morning Herald see full article

The Federal Attorney-General, Philip Ruddock, has rejected calls for an appeal against the federal film and literature censorship body's PG rating for DVDs that reportedly praise terrorism and vilify Jews.

Instead he called a news conference to pressure his state and territory counterparts into moving quickly to strengthen censorship laws after it was revealed that DVDs made by Sheik Feiz Mohammed of the Global Islamic Youth Centre had been classified as suitable for children.

The DVDs, known as The Death Series, carry a sermon that Ruddock described as "a mad rant" and reportedly call for the murder of the infidels, and calling Jews pigs.

Although he had not seen it, Ruddock said: Sheik Feiz Mohammed's sermon … clearly in my view advocates the carrying out of acts which would be tantamount to terrorism.

Ruddock would not criticise the Office of Film and Literature Classification for the rating, but blamed inadequate laws, which he said he would overhaul himself if the states did not agree to a co-operative approach.

He agreed that the office might have been able to give it an M or R classification, but also ruled out referring the decision to the office's own review board, saying it would be guided by the same code that had been drafted at a time when advocacy of terrorist acts was not on the agenda.

Ruddock called for attorneys-general to amend the code guiding the censorship body. The current test of whether a film or publication "promotes, incites or instructs" people to do a criminal act was inadequate, he said.

Ruddock said that the states had previously delayed the censorship matter until July but have now agreed on Friday to deal with it: The officials could meet this week, we could go through the consultation that's necessary and we could endorse this within three weeks and have the code in place, if they're prepared to co-operate.

Survey of blasphemy and defamation laws

From Scoop see full article
See also World Press Freedom Committee

Journalists in more than 70 countries were punished, sometimes with lengthy prison sentences, for allegedly "insulting" the dignity of officials or institutions in 2006, according to a report due for release by the World Press Freedom Committee.

It's A Crime: How Insult Laws Stifle Press Freedom updates WPFC's comprehensive 2000 survey of insult laws and includes reports of laws invoked as well as progress toward reform or repeal of such laws during 2006.

More than 10 years ago, in 1996, WPFC launched a global campaign for the elimination of insult laws, carry-overs from Roman times when emperors were considered divine and were protected by such laws from injury to their dignity. European monarchs adopted the same principle, in the form of the concept of lese majeste - offense against the sovereign.

Today, insult laws are used to discourage criticism of officials, to protect government actions from scrutiny and to punish journalists who seek and report information. This study represents a continuation of WPFC's campaign against insult laws and broadens this to include examination of the related issues of defamation and blasphemy, inspired by global protests over publication of a series of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

It's a Crime demonstrates that in most of those cases in which someone claims insult to his dignity or to state institutions, political differences are involved. Where the defendants are overwhelmingly editorial critics of the ruling party, dissenters, minority voices, or activists in an opposition party, the conclusion is inescapable that the insult law is an important weapon in the armory of the powerful to punish and thus chill expressions of opposition, WPFC Chairman Richard N. Winfield writes in the report's foreword.

The aim of the World Press Freedom Committee's latest study is to show how the continued use of these laws is detrimental to press freedom, and to encourage nations maintaining such laws to take a leadership role in eliminating them.

   
Federal report into marketing violent entertainment to children

From Video Business see full article
See also report: Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children

It looks like unrated DVDs, which made a cause celebre at ShoWest last month when NATO called them “a cheap shot at the ratings system,” are going to enjoy—or endure—that status for awhile.

No less than the federal government has seen to it, lumping unrated discs together with R-rated movie tickets, R-rated DVDs, music labeled for explicit content and M-rated videogames in its latest report on the marketing and sales of violent entertainment to children.

While the concerned opponents of unrated DVDs look at them as exploiting a loophole in the ratings system, it should be noted that the edgier versions generally include only minor amounts of content not submitted for the rated version. Funnier, sexier, more gory marketing aside, in most cases, the unrated version would receive the exact same rating as the film got in its theatrical release if it were submitted to the MPAA ratings board.

The report makes the following recommendations:

• The movie and electronic game industries should consider placing all of the rating information prominently on the front of product packaging to make that information more visible for parents at the point of purchase.
• The music industry should consider providing more information on product packaging and in advertising as to why a particular recording has been labeled with a Parental Advisory, which would require industry members to more thoroughly review recordings for different types of explicit content.
• The music industry should do a better job of displaying the Parental Advisory Label in television and online advertising.
• Retailers should further implement and enforce point-of-sale policies restricting the sale of R-rated movie DVDs, explicit-content labeled music, and M-rated games to children.
• The movie industry should examine whether the current methods of marketing and selling unrated or “Director’s Cut” versions of R-rated movies undermines the self-regulatory system and undercuts efforts to provide accurate and useful rating information to consumers and to retailers trying to set store sales policies.
•  The ESRB should consider conducting targeted research into the reasons why a significant minority of parents believe the system could do a better job of informing them about the level of violence, sex, or profanity in some games.

   
Australian nutters expect insults to be banned

Based on an article from News.com.au see full article

A supposedly pro-terror hate film that urges children to martyr themselves in Islam's war on the West and calls Jews "pigs" has been rated PG by Australia's censors.

Sheik Feiz Mohammed's DVD box set, which also calls for the murder of non-believers, was initially seized by Federal anti-terror police.

The Office of Film and Literature Classification has ruled that The Death Series is suitable to be bought and watched by children.

The decision has seen the nation's peak censorship body slammed as weak and out of touch by nutter groups and the Jewish community.

It has also asked questions about the Attorney-General's plans to bring in tough new laws that ban material which "advocates" terrorism.

The films urge parents to make their children holy warriors and martyrs, and praises jihad as the pinnacle of Islam. The radical sheik makes snorting noises on the films as he vilifies Jews as the "army of pigs". He blames a lack of courage for martyrdom on the battlefield for the "humiliation" of Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Guantanamo.

The OFLC finding said the sheik's calls to "jihad" and "martyrdom" were ambiguous. And it found that comments vilifying Jews as an "army of pigs" and saying "behind me is a Jew, come kill him" were mitigated by the context.

The Australian Family Association said the Sheik Feiz decision was just the latest ruling by a "hardened" OFLC detached from community values.

Teen shows up arbitrary YouTube censorship

From Wired

A 15-year-old boy has apologized to the Australian Broadcasting Company after pretending to represent them in demanding the removal of hundreds of video clips from YouTube.

After sending a signed form telling the site to rid itself of footage, YouTube apparently not only did so without any attempt to verify the order, but threatened the original uploaders with the closure of their accounts if they re-upped the material.

ABC, it turns out, expressly didn't want the material removed. Here's their head of comedy, Courtney Gibson: But what was of concern to us was the fact that YouTube was sending copyright infringement notices to people who have been uploading Chaser clips to YouTube, threatening to shut down their access to YouTube if they persist. That's what was worrying to us.

It turns out that ABC encourages sharing the show in question, The Chaser's War on Everything, as it's the the kind of satirical comedy series that intelligent broadcasters like to have doing the viral rounds.

   
Drinks censors and their ban of Rubbel Sexy Lager

Thanks to Alan who points out more from The Portman Groups press release on the ban:

David Poley, Chief Executive of The Portman Group, said: Some people might think this is harmless fun but there is a serious issue involved. Drinking excessively can affect people’s judgement and behaviour leading to them engaging in sexual activity which they later regret. [Sounds like he is referring to beer goggles]

Our Code disallows drinks marketing being linked to sexual success. The industry has set itself strict marketing rules and this drink has fallen short of those high standards.

All complaints are heard by an Independent Complaints Panel which is Chaired by Sir Richard Tilt, former Director General of the Prison Service.   The Panel looks at each case on its merits and decides whether the complaint should be upheld.  A single complaint from a member of the public, or any interested party, is enough to trigger an investigation.  The other members of the Panel are Morven Proctor, Callum Jacobs, Angela Sarkis CBE, Nigel Long, Jon Eggleton, Revd. Canon Professor Martyn Percy and Barbara O'Donnell.

And as Alan says, Interesting to see the make-up of the allegedly "independent" group who adjudicate, including such establishment figures as a knight (and former chief jailer!) a CBE and a canon. Who do these prats think they are?

Sergio wryly makes an observation about the great and the good: Being in a position of power can also affect people’s judgement and behaviour leading to them engaging in sexual activity which they later regret.

Contributing to the hype for Malaysia's Don't Look Back

From nine msn

The Malaysian censors have warned pregnant women and people with heart problems to avoid watching a new horror movie, providing publicity that is helping it break local box office records.

Don't Look Back, which chronicles a man's probe into his fiancee's mysterious death, is set to become the highest-grossing local film ever, said producer David Teo.

A review by the Malay Mail newspaper called it the scariest local movie ever made. The Malay-language movie also gained notoriety because a stuntman fell to his death in an accident during shooting.

Don't Look Back received some unexpected publicity after the government-run National Censorship Board insisted the movie's posters and advertisements include a warning: Not suitable for pregnant women and those with ailing hearts.

Children below 14 years old must be accompanied by adult guardians, Teo said, adding that surveys indicate teenagers comprise about 40% of the movie's 400,000 viewers so far.

A vague chance of more adult fare on Philippines TV

Based on an article from Manila Standard Today see full article

Films contain lengthy scenes of scantily dressed or almost nude couples in various acts of lovemaking have start ed to appear on TV. As have some that portray violence.

A little inquiry made by this journalist revealed that this phenomenon can be traced to the issuance of a directive by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) which allows all television stations to air programs “containing liberal dose of violence and sexual scenes” from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The catch is that Memorandum Circular 03-07, signed by MTRCB Chairperson Ma. Consoliza Laguardia on March 7, does not say what liberal dose exactly means.

A board member of the MTRCB said the circular is defective because films that are shown on TV have only two classifications—one for general viewing (GV) and the other with parental guidance (PG).

Has the issuance of the circular given TV stations the license to air whatever shows they want—including those that have (restricted) rating? The more intrepid in the entertainment industry may stretch the interpretation of the circular by assuming that even graphic, hardcore porn is now allowed as long as it is aired within the designated hours.

According to the MTRCB member, films with R and For Adults Only ratings still could not be shown and this should have been clearly specified in the circular.

In her circular, Laguardia merely stated that the rationale behind the policy is to protect young viewers from the negative and harmful effects of such programs and allow adult audiences to enjoy these kinds of programs.

If the indiscriminate showing of sex and violence-oriented films is happening without a howl of public protest, perhaps it is because the usually-vigilant media is now pre-occupied with the election campaign and thus has inadvertently overlooked the matter.

   
Demanding age verified secure login

From AVN see full article

Senators Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) introduced a new bill aimed at curtailing minors' access to sexually explicit content online.

The Cyber Safety for Kids Act of 2007 would require all adult websites to incorporate secure login mechanisms that include age verification, "clean" homepages, and some sort of electronic flag to facilitate filtering. The U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunication & Information Administration would oversee enforcement of the act, and failure to comply could be punished by fines or the removal of offending websites from cyberspace.

The senators' bill also would direct the DOC to report to Congress about the feasibility of instituting two content-specific domains, one for child-safe material and another for adults-only material.

I wish the solution to protecting kids on the Internet was as easy as shutting every one of these [sexually explicit] sites down, but it's not, Pryor said in a prepared statement. However, government can and should be a better partner to parents by providing basic protections.

Pryor also took the U.S. government to task for turning a blind eye to online pornography, saying that has allowed the adult industry to expand rapidly and put children's innocence at risk. He said the number of sexually explicit Web pages grew from 14 million in 1998 to more than 400 million in 2005, and many of [them] aggressively target children as their audience, according to the prepared statement.

Baucus and Pryor admitted the U.S. cannot force websites based in other countries to comply with U.S. law. In addition, there is no guarantee age-verification mechanisms would weed out all underage website visitors.

The bill's next stop is a hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee.

Another Chinese campaign against porn

I would have thought that anything to do with porn would have been banned already

Based on an article from The Times see full article

The Chinese Government has launched another six-month campaign against online pornography, rumours and slander.

Chinese web controls are already among the world’s tightest, with internet traffic subject to automatic filters and manual monitoring. The Government encourages web use for education and business but tries to block access to material considered obscene or subversive.

The Ministry of Public Security said the campaign would target cyber strip shows and sexually explicit images, stories and audio and video clips. The boom of pornographic content on the internet has contaminated cyberspace and perverted China’s young minds, Zhang Xinfeng, a deputy public security minister, said: content that spreads rumours and is of a slanderous nature would also be blocked.

Official announcements of the latest internet campaign have focused on pornography. The Xinhua state news agency claims that a third of detainees at the Beijing Reformatory for Juvenile Delinquents were influenced by violent online games or erotic websites when they committed crimes such as robbery and rape.

Online pornography is already illegal, but it remains available to anyone who wants to search hard enough. The inflow of pornographic materials from abroad and lax domestic controls are to blame for the existing problems in China’s cyberspace, Zhang said.

   
Drinks censors ban Rubbel Sexy Lager

Based on an article from Morning Advertiser see full article

Bottles of a Belgian lager displaying a picture of a woman whose clothing can be removed have been stripped from shelves for breaching The Portman Group’s rules.

Labels of Rubbel Sexy Lager show the young lady wearing a swimsuit that can be scratched off to reveal her naked.

Buckinghamshire Trading SubStandards complained to the drinks watchdog which ruled the name of the drink and the swimsuit feature were associated with sexual success.

This is banned under The Portman Group’s Code of Practice on the Naming, Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks. The drinks have been withdrawn from sale following the complaint decision.

David Poley, chief executive of The Portman Group, spouted politically correct bollox: Some people might think this is harmless fun but there is a serious issue involved.

Drinking excessively can affect people’s judgement and behaviour leading to them engaging in sexual activity which they later regret.

Soviet style control of Russian media

From Bloomberg see full article

President Vladimir Putin has already brought Russian newspapers and television to heel. Now he's turning his attention to the Internet.

As the Kremlin gears up for the election of Putin's successor next March, Soviet-style controls are being extended to online news after a presidential decree last month set up a new agency to supervise both mass media and the Web.

All three national TV stations are state-controlled, and the state gas monopoly, OAO Gazprom, has been taking over major newspapers; self-censorship is routine. That has left the Internet as the main remaining platform for political debate, and Web sites that test the boundaries of free speech are already coming under pressure.

In December, a court in the Siberian region of Khakassia shut down the Internet news site Novy Fokus for not registering as a media outlet. The site, known for its critical reporting, reopened in late March after it agreed to register and accept stricter supervision.

Anticompromat.ru, which wrote about Putin's pre-presidential business interests, had to find a U.S. Web server after a Russian service provider pulled the plug March 28, saying it had been warned by officials to stop hosting the site.

Last year, the authorities shut down a Web site called Kursiv in the city of Ivanovo, northeast of Moscow, that lampooned Putin as a "phallic symbol of Russia'' for his drive to boost the birthrate.

Putin isn't allowed to run for re-election in 2008 under Russia's two-term constitutional limit. Instead, he is promoting two potential successors: First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Sergei Ivanov a KGB colleague of Putin who oversees much of Russian industry, including transport and nuclear power. The two have become fixtures on state-controlled television.

An obscene lack of supporters

From The Guardian Well worthwhile reading full article by James Silver

Mary Whitehouse packed halls and hogged the airwaves, so why is her successor finding it very difficult to lobby support when a similar group in the US is hugely popular?

In its heyday, Whitehouse's NVALA had 150,000 members (including affiliated groups), as well as a broad public profile. However, today, the organisation, renamed mediawatch-UK after her death in 2001, is a shadow of itself, with just 5,000 on its books. Her successor, John Beyer, who is softly-spoken and unassuming, concedes the Herculean nature of the task he faces. [Membership] has gone down, but we are taking steps to reverse the trend. Next month we're taking on an extra member of staff to go around the country to promote mediawatch-UK and find new members. But it's an uphill struggle.

The presence of Whitehouse, he acknowledges, still looms large. Mary was very good at getting headlines and I'm aware of the fact that I'm not, he says ruefully. She had the ear of Mrs Thatcher, when she was prime minister, there's no doubt about that. When I write to Tony Blair, John Reid or Tessa Jowell I don't even get replies.

Nevertheless, on the other side of the Atlantic, the Parents Television Council (PTC), which shares many of mediawatch-UK's values and goals, boasts a powerful public profile. While it is true that with one million members, the far better resourced PTC is a leviathan when compared with Beyer's rag-tag Kent-based army, its campaigning tactics centre on two things; keeping its message simple and its focus on mainstream TV (as opposed to the media as a whole). The PTC also confronts advertisers over TV which it considers beyond the pale.

There are a number of different facets to what we do but advertiser campaigns are a major part, explains its director of corporate and government affairs, Dan Issett: Advertisers are the ones who buy the ads and actually pay for much of the programming. These corporations have written codes of corporate conduct and often some of the graphic and explicit content in TV shows runs contrary to their codes. A lot of the time it's simply a matter of making them aware of the content they are actually sponsoring and encouraging them to adhere to their published standards. We also maintain a pretty high profile in terms of media exposure, we run letter-writing campaigns and pursue other forms of contact with policy-makers. But all we really do is tap into the frustration of the American people with the state of the entertainment industry in general and TV in particular.

The PTC can count on an American public broadly sympathetic to its message. In Britain, on the other hand, says Professor Steven Barnett, professor of communications at Westminster university, values have changed dramatically in recent decades, as has the media landscape.

He says: Whitehouse was brilliant at capturing a mood. But that mood has changed. Britain is a more tolerant, less censorious place. Beyer would have a much stronger constituency in America. If a tit pops out on primetime over there the country goes berserk. We left that behind 30 years ago. For that reason Beyer's organisation doesn't really have much of a constituency any more.

   
Books and films advocating terrorism to be banned

Like the 'shock and awe' raid on Iraq?

From the BBC see full article

The Australian government has announced plans to outlaw material that advocates terrorism.

Books and films deemed to glorify terrorism will be removed from shelves and barred from entering the country.

The government says the changes are part of its zero tolerance policy towards terrorism. But critics say they will lead to the censorship of material helpful to those wishing to understand radical Islam.

Present laws restrict the publication or dissemination of materials which promote, incite or instruct people to carry out terrorist acts. The amended law would mark a significant extension of censorship powers, outlawing books and films deemed to speak out in favour of terrorist violence.

The new law would be targeted at removing the material from publication, rather than punishing its authors, and customs officers would be given much broader powers to confiscate books and films being imported into the country.

Opus Dei complaints rejected by BBC

From The Telegraph see full article

A Complaint by Opus Dei that its members were unfairly portrayed as "murderers, thieves and adulterers" in the television crime drama Waking the Dead has been rejected by the BBC.

The Roman Catholic lay organisation, whose members include Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, claimed that the drama had presented its members as "self-serving hypocrites" who cover up evil actions while hiding behind a veneer of piety and penitential rituals of self flagellation.

But Andrew Bell, the director of the corporation's editorial complaints unit, said he could not uphold the complaint as he thought most viewers would not take the programme seriously.

Bell said Waking the Dead was a highly fictionalised format in which unlikely conspiracies, guilty secrets and unexpected revelations are the order of the day.

The controversial Catholic organisation complained about two episodes in January which featured an Opus Dei member shooting his lover, a married woman who is also a member, and a rival.

The award-winning drama also depicted the fictional head of the Catholic organisation as a shadowy figure pursuing money and power and implied that it was involved in the real-life murder of the Italian banker Roberto Calvi in 1982.

Jack Valero, a director of Opus Dei, said the portrayal of the organisation was unremittingly negative. He said all the characters linked to the group were "criminal or immoral". He vowed to take the matter further.

Tunisia blocks video sharing site

From afrol see full article
See also Dailymotion

Tunisian authorities have followed the example of China and Thailand by blocking access to a website sharing videos. The Dailymotion site had posted some political videos and its editor now risks three years in prison.

Omar Mestiri is the editor of the Tunisian opposition online newspaper Kalima and also runs the video-sharing website Dailymotion.

But since 1 April, the Dailymotion website has been inaccessible in Tunisia, while it can still be accessed by web surfers outside the country. Also Kalima is out of reach for Tunisians. The reason is that the site is being blocked by authorities in Tunis, who control the national internet service providers.

Mestiri is now also facing a libel suit that could result in a three-year prison sentence. The suit against the courageous editor was brought by Tunisian lawyer Mohammed Baccar over an article posted on 5 September 2006 accusing him of fraud and forgery.

Mestiri was summoned by the deputy state prosecutor to respond to a charge of libel on 29 March. His lawyers have challenged the suit's legal basis on the grounds that the Kalima site is blocked in Tunisia and the article therefore could not have been accessed there.

Reporters sans Frontičres (RSF) claimed that editor Mestiri is the victim of judicial harassment, adding that the lawsuit was absurd because it is based on an online article that cannot even be accessed from within Tunisia.

From IFEX see full article
See also the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group report [doc]

The Tunisian government has failed to make progress in improving free expression conditions over the past year, even further stifling dissidents, the IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG) has found in its fourth major report.

Since the TMG's last report in May 2006, the group has witnessed serious deterioration in the conditions related to freedom of expression in Tunisia, particularly with respect to the harassment of journalists and dissidents, threats to the independence of the judiciary, blocking of books and websites, restrictions on independent organisations, and imprisonment of the human rights lawyer Mohamed Abbou for posting articles critical of the Tunisian authorities on the Internet.

Beyer Recommends.. Me!

Sterile TV for everyone

The fact that Beyer still claims to represent the views of the entire licence fee paying population shows his arrogance hasn't dropped one bit. Perhaps he's still miffed he didn't get the job.

Thanks to Dan

The new chairman of the BBC must make reducing “offensive content” his number one priority demands John Beyer of Mediawatch-UK

Sir Michael Lyons, a former Labour councillor and market trader, was named as Michael Grade’s replacement. The 57-year-old said it was a “great privilege” to take the helm of the BBC Trust, which he said would act as the “licence fee payer’s voice”.

John Beyer welcomed Lyon's comments but said he needed to demonstrate a willingness to tackle violence, sex and swearing on TV. Beyer said research done by the Office of Communications showed that most people think there’s too much violence and bad language on our screens.

I hope very much that Sir Michael will take seriously those public concerns, he said. He’s got a lot of work to do to persuade licence fee payers he really is their champion.

Beyer said he hoped Sir Michael would follow in the footsteps of the late Marmaduke Hussey, who was BBC chairman from 1986 to 1996: He has to take notice of public opinion. I look forward to comments from him similar to Marmaduke Hussey when he became chairman – that he would eradicate gratuitous violence, sex and bad language from our programmes.

Lyons told a press conference this week: Every member of the UK population pays the same licence fee and each have equal ownership. My job as chairman of the Trust is to ensure that we listen to the main and varied views throughout the UK and seek to ensure they are reflected in the work and output of the BBC.

   
Mediawatch assured no hardcore on UK TV

From Mediawatch-UK see Spring Newsbrief

In meetings with Ofcom officials we have made our opposition very clear with regard to the transmission on television of ‘R18’ pornography. We have supported the prohibition on such material set out in the Broadcasting Code on the grounds that it does not meet with ‘generally accepted standards’. We have been assured that it is unlikely that the existing prohibition will be removed.

Canadian TV regulator considers this inappropriate to 8am

From Reuters see full article

The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council ruled that an April 16, 2006, episode of MTV Live that was broadcast at 8 a.m. was inappropriate for a morning time slot.

The offending episode, which included segments on a virtual sex machine and an online role-playing sex game, led one viewer to file a formal complaint with the CBSC.

It was the creepiest, most distasteful thing I've ever seen on television! This was cable TV, Easter Monday at 8:30 a.m.!, the viewer wrote. The viewer was particularly concerned about a segment on a virtual sex machine, which he described as "indecent" and "distasteful."

The CBSC weighed in, ruling that the MTV Live episode breached an industry code of ethics, holding that sexually explicit content should not air before the industry-established watershed hour of 9 p.m.

The CBSC referees said TV programming is considered adult fare in Canada if it contains explicit "dialogue, discussion or descriptions" of sex.

The CBSC also said that MTV Canada failed to air viewer advisories before airing the program.

The price of re-opening Pantip.com

Based on an article from the Bangkok Post

The censors at the Information and Communications Technology Ministry yesterday backtracked and lifted its ban on online political forum ''Ratchadamnoen'' after the founder of Pantip.com agreed to screen out comments offensive to the monarchy.

Founder Wanchat Padungrat said after a meeting with ICT Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom that the minister told the web board to remove offensive opinions about the Royal Family. But any comments about the government and the coup makers could be posted, he said: More webmasters will be employed to check our content around the clock. I'm sure unseemly messages will be kept under control.

Sitthichai said the forum would be allowed to go ahead after Pantip.com webmasters assured him they could control opinions verging on attacking the monarchy and Privy Council president Prem Tinsulanonda.

The ministry on Tuesday ordered CAT Telecom and TOT Plc to set up two websites to counter what it said were ill-intentioned people posting views that could cause disunity in the country, and to clarify the issues promptly. Sitthichai said the websites would focus on current social and political issues. The content would be produced by the staff of the two state telecom enterprises but some might be outsourced.

Nudity did not cause distress

Here is the relevant law

2003 Sexual Offences Act - Section 66 : Exposure

(1) A person commits an offence if-
(a) he intentionally exposes his genitals, and
(b) he intends that someone will see them and be caused alarm or distress.

So as the Sheriff says, no distress then no crime. Given that it is so clear, then perhaps it is the prosecutors that should be put in the dock.

From the Daily Mail see full article

"Naked rambler" Stephen Gough has been cleared of causing a breach of the peace by refusing to cover up in a public car park.

Despite being convicted eight times, Sheriff Isobel Poole ruled that his latest case was not proven.

The ex-marine, from Eastleigh in Hampshire, admitted refusing to dress before being released into Saughton Prison car park in Edinburgh.

He successfully argued that his naked state had not distressed others.

Isobel Poole ruled that there was insufficient evidence to show that his state of undress had caused alarm to members of the public, therefore causing a breach of the peace. She told Edinburgh Sheriff Court Sheriff court that in this case there was no evidence of "actual alarm or disturbance": I can understand this conduct could be considered unpleasant to passers-by had there been any but there is a lack of evidence to that effect.

Fiscal Depute Naeema Sajid had argued unsuccessfully that because the Saughton car park was visited by a variety of people, including children, an offence had been committed.

Malaysia decides not to register bloggers

From The Times see full article

Malaysia has rejected a proposal to order local bloggers to register with the government, saying that existing laws are enough to deter internet users from posting malicious content.

Announcing his decision, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi warned bloggers not to publish rumours or offensive remarks, adding that laws to penalise them will be invoked when the need arises. Existing laws are sufficient. Even if they are ordered to register, some of them may not comply and resort to using other channels through foreign servers.

   
Bush dishonoured by freedom of speech awards

From The Thomas Jefferson Centre see full article

For its unprecedented efforts of discouraging, changing, and sometimes censoring the reports and studies of government scientists in order to make them more supportive of political policies, a 2007 Jefferson Muzzle goes to… the Bush Administration.

Unfortunately, under the Bush administration examples of political interference in science no longer appear to be to isolated incidents but “a system-wide epidemic,” says Dr. Francesca Grifo, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Scientific Integrity Program.

For selectively imposing a policy prohibiting the use by collegiate teams of Native American names, mascots and symbols, a 2007 Jefferson Muzzle goes to… The National Collegiate Athletic Association.

For expelling four students who created a video that featured evil stuffed animals unsuccessfully dispatched to kill a teacher, a 2007 Jefferson Muzzle goes to… the Charles A. Beard Memorial School Board of Knightstown, Indiana.

In the video movie The Teddy Bear Master, a character with the power to control stuffed animals orders a number of the usually inanimate objects to kill a former teacher who had embarrassed him when he was a student. The evil plan of the “Master” is thwarted, however, by several fellow students who battle the teddy bears and thereby save the teacher’s life.

The makers of this 78-minute opus come not from Hollywood, but from Knightstown, Indiana. From the fall of 2005 until the summer of 2006, four sophomores at Knightstown High School wrote, directed, acted, and video taped the movie on their own time, off school grounds. The last name of the teacher / victim in the obviously fictional work was the same as the last name of an actual teacher at Knightstown Intermediate School, a school which several of the students had previously attended. A DVD copy of the video briefly was available for sale on the popular MySpace website for $5.00 but was removed when school officials became aware of it.

For filing a discrimination complaint against Geno’s Steaks solely on the basis of the public display of a sign reading “This is America . . . When Ordering, Speak English,” a 2007 Jefferson Muzzle goes to… the Philadelphia (PA) Commission on Human Relations.

For launching and sustaining a program, ostensibly aimed at counter-terrorists, that gathered and stored extensive information about lawful anti-war demonstrators and other citizen groups that posed no national security threat, a 2007 Jefferson Muzzle goes to the… United States Department of Defense.

Late in 2005, reports surfaced that a covert branch of the Department of Defense had been compiling and maintaining dossiers on peaceful protests within the United States, and on some of the advocacy groups that organized and took part in those protests. Despite the publicity and the concern expressed by some sectors, Congress took no action.

For denying a beer distributor’s application to sell three beers in the state because it disapproved of the artwork on the beers’ labels, a 2007 Jefferson Muzzle goes to… the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement.

For broadening substantially the scope of broadcast material that may constitute forbidden “indecency” and for targeting alleged “profanity” as well, a 2007 Jefferson Muzzle goes to… the Federal Communications Commission.

In 1927, Congress adopted the first law that regulated the content of material aired by federally licensed broadcasters. Since then “indecent” and “profane” utterances have been subject to sanctions by the Federal Communications Commission, along with material that is “obscene.” Until recently, the Committee declined to classify all uses of vulgar and taboo four-letter words on licensed broadcast stations as violations of this law and its successors. Several years ago, however, following widespread criticism of the infamous “Wardrobe Malfunction” during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, and other widely publicized linguistic challenges, the FCC has adopted a markedly tougher stance on suggestive language and imagery. Specifically, use of the “f-word” regardless of context has now been deemed “to have an inherently sexual connotation.”

For suspending students for wearing black armbands to school in protest of a new school dress code policy, a 2007 Muzzle goes to… Watson Chapel (Arkansas) School District.

For calling upon the Justice Department to seek criminal sanctions against a newspaper and its staff for disclosing publicly the existence and extent of covert, warrantless surveillance by the National Security Administration, a 2007 Jefferson Muzzle goes to… U. S. Representative Peter King (R., N.Y.)

For canceling the contract with the owner of a public access television station because he criticized City Council policies on air, a 2007 Jefferson Muzzle goes to… the City Council of East St. Louis, Illinois.

For attempting to remove children picture books from school libraries because the books were not sufficiently critical of life in Cuba under the Castro regime, a 2007 Jefferson Muzzle goes to… the Miami-Dade County (Florida) School Board.

For selectively blocking the workplace access of Kentucky state employees to certain political blogs and other Internet sites that had posted statements critical of the governor and his administration, a 2007 Jefferson Muzzle goes to… the Administration of Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher.

For three separate but remarkably similar acts of censoring the content of high school publications, a joint 2007 Jefferson Muzzle is awarded to the administrations of… Ben Davis High School (Indianapolis, IN), Princeton High School (Cincinnati, OH) and Wyoming Valley West High School (Kingston, PA).

For requiring, under the Ohio PATRIOT Act, that all applicants for employment with the State of Ohio or any of its agencies, must answer satisfactorily six intrusive and ambiguous questions pertaining to political beliefs and activities, a 2007 Jefferson Muzzle goes to… the Ohio General Assembly.

Undermining public confidence in Singapore

From Mainichi see full article
See also trailer

Singapore said it would ban a documentary about the 17-year detention of a former leftist activist because its "distorted and misleading" portrayal of the events could undermine confidence in the government.

Zahari's 17 Years is a 49-minute interview with Said Zahari, who was arrested in 1963 on suspicion of plotting violent acts and detained without trial for 17 years. Said, 78, now lives in Malaysia.

The Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts, which vets all films before release, said in a statement that the film was an attempt to clear Said of his involvement in activities against Singapore: The Government will not allow people who had posed a security threat to the country in the past, to exploit the use of films to purvey a false and distorted portrayal of their past actions and detention by the Government. This could undermine public confidence in the Government.

Filmmaker Martyn See, who was under investigation last year for a documentary about an opposition leader, said he was surprised by the ban. He said the film, produced at the end of 2005, had been approved twice last year with a PG rating: I don't know what changed. Maybe different people with different views watched it this time.

He said he had been ordered by the censorship board to surrender all copies of the film by Wednesday afternoon.

Suggest a politically correct code of blogging conduct

From The Scotsman see full article

Blogs are online diaries where writers often condemn their employers or write racily about their love lives. But the world of blogging faced a new challenge last night as two internet pioneers called for a new code of manners for anyone tempted to pour out their heart on the web.

The call for moderation came from Tim O'Reilly and Jimmy Wales, the creators of the hugely popular online encyclopaedia, Wikipedia. The pair want to call a halt to the so-called "flame wars" that can erupt on the internet as incensed readers of blogs then vent their feelings with heated comments online.

The power of the blog was vividly illustrated last month when Sir Martin Sorrell, an advertising magnate, head of the global WPP agency, accused two former colleagues of being behind a blog that depicted him as a mafia don. The case ended when Sir Martin accepted a Ł120,000 payout for invasion of privacy and libel.

Other blog incidents have also proved threatening. Kathy Sierra, a blogger and author from Colorado, cancelled an appearance at a technology conference in San Diego after receiving death threats from anonymous commentators on her blog. A police investigation into the threats continues.

O'Reilly is a friend of Sierra's and her experience prompted the new attempt to clean up the blogosphere, O'Reilly and Wales suggest bloggers sign up to a "Civility Enforced" standard committing the blogger to a code of conduct designed to eliminate "unacceptable content". Wales defines that as published articles or comments designed to "abuse, harass, stalk or threaten others" or that is "libellous", "knowingly false" or that "infringes upon a copyright or trademark".

The code also commits those bloggers who sign up to it to respect confidentiality when appropriate and to respect other peoples' privacy.

Most ambitiously, the Blogger's Code asks that online writers refrain from publishing anything that they would not be comfortable saying in person. Furthermore, the code also asks that bloggers refrain from permitting commentators to post responses anonymously.

If it's a carefully constructed set of principles, it could carry a lot of weight even if not everyone agrees, said Mr Wales, who stressed that any code of conduct would be voluntary.

Other bloggers, however, believe that the proposals reflected a desire to control an arena known for its free-wheeling, buccaneering style. Andrew Sullivan, creator of his eponymous popular and long-running blog, complained that "nanny-bloggers" would stifle free speech.

This effort at "cleaning" the blogosphere deals only with the conduct of bloggers themselves. Even so, the law is catching up. In the last year a number of court cases have been settled in the US, as courts take the view that online diaries and blogs are in the public domain and that the laws of libel apply.

And shameful Turkish law

Based on an article from The Guardian see full article

Five Turkish punk rockers and their agent face up to 18 months in jail for insult after a bureaucrat took offence at their song criticising the country's unpopular university entrance exam.

The intolerant head of Turkey's central examination board, OSYM, Unal Yarimagan reportedly smiled when he first saw a clip of OSYM, Kiss My Arse by Deli (mad), a group from the western city of Bursa.

I'm a tolerant person...BUT...that didn't stop me doing my duty and checking it wasn't breaking any laws, he said. Last month, an Ankara prosecutor said it was, and a court case is due to begin on May 2.

It's ridiculous, says the lead singer and lyricist, Cengiz Sari, 24. I was 17 when I wrote that song. I was just your typical rebellious teenager.

Thai political chat room taken down

Based on an article from The Nation

The Thai government has shut down a popular online chat room, claiming 'national security' as the reason. The chat room hosts political discussions with a leaning towards remnants of the previous deposed regime.

The Information and Communications Technology Ministry pulled the plug on the Rajdam-noen Room chat site hosted by the pantip.com website, according to minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom.

He said it had been temporarily closed after the ministry decided several topics, or threads, undermined 'national security'. Sitthichai said the ministry would permit the pantip.com chat room to open again "after the political situation improves". He would not say when this would be.

He said the ministry asked prachatai.com and mthai.com to monitor its political web boards, which allegedly carried several threads discussing the monarchy.

Sitthichai announced he has called a meeting at police headquarters on Thursday with the caretaker police chief, Pol Gen Seriphisut Temiyavej. The subject will be how to catch and what to do with netsurfers who post messages to create division in the country, he said.

Pantip.com is the most popular chat site in Thailand and its political pages often feature feisty debate about democracy, the junta and the legitimacy of the coup. The website is considered to be pro-Thaksin Shinawatra and anti manager.co.th, the website of the Manager Group controlled by Sondhi Limthongkul.

Pantip.com founder Wanchat Padungrat yesterday said he could not understand why the chat room had been closed. He added he monitored the content of Rajdamnoen Room and found no aggressive messages insulting the monarchy.

The ministry does not specify which topics [endanger national security]. It may become sensitive for the junta. However, I am wondering why pantip.com is the only website being censored, while other political sites are untouched, said Wanchat.

Prachatai.com editor Chuwat Rerksirisuk said he and staff ensured the site carried no offensive material. It is prepared to cooperate with the ministry. He was unaware of content deemed offensive to the monarchy, although he noted the ministry informed the site of two threads considered insulting. "We moved quickly to delete them," he said.

So are drafting legislation

From Strictly News see full article

The Russian culture ministry is drafting a bill to limit the distribution of erotic and pornographic products, Russia's deputy culture minister said this week.

We are planning to submit appropriate initiatives to the government in the latter half of this year, Pavel Pozhigailo said: We envisage certain restrictions in this area.

Russia has been waging a longstanding war against pornography for many years. Statesmen and public figures at all levels release regular statements, in which they demand an end to pornography in Russia, although things have not changed. X-rated films and scenes are broadcast on federal TV channels, they can be seen in motion picture episodes and on the pages of a whole variety of specific newspapers and magazines.

   
Over fishhook anti smoking adverts

From The Times see full article

The Department of Health is to be reprimanded formally by the Advertising Standards Authority over its Ł7 million anti-smoking advertising campaign, which depicted smokers with giant fishhooks piercing their mouths.

According to a confidential document seen by The Times, the campaign breached strict codes designed to protect children from disturbing images.

It attracted 771 complaints, most of them from parents who described the advertisements as offensive, frightening and distressing to children.

One television advert, screened before the 9pm watershed, showed an office worker with a giant fishhook through his cheek being dragged from his desk to a smoking spot in a freezing car park. Another showed a hook pulling a mother away from her small daughter. A third depicted a man being dragged through traffic and into a newsagent’s shop to buy cigarettes.

Billboard adverts showed the contorted faces of smokers being pierced by giant hooks.

Arpan Boyall, an investigations executive for the Advertising Standards Authority, is to recommend that the adverts breached strict codes that are designed to protect children and that therefore the authority should uphold the complaints against the posters and television adverts and reprimand the Department of Health.

In a confidential report, Boyall wrote: We noted the posters showed the hooks clearly piercing the cheeks of the addicted smokers who, we considered, looked distressed and in pain. We noted that, although the posters had not been placed near schools, they had appeared in places where they could easily be seen by children. We considered that, although the posters highlighted the perils of tobacco addiction and discouraged the dangerous activity of smoking, because they were untargeted and realistically and graphically showed the piercing of the cheek with a hook, they were likely to frighten and distress children.

Turkey proposes blocks on sites insulting Turkishness

From CNN see full article

A parliamentary commission approved a proposal Thursday allowing Turkey to block Web sites that are deemed insulting to the founder of modern Turkey.

Parliament plans to vote on the proposal, though a date was not announced. The proposal indicates the discomfort that many Turks feel about Western-style freedom of expression, even though Turkey has been implementing widespread reforms in its bid to join the European Union.

On Thursday, lawmakers in the commission also debated whether the proposal should be widened to allow the Turkish Telecommunications Board to block access to any sites that question the principles of the Turkish secular system or the unity of the Turkish state, a reference to Web sites with information on Kurdish rebels in Turkey.

More disrespectful video clips of Thai king

From the Bangkok Post

Users of the YouTube video-sharing website have placed at least seven new video attacks on the Thai king in the two days since YouTube was blocked in Thailand.

The attacks on the king got cruder and ruder and all referred to the government attempt to block views of the illegal videos by users in Thailand.

Each of the videos had dozens or hundreds of comments, almost all of them censuring or attacking the users who had uploaded them to the user-controlled video archive service.

Earlier, YouTube indicated it would help Thailand block access to certain pages rather than blacking out the whole site.

The YouTube problem poses a major dilemma for the government, which does not have the ability to impose a total block on YouTube and which only escalates the issue every time it discusses a ban.

Communications Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said that blocking certain pages maybe a solution to the ban but: It will be a few days before we lift the ban on the entire site.

Malaysia considers registering bloggers

From The Sydney Morning Herald see full article

A Malaysian minister said bloggers may be forced to register their names to avoid unjust claims being posted on the Internet.

Deputy energy, water and communications minister Shaziman Abu Mansor said his department was considering an option to make surfers identify themselves so that the government can track their activities.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and a number of other ministers have launched attacks on Malaysian bloggers and Internet surfers in recent months, accusing them of spreading lies about the government.

However, Shaziman denied he was floating the idea, first mentioned by him in parliament Wednesday, to curb comments published on the Internet: It's nice to have a list of bloggers, whoever they are.

Human rights group Aliran Thursday condemned Shaziman's suggestion, saying in a statement the attacks by politicians on bloggers are a prelude to possible moves to control and censor the Internet.

Ministry officials said there were no firm proposals to register blogs but that the option was being considered because of anonymous posts.

an unnamed official said: "Some of the bloggers are anonymous, so they are using their blog to write wrong information about leaders and all those people who are in high positions.

Pakistan maintains protectionist ban on Indian films

From Asia Media see full article

The Pakistani Film Censor Board has said that it will not allow unchecked access to Indian movies but permit only those films made by Pakistani producers and directors with foreign technology.

The films, which are made abroad with foreign actors and technicians, are not liable to be put under strict censor policies, however, no stuff would be allowed which does not come in conformity with our moral values, said Azfar Shafqat, chairman of the Central Film Censor Board of Pakistan.

Shafqat admitted that local film industry was going through the toughest crisis of its history but he believed it was because of the poor quality of the Pakistani movies and nothing else: The qualities of our films have declined to a huge extent, which is why they are rejected by the masses. Even, a few films, which are good in quality succeed in present circumstances, which shows that the industry is on decline for its own weaknesses and nothing else should be blamed for.

Shafqat said the number of Pakistani films had almost touched to naught, which could improve if their quality was improved with joint efforts.

180 porn sites to be blocked

Based on an article from Stars and Stripes see full article

Internet pornography soon may be harder to find for people living in South Korea.

The Korean Ministry of Information and Communication has decided to block about 180 foreign pornography sites by the end of May.

Targeted sites, ministry officials said, include those from which pornographic material is downloaded and then re-posted to popular South Korean portal sites such as Naver and Daum.

In addition to blocking sites, the ministry plans to construct Internet hot lines to help prevent the spread of sexually explicit material, toughen punishment for those posting pornographic material and for Internet operators who negligently allow the material to be posted, and to educate teenagers about the ethical use of the Internet.

Another disrespectful video clip of Thai king

From the Bangkok Post

A new video slideshow attacking His Majesty the King indicates that the dispute, fanned into worldwide front-page headlines by a Thai government ban on YouTube, may have only just begun.

YouTube and Google wiped out the last remnants of the offensive video slideshow which was uploaded last Sunday to demean the monarch. The offensive slideshow video of His Majesty the King that triggered the government ban on YouTube disappeared from the video-sharing website on Thursday afternoon, and the anonymous user who posted it was banned.

Some time early this morning Thailand time, the last remaining photo of the video in YouTube's search engine archive of the original video had disappeared from view.

But within an hour of the disappearance of the first video and its uploader, a subscriber using the name "thaifreespeech" and claiming improbably to live in Iceland had placed an all new video on YouTube, containing even more offensive images of His Majesty the King than the original.

"Thaifreespeech" also added an attack on Thai lese majeste laws and asked rhetorically if US people in the US (should) respect Thai traditions and rule of law.

In an hour, the number of views of the video rocketed from 122 to 7,856 and going up. Comments in the same hour early this morning Thailand time rose from nine to 160. As before, most commentators attacked the video, often in rude terms.

The ban on YouTube by Information and Communication Technology Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom now seems to have touched off a firestorm of web-based retaliation that could see rapid escalation of offensive references to the monarchy on the Internet.

The new video, and the likelihood that many will follow, on YouTube and on dozens of other video services, raises the stakes hugely.

   
So Indonesian editor cleared

From the BBC see full article

The editor of Playboy magazine in Indonesia has been acquitted of charges of publishing indecent material.

Erwin Arnada oversaw photo shoots and selected revealing pictures for the magazine, prosecutors argued.

But Arnada said the magazine, which went on sale last year, contained no nudity and was tamer than other Western-style magazines on sale.

The pictures could not be categorised as pornography, said South Jakarta district court judge Efran Basyuning.

   
And finding it at Google

The anti-censorship proposal is very laudable but surely the US government would demand/expect that Google assist US authorities to track people involved in serious crimes. The Government would probably get very uppity if Google were to say that they would not store data to track US searches.

From Market Watch see full article

Google Inc.'s board of directors recommended Wednesday that the company's shareholders vote against a proposal to bar the company from any "proactive" censorship efforts.

Google did not explain why its board recommends shareholders vote down the anticensorship proposal from the Office of the Comptroller of New York City, which is a trustee of pension funds that have invested in 486,000 Google shares.

The proposal would prohibit Google from storing user information it collects in countries that restrict Internet access, making it harder for local authorities to get at the information.

The proposal also calls for Google to inform its users when it does cede to government requests to censor its search results or other features.

To a large degree, the Google board's stance illustrates the complicated position on censorship the company has as it expands worldwide. On the one hand, censoring Internet search results runs afoul of Google's core goal of organizing and disseminating all of the world's information. Yet in order to do so, it says it must abide by varying degrees of censorship worldwide.

Perhaps the best known example of this tightrope Google's walking occurred in China, where Google abided by a government request to censor information to get a business license.

Due to disrespectful video clip of Thai king

From The Guardian

Thailand has become the latest nation to respond to a perceived slight to its national honour with a blanket ban on the video sharing website, after YouTube refused to remove a clip ridiculing the country's revered king.

The 44 second clip, titled Bhumibol Adulyadej 2, is amateurish, distinctly juvenile and seems expressly intended to inflame the feelings of Thai people.

It shows a picture of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, which is then defaced with some crudely drawn animated additions and - most seriously - placed directly underneath a photo of a woman's feet, something gravely disrespectful to Thais. The soundtrack is the Thai national anthem

Insulting the king is a serious offence in Thailand - a fact a Swiss man found out to his cost last week when he was jailed for 10 years.

After YouTube said it would not take down the clip, Thailand's military appointed government responded by blocking local access to the entire site.

It comes less than a month after a Turkish court suspended access to YouTube in response to the posting of a clip which reportedly labelled the country's modern founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a homosexual.

In limiting access to even part of the web, the countries are joining a small and distinctly unsavoury club.

The media freedom group, Reporters Without Borders, lists 13 "enemies of the Internet", and none of them are exactly famed as exponents of liberty and free expression.

They range from China, with its infamous, all-encompassing "Great Firewall", to North Korea, where access is limited to a few top ranking officials and the country's official .nk domain name has yet to be even used.

Turkey and Thailand would no doubt argue that they are acting against grave slurs against the whole nation. But to outsiders, the offending clips look like teenage name calling and provocation - and let's face it, if you want to remove that from the web you're in for a struggle.

Update: Taken Down

The offending video clip has now been taken down after being viewed about 67,000 times

Blame potential low: surely too 'deranged'

From the Daily Mail see full article

A horror movie fanatic who repeatedly slashed his terrified friend with a home-made Freddy Krueger glove was jailed for life yesterday.

Jason Moore was obsessed with the Nightmare on Elm Street killer and spent hours crafting various recreations of his 'horrific' weapon.

His final model featured four curved steel blades, each as sharp as a cut-throat razor, that were attached to a welded brass amulet.

Deranged Moore used the glove to attack his friend John Skamarski as he slept, causing slash wounds to his face, neck and hands. Police said Skamarski was 'very lucky' to survive the attack with relatively minor injuries.

Balraj Bhatia, prosecuting, said: He admitted he had watched that film on around 20 occasions and on the weekend prior to this incident. Such was Moore's fascination that he prepared and made a number of these gloves and took some pleasure and pride in the quality of his workmanship.

On August 30 last year Moore met Skamarski in a park before they went back to Moore's flat in Clarendon Park, Leicester, for a drinking session. The pair consumed around four litres of cider before Skamarski dozed off after taking a sleeping tablet - only for Moore to slash him as he slept.

Bhatia said: He awoke to find Moore attacking him with a bread knife and clawed glove. He fought him off in a struggle lasting around 10 minutes. He managed to calm Moore, who apologised.

Moore, who was originally charged with attempted murder, phoned 999 himself, telling the operator he didn't know why he carried out the attack: I almost stabbed him to death. I'm going out of my mind. For some unbeknown reason I attacked him in the chest. I tried to stab his heart.

Philip Gibbs, defending, said: He accepts he is a danger. He has only ever wanted to understand his actions. He is a damaged individual.

After the case Deputy Sergeant Gary Rogers, of Leicester police, who investigated the attack, condemned horror films for their excessive brutality: It is obvious these films influence the way people act. It gives us some concern, and unfortunately we have to pick up the pieces afterwards.

   
ASA ban Xbox 360 advert

From The Telegraph see full article

A TV commercial for the Xbox 360 games console broke advertising rules by glamorising street car racing, according to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)

It showed a car weaving through traffic during a chase scene in a busy city. The Advertising Standards Authority said the commercial broke rules relating to health and safety and driving standards and ordered it not to be shown again: We concluded that the ad glamorised street car racing and could be seen to condone dangerous driving,

Responding to the ASA's investigation on behalf of Microsoft, which makes the Xbox 360, advertising agency McCann Erickson said the advert didn't show cars exceeding speed limits and the on-screen text explained all stunts were performed by professionals.

   
Ofcom annual plan with fine words but bollox policies

Based on an article from Ofcom see full article

Ofcom has published its Annual Plan for 2007/8 which sets out Ofcom’s policy framework for the next three years and lists specific priorities for 2007/8.

Censorial Priorities for 2007/8:

Delivering public outcomes as platforms and services converge

• Reviewing how Ofcom protects viewers and listeners though content regulation, including the rules protecting against harm and offence.
• Promoting access and inclusion, including research to understand better the nature of citizen and consumer concerns.
• Maintaining diverse and high-quality content in public service broadcasting.

Improving industry compliance and empowering citizens and consumers

• Promoting media literacy and enabling consumers to make informed choices.
• Making enforcement of the rules designed to protect citizens and consumers more targeted and effective.

Reducing regulation and minimising administrative burdens

• Examining the scope for removing regulation and easing the administrative burdens on stakeholders.

Maximising Ofcom’s impact on international policy developments.

• Participating in core EU negotiations, such as supporting the Government in concluding negotiation on the Audio-Visual Media Services Directive; and contributing to other EU negotiation, such as addressing the legislative proposals which will follow the Commission’s Content Online Communication.

   
FCC moving to regulate violent TV content

Based on an article from National Journal see full article

All five FCC members will vote to approve a report to Congress that could pave the way for regulating violent television content, government sources confirmed. The commissioners are tentatively scheduled to approve the document this week, though the timeframe could slip. The report could come as early as Friday, but is more likely to be issued the week of April 9.

Television outlets vehemently oppose such regulation, arguing that it violates their First Amendment rights and amounts to government censorship. But 'cracking down' on the blood and gore that is supposedly a nightly viewing staple is gaining political traction, with Sen. John (Jay) Rockefeller, D-WVa., poised to reintroduce legislation to clean up the airwaves. The bill will be introduced in late April or early May, with the Senate Commerce Committee expected to hold a hearing next month.

The report, requested by Congress in 2004, has been the focus of negotiations for months. It states that graphic images must be curbed and that there is a constitutional way to achieve that goal. Republican Chairman Kevin Martin and Democrat Michael Copps are the chief proponents, and at Martin's insistence, the document recommends that Congress require cable operators to offer per channel pricing, known as a la carte. The cable industry says that option would result in higher consumer costs and hurt emerging channels that have survived by being bundled with other content.

Teachers feel that TV is fuelling disrespect

From The Telegraph see full article

The catchphrases of a television comedy character are being blamed for a rise in aggression and bad manners among youngsters.

Lauren, the obnoxious teenager portrayed by the comedian Catherine Tate, is fuelling a culture of "disrespect" in classrooms, according to a survey.

Children are increasingly repeating the character's lines "Am I bovvered?" and "Whatev-ah!" when staff try to discipline them. Some pupils may even be re-enacting violence they have seen in TV dramas.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), which published the survey, also disclosed that growing numbers of teachers are quitting because of concerns over assaults in the classroom.

A lack of parental supervision meant too many pupils were staying up late and watching "inappropriate" television beyond the 9pm watershed, the union's annual conference in Bournemouth was told yesterday.

However, teachers said that not all television had a negative influence. The association said television encouraged increased awareness of current affairs, with 53% of teachers overhearing pupils talking about healthy eating habits, 40% about global warming and 29% about the war in Iraq.

India bans Fashion TV

Based on an article from the Times of India see full article

The I&B Ministry of the Indian Government have axed Fashion TV supposedly due to raunchy footage.

Continuing with its tirade against obscenity on television, the government's moral police has decided to wave its truncheon. No sex please, we're Indians.

To matters more banal, the I&B ministry exercised its powers under Section 20 of the Cable Television Network Regulation Act, 1995, to ban transmission of FTV.

The two-month ban follows close on the heels of a temporary ban of AXN. Justifying the move, a ministry official said, the government had earlier warned the channel on earlier occasions for showing raunchy footage but it appears that it did not have much impact on the channel.

   
Censorship required due to category in EPG

From Ofcom see full article

The Extreme Truth
Men & Motors, 15 March 2006, 23:30

This programme featured couples who were hypnotised to reveal their most intimate secrets including their most extreme sexual experiences and secret sexual fantasies. These experiences and fantasies were re-enacted (filmed in soft focus and black and white) as they are described by the person under hypnosis. During the programme there were portrayals of vaginal, oral and anal sexual acts.

A viewer objected to the explicit nudity and sexual content within the programme. ITV, the broadcaster responsible for Men & Motors, was asked to comment in the light of Rules 1.24 (adult sex material), 2.1 and 2.3 (generally accepted standards) of the Broadcasting Code.

ITV said that the series was carefully edited by a dedicated and highly experienced Men & Motors compliance editor. ITV acknowledged that the programme was quite sexually explicit. However, it stated that the series was aimed solely at an adult audience, very late night and in the clear context of the Men & Motors channel. The show was labelled at the outset; an on-screen caption carried the single word "EXPLICIT" and the accompanying voice-over said: We'd like to inform viewers that the following programme contains scenes of a sexual natureť.

In relation to whether the content amounted to "adult sex material" requiring encryption, ITV considered that it followed the guidance issued by Ofcom. In judging what material is adult sex material, Ofcom suggests that broadcasters should be guided by the definitions used by the BBFC. The BBFC defines "sex works" as works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation. The Code makes a similar differentiation. On this occasion ITV concluded that the series did not meet the definition of a "sex work" and therefore did not require encryption.

Decision

In this case, Ofcom notes the programme was preceded by detailed information alerting viewers to its sexual content and was broadcast late in the evening on a channel that attracts a predominantly adult male audience. The channel is known for broadcasting mainly motoring based programming and, later in the schedule, programmes of a more adult nature.

However, the channel is situated in the general entertainment section of the Electronic Programme Guide. Although the editorial basis of the programme ostensibly appeared to be the impact of the revelations on the couples , the actual content was principally the portrayal of the sexual fantasies and experiences. This focus on the sexual acts, coupled with the filming techniques used, created a programme that appeared predominantly to be what the Broadcasting Code refers to as "adult sex material" in terms of both style and intent . We consider that the degree and explicitness of the sexual activity shown and the overall tone of the programme was not editorially justified and went beyond what is generally acceptable on an unencrypted channel.

We consider this programme was in breach of the Code and welcome the steps taken by the broadcaster to improve compliance in this area. We expect these improved compliance procedures to prevent this or similar material from being broadcast without encryption in future.

Breach of Rules 1.24, 2.1 and 2.3

   
Contributing to the Hype for Grand Theft Auto IV

From Silive.com see full article

The latest version of the popular, murder-your-way-to-victory video game Grand Theft Auto IV unleashes its violence in a city with an uncanny resemblance to New York, and city officials are upset.

The mayor does not support any video game where you earn points for injuring or killing police officers, said Jason Post, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Trailers of the latest game, released on the Internet, show the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge and Coney Island's Cyclone.

Political leaders say New York and Grand Theft Auto IV have little in common beyond visuals.

It's despicable to glamorize violence in games like these, regardless of how far-fetched the setting may be, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told reporters.

The game will hit stores in October.