Annual report released

As usual the report, and indeed the VOD study, never even mention the subject of hardcore porn

From IFCO
See Report on Video on Demand [pdf]
See 2006 Annual Report [pdf]t

The Irish Film Censor, John Kelleher, has today (30th May 2007) published his Annual Report for the year 2006.

Among the developments highlighted in the Report:

• More than 10,000 cinema films and DVD/videos were certified during the year
• There was a significant increase in the number of non-mainstream or ‘arthouse’ films submitted for certification
• The number of visitors to the IFCO website was up 16% on the previous year
• The results of the research IFCO commissioned Lansdowne Market Research to carry out into the attitudes of parents and adolescents to strong language in films

IFCO also commissioned a study by Dr. Jim Barratt, international film and media consultant, to carry out into future classification options in the fast changing landscape of film and home entertainment.

 
Buddha images on underwear offend Thailand

From Thai Visa

An American Web site offering G-string underwear and T-shirts for dogs emblazoned with picture of Buddha dropped them from its sales list after protests by predominantly Buddhist Thailand.

It is a good thing they understand our sensitivity, Foreign Ministry spokesman Piriya Khempon said a day after saying the products sold on California-based on-line store CafePress.com had offended Thais and Buddhists elsewhere.

The site sells more than 70 items, ranging from T-shirts to teddy bears to beer pitchers bearing pictures of religious figures and philosophers from Hindu god Shiva to Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi.

Although the site removed advertisements for Buddha G-strings and dog T-shirts, items depicting Jesus and Shiva remained.

From Global Voices see full article

Egyptian bloggers received the news of Monem’s release with apprehension reflecting the amount of distrust in the Egyptian security. Nora Younis said the release decision came as surprise like the detention order…I am still apprehensive. I won’t congratulate Monem before I see him with my eyes.

In an earlier blog post titled “Freedom for Internet”, Jar El Kamar suggests that the reason behind Monem’s detention is his blog posts on torture by state security to him, participation in conferences, and for being an active journalist defending human rights.

in Alastair Campbell's biography

From The Age see full article

Readers will miss out on British Prime Minister Tony Blair's potty mouth, his rows with Chancellor Gordon Brown and his conversations with US President George Bush about the Iraq war after his former spin doctor gave in to pressure to delete unflattering excerpts from his memoirs.

Alastair Campbell's book, The Blair Years, purports to be an insider's view of Downing Street and has angered Blair's wife, Cherie, who tried to block its publication. Despite Mr Campbell's heavy self-censorship, another Labour insider said it was "fantastically indiscreet".

He selectively cut nearly 90% from the diaries he kept as Blair's press secretary before submitting the book for approval by Downing Street in time for its July 9 publication.

Campbell has polished the image of his former boss by reducing the Prime Minister's profanities and not including his reported use of the "c-word" to describe a senior Labour critic. He has also pared back Mr Blair's stormy relationship with the Chancellor. Mr Blair's conversations with leaders such as former French president Jacques Chirac, former US president Bill Clinton and the Queen have also been cut.

Cherie Blair tried to block the book's publication as a breach of official confidences, reportedly having proofread it because her husband was too busy. Campbell did delete references to the couple's children after her complaints.

References to the Iraq war have been reduced, leaving readers in the dark about when Blair first knew of Mr Bush's plans to invade Iraq and how much influence he really had over the decision, according to The Independent.

Turkey internet censorship signed into law

From Reporters without Borders see full article

Reporters Without Borders regrets that a bill passed by parliament on 4 May allowing the authorities to block websites with content deemed to have insulted the memory of the Turkish republic’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, was signed into law by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on 22 May.

Legal restrictions now extend to the Internet, the press freedom organisation said. Resorting to criminal penalties to punish Internet users is excessive. It shows the authorities want to force website editors to censor themselves. The possible consequences of this law are very disturbing. Will subversive content also be banned from chat forums? How far does the government want go to impose its control on online dissent?

Article 8 of Law 5651 on the “Prevention of crimes in the computer domain” calls for content to be blocked if it violates a 1951 law on “crimes against Atatürk.” The article says: “When there is sufficient evidence of the improper aspect of content (...) access must be blocked.” As well as punishing “crimes against Atatürk,” Law 5651 also punishes “inciting suicide” (article 84), “sexual abuse of children” (article 103), “prostitution” (article 227) and “inciting drug use” (article 190).

Internet Service Providers are themselves supposed to take the initiative to block access to content, which they then show to a judge who decides whether or not the blocking should continue. It will be the job of a “Telecommunication Council” to identify these responsible for the content. A complaint will then be submitted to a “Communication Presidency,” which like the “Telecommunication Council” is an entity specially created to ensure the new law’s implementation.

   
Nutters complain about airline seat back TV

Based on an article from the Washington Times see full article

A media watchdog group is criticizing Delta Air Lines for making the HBO series Rome and other supposedly 'bawdy' shows available for in-flight viewing after a passenger complained that children could see nudity and sex scenes.

Billy Ford said the shows were aired on overhead movie screens during a May 6 flight from Atlanta to Duesseldorf, Germany. He complained after watching three scenes of nudity or sex on Rome and another on Da Ali G Show.

Delta officials say the programs were intended as an option for viewing on private screens in the back of the airplane's seat and were shown on the public overhead screens by mistake. As soon as our flight attendants became aware it was being shown, it was cut off and we made an immediate apology to passengers, said Betsy Talton, a spokeswoman for Atlanta-based Delta.

That's not enough for Ford and Morality in Media, a New York-based group that targets pornography and other entertainment deemed indecent.

They say sexually explicit programs should not be allowed even on the personal screens because neighboring passengers are exposed to the images, regardless of whether they want to be.

An airplane is a public place, group President Robert Peters said. It's not a private home, where some adult pays extra money to bring HBO into their home.

Peters said children could order the adult-themed programming if they are seated away from their parents or if the adults are sleeping or not paying attention. They also could be exposed to them by neighbors.

The Delta spokesperson said passengers, including parents, may request that access to the on-demand programming be shut off to their seats, and that customers who request to be moved away from someone watching a program that offends them will be accommodated when possible.

Israel considers fingerprint access to porn

From Online Casinos see full article

The Israeli Communications minister, Ariel Atias is busy drafting a bill to block free access to pornography, violence and gambling Web sites.

Atias has already succeeded in passing several important communications reforms, to the chagrin of the cellular telephone giants. Atias claims that in this multimedia era, it is unreasonable that pornography or harsh violence are meticulously trimmed from television programs, while the Internet has no censorship or control....and he is apparently trying to solve the problem with a particularly radical and aggressive move.

The proposed bill places the onus on ISPs to implement screening technology to prevent access to porn or online gambling sites unless such access is specifically requested by a subscriber who provides proof of identity and age. Atias has apparently discussed this matter with the Justice Ministry and communications professionals, in an attempt to reach an agreement on a mode for screening content.

ISPs already market optional content-screening software at the consumer end, but Atias says this is an unsatisfactory solution. He finds it hard to believe that families will voluntarily install screening software and feels content should be screened at the switching centres.

The bill is already attracting attention and opposition from groups that are concerned about its implications for invasion of privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of occupation, to name a few.

Atias seems to have applied a similar concept to controlling erotic content on cellular phones. Free access to erotic services via cellular Web portals has been stopped - in order to receive such services, adult subscribers must send a copy of their ID card to the cell phone company.

Another move to control the Internet has surfaced in the form of a proposal drafted by a political associate of Arias, who has suggested a bill calling for the use of advanced technology to achieve the same goal as the Arias bill. This proposal, by Knesset member Amnon Cohen requires that Internet users with a penchant for visiting undesirable sites will have to register with their Internet service provider (ISP), which will use a fingerprint-based biometric identification system to verify the subscriber is an adult. Without this ID such sites will be blocked.

Describing Cohen's bill as futuristic and currently impractical, Haaretz opines that such a system will be technologically possible in a few years, but in a country that has been waiting almost three years for the telephone number portability law to be implemented, the bill's chances of being passed into law are next to nil.

Cohen's bill was apparently meant to serve as a litmus test for Atias, to assess the reactions of the public, politicians and the industry regarding Web censorship in Israel.

Biography banned in Burma

From Stuff see full article

A biography of Burma’s former late prime minister U Nu, timed to be released on what would have been his 100th birthday today, has been banned by the Burmese censorship board.

The book’s author Than Win Hlaing, who recently finished a seven year prison sentence for writing about independence hero general Aung San, said he was told by the government that now was not the time for a book on U Nu: It took about three months to put together the information. Then it was submitted to the censor board. They told me that even though the information was correct, the book would have to be referred to the central censorship unit because the situation is not right at the moment. They said it might take one or two years for the central unit to review it. I assume that means that it hasn’t been passed.

Than Win Hlaing said that if he was not allowed to publish the book in Burma then he would try to have it published outside the country. He said it contained information on U Nu’s detention in Insein prison after the 1962 coup led by general Ne Win.

South Korea will introduce Internet censorship

From The Sydney Morning Herald see full article

South Korea will introduce an Internet 'code of ethics' to curb the distribution of pornographic material and other information deemed inappropriate.

A bill will be sent to parliament for approval this year, Vice Information Communication Minister Yoo Young-hwan said. Portal operators will be asked to filter out 'obscene', defamatory and other 'unwanted' material. If they do not, they will be punished, he said.

There are 18 home-grown portal sites in service. Younger people are especially active in creating and uploading image files and video clips. In March, a sex video clip was posted on Yahoo Korea for several hours, prompting police to launch a criminal investigation.

In response, the information ministry blocked 180 foreign websites used by South Koreans to spread 'obscene' material on the local portals.

   
Ofcom find offensive language on Revelation TV

From Ofcom see report [pdf]

Revelation TV is a religious channel that often features live phone-in programmes and discussions which from time to time deal with controversial and topical issues. Ofcom received seven complaints from viewers who alleged that some presenters and contributors during some editions of the programmes World in Focus and R Mornings used offensive language when discussing homosexuals, homosexual behaviour and immigrants.

In an edition of the programme World in Focus a panel of three contributors criticised the newly implemented Equality Act and, in particular, the associated Sexual Orientation Regulations, which they alleged would force schools to teach children about homosexuality as part of the national curriculum. Three viewers complained that the discussion was wholly against the new Regulations, with no balance or opposing points of view were given, and that some of the remarks were disparaging and offensive to the gay community.

Four other viewers complained of offensive comments made by Howard Conder, the owner and presenter of Revelation TV, and some of his guests concerning homosexuality and also immigrants in various other programmes.

Ofcom asked Revelation TV to comment with regard to the following Rules in the Broadcasting Code (“the Code”): 2.3 (generally accepted standards) and 5.5 (due impartiality on matters of political or industrial controversy and matters relating to current public policy).

Decision

Ofcom understands that the issue of homosexuality is a contentious one both within and outside religious communities, and that a number of opposing views are held. The expression of such sincerely-held and controversial views may give rise to the potential for offence.

It is therefore important that, where there is the potential for offence, broadcasters must comply with Rule 2.3 of the Code which states that: “…in applying generally accepted standards broadcasters must ensure that material which may cause offence is justified by the context. Such material may include but is not limited to, offensive language…discriminatory language…on the grounds of age, disability, gender, race, religion, beliefs and sexual orientation”.

The issue of the treatment of homosexuality (in relation to the Equality Act and the Sexual Orientation Regulations) was a matter of political controversy and/or matter relating to current public policy at the time it was discussed on Revelation TV. Due impartiality was therefore required. The discussions of the topic on the channel however did not include any representation at all of alternative views. The content therefore breached Rule 5.5.

Breach of Rules 2.3 and 5.5

   
Ofcom tick off Big Brother

From Now see full article
See also Ofcom ajudication

Big Brother bosses have received a sticking off by Ofcom for their handling of the racism row on Celebrity Big Brother.

And Channel 4 will have to air an unprecedented three apologies during the new Big Brother series

Ofcom, who investigated the allegations of racism, was handed unseen footage of the show in which Shilpa Shetty was referred to as a 'Paki'.

Yesterday Ofcom accused Big Brother  chiefs of 'serious editorial misjudgements' but did not fine Channel 4. The TV watchdog also said bosses had failed to protect the public from 'offensive material'.

Chinese target horror comics for children

Thanks to Sean
From ABC see full article

China has launched a nationwide campaign against horror stories aimed at children.

Beijing has ordered officials to seize copies of books and comics deemed to be terrifying publications from shops and street vendors.

A particular target of the campaign is a popular Japanese comic book series, Death Note, which features a notebook that can kill people whose names are written in it.

Chinese officials say the story misleads innocent children and distorts their minds and spirits.

Chinese back off frm real name blogging

From Reuters

China is to back down from a plan to require bloggers to use their real names when they register Web logs, following an outcry over the proposal from the Internet industry.

Instead, the government would promote a 'self-discipline code' that would encourage, but not mandate, bloggers to register under their own names, the report said, citing draft guidelines published by the Internet Society of China.

   
Audiovisual Media Services Directive agreed

From the BBC see full article

European ministers have agreed on new rules for television and on-demand video on the internet..

The European Commission says the new version of the 1989 "TV Without Frontiers" directive will make the EU's audiovisual market more competitive.

The new package features the country-of-origin principle, meaning that broadcasters are governed by the rules of their home country, even if their programmes are transmitted in other states with different rules.

That principle was left out of the final version of the commission's Services Directive - dealing with service industries across the EU - after months of heated debate.

The new Audiovisual Media Services Directive is due to take effect by the end of this year. It has now been backed by the commission, the European Parliament and the member states' governments.

It still allows countries some flexibility to set stricter national rules. The UK's Creative Industries Minister Shaun Woodward welcomed the deal, saying it avoided too much regulation and would lead to more television and online services.

EU Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said the new legislation: brings Europe's audiovisual policies into the 21st Century, providing a welcome shot in the arm to industry. It promises less regulation, better financing for European content and higher visibility to Europe's key values, cultural diversity and the protection of minors.

Likens Thailand to China and Vietnam

Based on an article from the Bangkok Post

New York-based Human Rights Watch says the military-backed government has undermined Thailand's free political debate with its unprecedented crackdown on Internet critics.

Since the Sept 19 military coup that ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, Thai authorities have launched a censorship campaign of the Internet that has blocked tens of thousands of websites including those deemed critical of the current government.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch: The military-backed government promised a quick return to democracy, but it's now attacking freedom of expression and political pluralism in ways that Thaksin never dared.

Censorship of the Internet is now being carried out by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MICT) and the Royal Thai Police, in collaboration with the Communications Authority of Thailand (CAT) and the Telecommunication Authority (TOT), which provide Thailand's international internet gateways.

Since the coup, the government has blocked websites on charges of threatening national security, disrupting public order, or being obscene, including the September 19 Network (www.19sep.net and www.19sep.org), the pro-Thaksin PTV television (www.ptvthai.com), the online broadcast of Saturday Voice (www.saturdaylive.org and saturdayvoice.no-ip.info) and the online broadcast of FM 87.75 Taxi Community Radio (www.shinawatradio.com).

While these websites can still be accessed from abroad, local internet surfers in Thailand will get an "Access Denied" message, and the MICT's logo saying that access to such websites has been blocked due to "inappropriate content."

The ministry has ludicrously requested Google Thailand and Google.com to block access to its cached web pages in Thailand by which blocked pages can be accessed, as well as to block by keyword search.

The ministry also did not mention the more recent blocking of the entire Blogspot.com site by some Internet providers acting on the MICT's "request". This adds thousands more websites to the Thailand block list.

Thailand, under the current government, has also passed a law to criminalise the generation, possession, storage, dissemination of and access to prohibited information on the Internet and a Bill on Computer-Related Offenses that empowers the MICT minister to intercept and seize computer data, and seek court warrants to block the dissemination of information on the Internet if such information is considered as a threat to national security. The two laws, which have yet to be passed, include stiff penalties such as a maximum of five-years imprisonment and fines up to 100,000 baht ($2,700).

Freedom of expression, including offering opinions on the Internet, is an essential basis of any functioning democracy, said Adams. Blocking critical websites resembles the behaviour of China and Vietnam. Is this the company that Thailand's leaders want to keep?

From The Guardian see full article

A group of journalists at a state-controlled broadcast news agency in Russia have resigned en masse in one of the few open rebellions in recent years against censorship imposed by the Kremlin.

Eight reporters from the Russian News Service said they could not work under new rules that required them not to interview or mention opposition leaders such as Garry Kasparov and to ensure 50% coverage of "positive news".

Artyom Khan, one of the reporters who resigned, said restrictions were introduced when new management was imported last month from Channel One, the state television station that documents Mr Putin's every move.

Chavez closes popular TV channel

From The Guardian see full article

Venezuela is in crisis. Inflation is soaring. There are acute shortages of milk, eggs and meat. Violent crime is taking more than 100 lives every week. The government is in chaos. Corruption is draining the country's oil wealth.

These are the bulletins of Radio Caracas Television, the country's most influential private network. The theme is consistent: President Hugo Chávez is leading the country to ruin and if he is not stopped Venezuela will become a Cuba-style dictatorship.

At midnight on May 27, however, RCTV will be stopped. Its bleak bulletins silenced because the government is refusing to renew its broadcast licence. Critics say an authoritarian hammer is crushing free speech and what is left of Venezuela's democracy. Supporters say the government is right to replace a channel notorious for lies, manipulation and anti-Chávez propaganda.

Tens of thousands of people marched in two rival rallies at Caracas last week, one mourning the decision, the other celebrating. More are expected this week and the volume of international protest - and praise - is set to swell.

None of it will alter the decision. Chavez recently said on his own television show. It's over. His opponents cannot save RCTV, he added. Say what they say, do what they do, howl where they want, the licence will not be renewed.

RCTV's 2,500 staff have been told to continue turning up for work after May 27 in the hope that some programmes will still be made if they can be sold to other networks, and that RCTV may be able to limp on as a cable channel. But with vastly reduced audience share and advertising revenue it is unclear how long their jobs will last.

 
so as to ban a political site

From the Thai Photo Blogs see full article

Blogspot subdomains are still being blocked by most Thai internet service providers.  There are reports that TOT, Hutch, and CSLoxinfo are 3 such ISPs have who blocked blogspot.com. Others have reported that True has not blocked blogspot.com.

According to reports, the government were aiming at blocking only saturdayvoice.blogspot.com and a few other political sites. However, their technicians 'mistakenly' blocked all the sub-domains and hence blocked thousands of blogs.

   
Vatican win right to reply

From TV Guide

Italy's state broadcaster has no decided to buy a BBC documentary on the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests but will only let it be aired if accompanied by balancing opinion from the Church.

The documentary had sparked a political row which pitted right-wing politicians opposed to the airing against leftists who said censoring it would violate freedom of speech.

On Tuesday RAI director general Claudio Cappon approved purchasing the documentary, called Sex Crimes and the Vatican, but set conditions for how it can be broadcast.

He demanded that the program hosting the documentary, talk show Year Zero, also let prominent members of the Church give their version of events and contest the documentary's assertions.

Michele Santoro, a left-leaning journalist, had originally planned to air the documentary this Thursday but will now delay broadcasting it.

   
Education authority sued over film shown in class

Note that the film is R rated in the US and 15 rated in the UK

From Digital Spy see full article

The family of a girl who was shown Brokeback Mountain at school is suing the education authority.

They say Jessica Turner, 12, was emotionally damaged by watching the movie, about two bisexual cowboys, and are claiming $400,000 in damages.

The claim alleges negligence, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Turner's family say she felt she could not leave her Ashburn Community Elementary School class and still needs counselling for the experience.

Papers filed by the Turners also say Ms Buford, a stand-in teacher, introduced the film by telling pupils: What happens in Ms Buford's class stays in Ms Buford's class.

A Cover Up in Turkey

From The Guardian see full article

The bikini has become the latest item to offend the Islamic-oriented authorities in Turkey. After a bungled attempt to outlaw alcohol, municipal officials in Istanbul have set their sights on billboard advertisements of the skimpy swimsuit. The ban was  revealed last week.

Lambasting the move as more in tune with Iran than a country bent on joining the EU, appalled secularists said it proved that the ruling Justice and Development (AK) party had a hidden Islamist agenda.

We've never had to get permission before and when we applied for it they told us we were hanging up immoral pictures, said Moris Eskenazi, who jointly owns one of four firms reportedly stopped from placing the adverts.

The ruling party first want to remove women wearing swimsuits from billboards and then they want to remove them from the beach, said Gulsun Bilgehan, a member of the Republican People's party (CHP) who vowed to take the issue to the Council of Europe, of which Turkey is a member.

   
Jeremy Clarkson re-reprimanded for gay remark

From Ofcom see report [pdf]

Top Gear, BBC Two, 16 July 2006, 20:00

In this episode, Jeremy Clarkson invited a man in the studio audience to comment on a car the team were discussing. The audience member described the car as “gay”. Jeremy Clarkson repeated this word and went on to add “it’s a bit ginger beer”.

Five viewers complained that the expressions used were offensive to homosexual people. Rule 2.3 of the Broadcasting Code states that broadcasters must ensure that material which may cause offence is justified by the context….

The BBC Editorial Complaints Unit (“ECU”) had already concluded that:

As Jeremy Clarkson supplemented the term “gay” with a phrase which is rhyming slang for “queer”, there was no doubt that it was being used in the sense of “homosexual”, and was capable of giving offence… in this instance there was no editorial purpose which would have served to justify the potential offence and the complaints were therefore upheld… the Executive Producer of Top Gear has reminded the presenters and the production team of the importance of avoiding derogatory references to sexual orientation.

Decision

Any use of the word “gay” which results in a negative portrayal of homosexual men and women can give rise to concern. Some in the homosexual community are sensitive to the word being used in a pejorative way, having seen adoption of the word as a means of referring to themselves and their community in a positive manner. To use it as a term of ridicule therefore runs the risk of giving offence.

In Ofcom’s view there is not sufficient evidence to conclude that use of the word “gay” is necessarily and automatically intended to be, or is, offensive. Broadcasters’ right to freedom of expression should not be restricted without at least some objective evidence that the word in context was capable of causing offence.

In this edition of Top Gear, the presenter’s use of a Cockney rhyming phrase made clear he intended to give a particular meaning to the use of the word “gay” by the member of the audience, i.e. not to restrict its meaning simply to foolish or stupid, but clearly linking the reference to homosexual people. This, in Ofcom’s opinion, meant that the use of the word became capable of giving offence. In the context, there was no justification for using the word in this way. We note, however, that the BBC has taken steps to remind the production team and presenters of the importance of avoiding derogatory references to sexual orientation. In light of the ECU ruling and the BBC’s actions, we consider the matter resolved.

   
New Zealand catholics bring case against South Park

From TV3 see full article

Catholic bishops in New Zealand say they have brought a case before the High Court which could have a big impact on the community.

They launched a legal case over a controversial episode of the animated television show South Park, featuring a menstruating Virgin Mary.

Catholics complained to the Broadcasting Standards Authority when it was screened, but the complaint was thrown out.

Lawyers for the bishops have appealed to the High Court, claiming the programme breached obligations under the Broadcasting Act.

Church spokeswoman Lindsay Freer says the court has reserved its decision.

India dreams up the term 'content auditor'

From Televisionpoint.com

The draft Indian broadcasting code calls for every channel to appoint a "content auditor" to monitor programmes and slot them in appropriate certification categories.

The content auditor will be responsible for any lapse in following certification rules. The sub-committee has proposed that the content auditor be made the point of contact for any issue or complaint that may arise with regard to the programmes they broadcast.

To ensure that the auditor has enough authority, the proposed code recommends that only the senior most management of the broadcast service provider be allowed to override the content auditor. According to the proposed draft, each channel will get about two weeks to dispose of complaints and will have to either take the programme off air, modify the content and apologise, or reject the complaint after citing reasons.

One of the major proposals of the draft proposal is the implementation of a watershed format of programming. This would mean that while family programmes, certified U, are programmed any time of the day, those certified as UA will be shown only between 8 pm and 4 am. Previously it was mentioned that adult A rated films could be shown after 11pm.

 
Blogs on blogspot are being blocked in Thailand

Users in Thailand have been reporting that ALL blogs using Google's Blogger service hosted with blogspot in the address are being blocked in Thailand.

Readers have reported that even uncontroversial blogs have been offline for the last few days.

It has not yet become clear the reason for this block.

Google agree to censor searches in Korea

Based on an artice from the Chosun see full article

Google has decided to block of the URLs of porn websites at a similar level as the Korean major search engines. It will also introduce technology to filter content for underage Korean users and require users of its Korean service to prove that they are old enough.

The Ministry of Information and Communication said Google has discussed with the ministry measures to limit access to content by Korean adolescent Internet users and decided to take the protective measures. Called SafeSearch, the filter technology is currently being developed by the search giant itself, and is expected to be put in place from August this year.

Korean Internet users under 19 can access only content that passes the filtering technology.

   
Vatican censorship of BBC documentary

From eitb see full article

A political row has erupted in Italy over whether state television should air a BBC documentary about the sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic priests.

The dispute broke out after a conservative politician said RAI should block the documentary because it was part of what he called a media execution squad ready to open fire on the Church and the Pope.

Mario Landolfi, head of the parliament's oversight committee for the broadcaster, asked RAI director general Claudio Cappon to deny permission to air Sex Crimes and the Vatican.

The documentary was aired on the BBC in October but never in Italy, although bloggers have translated it and it now ranks as Google Video Italia's most popular item. Several leftist politicians immediately attacked Landolfi's request for censorship.

At the weekend, Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian Bishops Conference, accused bloggers who put the documentary on the web of spreading "infamous slander".

Two leftists parliamentarians, Giovanni Russo Spena and Gennaro Migliore, said in a joint statement that the documentary should be aired because paedophilia in the Catholic Church is well known, there is no mystery about it.

   
Objections to showing Iranian film at Cannes

From Stop Fundamentalism

Iranian Mullahs’ have once again exposed to the world their limited tolerance for views that might be slightly different than theirs.

Iran has sent the French Embassy in Tehran a letter of protest regarding the screening of an Iranian film maker’s movie, Persepolise, at the Cannes Film Festival.

The movie is about a child growing up in Iran after the Islamic Revolution.

The letter sent by the state-run Farabi Foundation in Iran reads, This year the Cannes Film Festival, in an unconventional and unsuitable act, has chosen a movie about Iran that has presented an unrealistic face of the achievements and results of the glorious Islamic Revolution in some of its parts.

Mullahs are trying very hard to extend the reach of their censorship and their totalitarian rule all the way up into Europe.

The film is competing for the top prize and will be officially screened Wednesday.

German games companies fight back against stricter censorship

From Heise Online see full article

The computer games industry still does not think that Germany needs to revise its Interstate Treaty to Protect Minors in the Media.

The German Association for Interactive Entertainment Software (BIU) says that the call for stricter legislation against violent games by conservative politicians last week after the presentation of the study by the Criminology Research Institute of Lower Saxony (KFN) is nothing more than a "knee-jerk reaction".

The industry Association is referring to a hearing held at the end of April in the Bundestag on violent computer games. After that hearing, media experts along all party lines voted against making the regulations stricter. The SPD had already stated its position in advance by saying that simply improving enforcement of youth protection and the German Penal Code would suffice.

KFN Director Christian Pfeiffer presented a survey of 72 games his Institute said it would prefer to raise the age restrictions for 37% of the games that had one from the USK ("Unterhaltungssoftware SelbstKontrolle" or Voluntary Rating for Entertainment Software), and he cast doubt on 27% of the labels,

Now, the industry association has said that the criminological research report may be biased. For instance, it does not even mention the high quality study produced by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). Unlike Pfeiffer, who says that brutal games increase the violent potential of players already prone to violence, the British Board found that not even interactive violent computer games were able to generate any significant emotion among players.

The BIU is calling on Germany's home ministers to get involved in public relations work instead of undermining public trust in current state youth protection mechanisms with unprofessional criticism.

Irish Broadcasting Complaints Commission not impressed by discussion of sex toys

Based on an article from Irish Examiner

Radio presenter Ray D’Arcy has been criticised for a lack of taste and decency after hosting a sexually explicit show comparing sex toys. During the live show he let buzzing vibrators loose on his desk.

In a ticking off, the Today FM’s DJ was rapped by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission for a mid-morning discussion with two women who tested the products.

A listener, who had his kids in the car with him at the time, was 'horrified' and lodged a complaint saying it was unreasonable to broadcast it so early in the day.

The BCC agreed and branded it sexually explicit. Watchdogs said the show lacked taste and decency, was explicit, gratuitous, inappropriate and totally unsuitable for the time of day.

The show was aired at 9.35am for an adult audience in March.

   
Michael Moore film under duress

Based on an article from The Guardian see full article

Michael Moore's latest knock against the US administration, today receives its premiere at the Cannes film festival. Sicko is a documentary tackling the state of American healthcare, focuses on the pharmaceutical giants, and particularly on health insurers.

The film has already caused Moore to clash with the American authorities. Now, according to movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, the US government is attempting to impound the negative.

According to Weinstein, the US Treasury's moves meant we had to fly the movie to another country, he would not say to where. He added that he feared that if the film were impounded, there might be attempts to cut some footage, in particular the last 20 minutes, which related to a trip to Cuba.

In March, Moore travelled to Cuba with a group of emergency workers from New York's Ground Zero to see whether they would receive better care under the Castro regime than they had under George Bush. He had applied for permission to travel in October 2006 and received no reply.

In a letter dated May 2, the treasury department notified Moore that it was investigating him for unlicensed travel to Cuba.

Now team Moore is hitting back. Weinstein has hired an attorney, David Boies, who has lodged a request under the US freedom of information act to find out what motivated the treasury to begin its investigation: They have to tell us why they did it and what they did. And they are not too happy about it.

Weinstein believes the investigation has a political agenda: We want to find out who motivated this. We suspect there may be interference from another office. Otherwise, I don't understand why this would have come about.

Moore has hired Al Gore's former press secretary, Chris Lehane, to help him to deal with the forces I'm up against.

Bible acceptable by community standards

From The Telegraph see full article

Hong Kong's media regulator said it would not reclassify the Bible as an indecent publication following more than 2,000 complaints about its sexual and violent content, including rape and incest.

The Bible is a religious text which is part of civilisation. It has been passed from generation to generation, the Television and Licensing Authority (TELA) ruled last night.

The regulator received 2,041 such complaints in the last week, but said it would not submit the Bible to the tribunal for obscene classification.

The Bible had not violated standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable members of the community, TELA said in a statement.

Increasing state censorship of the internet

From the BBC see full article
See also the OpenNet Initiative

The level of state-led censorship of the net is growing around the world, a study of so-called internet filtering by the Open Net Initiative suggests.

The study of thousands of websites across 120 Internet Service Providers found 25 of 41 countries surveyed showed evidence of content filtering. Websites and services such as Skype and Google Maps were blocked, it said.

In five years we have gone from a couple of states doing state-mandated net filtering to 25, said John Palfrey, at Harvard Law School. Palfrey, executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, added: There has also been an increase in the scale, scope and sophistication of internet filtering.

ONI is made up of research groups at the universities of Toronto, Harvard Law School, Oxford and Cambridge. It chose 41 countries for the survey in which testing could be done safely and where there was the most to learn about government online surveillance.

Countries which carry out the broadest range of filtering included Burma, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, the study said.

Jonathan Zittrain, Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University, said the organisation was also looking at the tools people used to circumvent filtering: It's hard to quantify how many people are doing this. As we go forward each year we want to see if some of these circumvention technologies become more like appliances and you just plug them in and they work.

Few states restrict their activities to one type of content, said Rafal Rohozinski, Research Fellow of the Cambridge Security Programme: Once filtering is begun, it is applied to a broad range of content and can be used for expanding government control of cyberspace. "Cyberspace has become a strategic forum of competition between states, as well as between citizens and states.

The survey found evidence of filtering in the following countries:

Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Burma/Myanmar, China, Ethiopia, India, Iran, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen.

Criminal Justice Bill to be introduced this summer

From Media Newswire see full article

Home Secretary John Reid has been speaking to the Police Federation stating that a Criminal Justice Bill will be introduced this summer.

It was previously stated that the prohibition on Extreme pornography would be introduced in this bill. This is not mentioned in the speech probably because it is considered small fry and maybe not considered so relevant to the audience

In a speech to the Police Federation John Reid said:

And that's why this summer we'll be introducing a new Criminal Justice Bill to:

• To extend your powers to close all premises generating yobbish behaviour - not just crack dens.
• And to give you more powers to restrict the behaviour of dangerous offenders like where they can live or who they can associate with.

Comment: A new Minister of Dangerous Pictures

From Phantom on The Melon Farmers Forum

The reason John Reid will not have mentioned the subject of the Dangerous Pictures Act is because it now falls into the remit of Lord Falconer`s Department for Constitutional Affairs/Ministry of Justice

The DPA is now the affair of the Ministry of Justice and therefore not something Reid will be waxing lyrical about anymore...

As for the ministerial staff of the Ministry of Justice, it could be any one of these: www.justice.gov.uk/ministers.htm. After Goggins and Coaker the poisoned chalice has now passed on to its third minister...

Comments: Radio 4 Today Programme Comments

See comments about the recent Today programme

   
Cocaine drink renamed Censored

From News.com.au see full article

An energy drink that was barred by the US government from going on the market with the name Cocaine will re-emerge under the tongue-in-cheek moniker Censored.

We love the Censored name because it has the same rebellious and fun spirit that our original name did, said Redux Beverages founder Jamey Kirby.

The company announced earlier this week it was going to change the name of the Cocaine beverage in the face of pressure from officials and others who said it glamourised illegal drug use.

The Las Vegas-based firm said it took the action about the title of its caffeine-loaded drink - which contains no cocaine despite the name - in the face of "threats" by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Nevada state officials.

Legal troubles for the firm began on April 4, when the FDA issued a warning to Redux that it considered the drink illegal, saying it was being marketed as an alternative to an illegal street drug and making claims to treat or cure disease.

Thai radio station radio raided and shut after airing Thaksin interview

From the Bangkok Post

Broadcasting regulators yesterday raided and shut down a community radio station which ran an interview with ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and threatened to crack down on thousands of illegal community radio stations.

The FM 87.75 station was raided and closed down yesterday after the Public Relations Department, the regulator of community radio stations, found that it had no licence to operate.

Department chief Pramoj Rathavinij said yesterday that he ordered drastic measures against the stations which aired comments from Thaksin for national security reasons, adding the department would take this opportunity to deal with around 3,000 illegal community radio stations across the country.

The deposed leader called three radio stations known to be sympathetic to him on Wednesday night. Besides the FM 87.75 community radio station, he called the FM 92.75 taxi drivers' community radio and the internet radio station run by the Saturday Voice Against Dictatorship website.

In the radio interviews Thaksin called for swift elections to restore democracy and confidence. He also said that he would not return to Thailand soon out of concern that his return would result in a confrontation. It was the first time Thaksin has spoken to the Thai media at home since he was removed from power in the Sept 19 coup and went to live in London.

Council for National Security (CNS) chairman Gen Sonthi Boonyaratkalin said yesterday that he had ordered the Internal Security Operations Command to closely monitor community radio stations.

Call to class the bible as indecent in Hong Kong

From Stuff see full article

More than 800 Hong Kong residents have called on authorities to reclassify the Bible as "indecent" due to its sexual and violent content, following an uproar over a sex column in a university student journal.

A spokesperson for Hong Kong's Television and Entertainment Licensing authority (TELA) said it had received 838 complaints about the Bible.

The complaints follow the launch of an anonymous Web site, www.truthbible.net, which said the holy book "made one tremble" given its sexual and violent content, including rape and incest.

The Web site said the Bible's sexual content "far exceeds" that of a recent sex column published in the Chinese University's "Student Press" magazine, which had asked readers whether they'd ever fantasised about incest or bestiality.

That column was later deemed "indecent" by the Obscene Articles Tribunal, sparking a storm of debate about social morality and freedom of speech.

If the Bible is similarly classified as "indecent" by authorities, only those over 18 could buy the holy book and it would need to be sealed in a wrapper with a statutory warning notice.

TELA said it was still undecided on whether the Bible had violated Hong Kong's obscene and indecent articles laws.

Beyer Recommends... The Virgin School

Beyer Recommends...The Virgin School

Thanks to Dan who noted that the Daily Mail have re-run the same story marking the broadcast that they ran when the show was first announced. So if it seems a little familiar...

Based on an article from the Daily Mail

Channel 4 sparked outrage after it screened a new show which featured a male virgin being taught how to have sex.

James from Kent, who is 26 and had never slept with a woman, visited a sex school in Amsterdam, where he spent three months learning "the art of intimacy".

Viewers were subjected to the uncomfortable sight of James losing his virginity to a sex therapist in the show called The Virgin School.

It is part of a series of programmes about virginity lined up for this year, which will also look at the different ways in which people lose their virginity.

John Beyer, director of Mediawatch UK said: It beggars belief. It's yet another example of them trying to attract viewers with a programme about sex. It is really time that Channel 4 grew up. They are so caught up in their own importance that they really can't see beyond their own quest for sensationalism and controversy.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: Virgin School is a sensitive documentary that follows one young man's effort to overcome a major obstacle in his life. The programme focuses on his emotional journey and his growing confidence with women, not the final result.

The next show called Make Me A Virgin is a documentary where filmmaker and ex-evangelical Christian Jamie Campbell investigates the claim that more and more teenagers are holding on to their virginity as a reaction against the sex obsessed culture of our times. Channel 4 will then screen Desperate Virgins, an investigation into the lives of three people who have yet to have sex.

 
of online game set in Northern Ireland troubles

From the BBC see full article
See the online game at HoodedGunman

A web-based computer game inspired by the activities of Northern Ireland's paramilitary groups has 'outraged' victims organisations.

The Hooded Gunman, a virtual game where players register as republicans or loyalists. The aim of the game is to collect as much money as possible by creating a paramilitary empire built on drug dealing, prostitution, counterfeiting and killing your enemies. Players also have to avoid police officers who can offer them bonuses for becoming informers.

The game's introduction states: We created this game to make people laugh and have fun and hopefully unite in our differences in our online community, after all, in Northern Ireland we have such beautiful cultural diversities.

However, Alan McBride who lost his wife and father-in-law in an IRA bomb in 1993 is furious: It does attempt to glorify it (violence) in some senses and it is absolutely appalling.

Ulster Unionist Derek Hussey said it was tasteless and insensitive: There is nothing glamorous or playful about paramilitarism in Northern Ireland. At a time when many victims are coming to terms with the new dispensation and politicians are trying to draw a line under the past, this type of nonsense does not help.

But the game's creator, Warren Dowey, said the intention was to bring about awareness of the plight of people in Northern Ireland, but never to cause offence: I don't want to take away from the fact that many people lost their lives to violence but I just wanted to highlight what I felt was the ridiculousness of it. The game does not glorify the paramilitaries by any sense, in fact it portrays them as drug dealers, and peddlers of alcohol and prostitution. There are no civilians within the game.

   
ASA rule on fishhook advert

From the Daily Mail see full article

A health campaign which showed smokers being snatched by fish hooks in their mouths has been criticised for frightening children.

The Advertising Standards Authority received 744 complaints about the Department of Health TV commercials and posters.

The campaign attracted the highest number of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority for two years. The ASA criticised the handling of the Government-health initiative. They said most of those who complained considered the images were "offensive, frightening and distressing", particularly to children.

It ruled that the commercials cannot be shown during children or family viewing times. It seems the posters will be banned outright.

The Department of Health said the adverts were designed to confront smokers with the controlling nature of their addiction and were not meant merely to attract attention or to be gratuitous.

   
Catholics whinge about Canadian TV programme

From Canada.com see full article

A Canadian Catholic organization is accusing the TV company, CBC, of blasphemy over a pilot program that portrays altar boys as drug users and the Catholic communion host as munchable snack food, possible poker chips and a repository for drops of LSD.

Catholics should not have to pay for shows where their most sacred rituals and images are considered a starting point for dramatic licence, said the Catholic Civil Rights League, which intends to lodge a formal complaint today with the CBC for airing The Altar Boy Gang.

Two 30-minute pilot shows of The Altar Boy Gang, produced by Sienna Films of Toronto, aired last Friday with the help of more than $600,000 in funding from the Canadian Television Fund, which supports the production of distinctively Canadian TV programs.

Jeff Keay, a CBC spokesman, said yesterday the show will not become a CBC series. But he said he thought the premise of the pilot shows did not cross the line: We certainly intend no disrespect of the Catholic Church or any other religious organization. He said the network has received no other complaints about the shows.

Joanne McGarry, the civil rights league's executive director, said she watched the two pilots and personally, the part where I cringed the most, was the desecration of the host. She said she intended to send a formal complaint to Robert Rabinovitch, president of the CBC: We think the religious faith of all Canadians should be respected in our programming.

   
Complaints about US TV decline

Based on an article from AVN see full article

The FCC's Quarterly Report on Informal Consumer Inquiries and Complaintsrevealed that there were just 30,962 consumer complaints about obscenity/indecency on the airwaves received by the FCC in the last quarter of 2006, 29,821 of which were received in October alone, leaving just 1,141 for November and December.

This figure is down from the 162,170 complaints the agency had received in the previous quarter, a mere shadow of the obscenity/indecency complaints it received in the first half of '06 ... and miniscule compared to the flood of 1,405,419 complaints largely attributable to the Janet Jackson split-second tit exposure the agency got in 2004.

It was revealed that more than 99% of the 2004 complaints originated with one source: The ultra-conservative Parents Television Council (PTC), which provides ready-made forms with which to file such complaints right on its website, and which had been very vocal in its own newsletters and in the mass media about the "dangers" of "indecent speech" on TV and radio.

Once the PTC media blitz had been exposed, however, the FCC announced that it would be giving less weight to such blast-fax and blast-email campaigns, and the PTC's influence over FCC indecency/obscenity investigations and the fines that were eventually levied began to wane.

From CPJ see full article

The Pakistani Supreme Court should immediately withdraw the alarming press directive issued that is designed to stifle coverage of a controversial issue involving the court, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

The court warned print and electronic media to avoid “any interference” in the high-profile dispute over the ousting of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. Violations will be considered “contempt of court.

Art vandalised and artist arrested

From the BBC see full article

Art lovers in India are holding protests against the arrest of a student whose work was vandalised by activists who said they were obscene.

The artists say their right to freedom of expression is being violated. They are demonstrating in Mumbai and other cities against "moral policing" by right-wing Hindu groups.

The artists have condemned last week's arrest of a post-graduate student from a university campus in the state of Gujarat. The state is currently governed by the right wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The dean of the arts faculty at the university was suspended for opposing the student's arrest.

The activists said that the work of Chandra Mohan is "obscene and distasteful" because it shows naked men.

Chandra Mohan was released on bail after being imprisoned for four days. His case shows that along with rapid economic progress, India is also facing a steady rise in the culture of artistic intolerance.

Cursed, hype or a snuff movie?

From Business of Cinema see full article

French Customs officials have quarantined a 35mm print of the controversial film Last Looks, which was to have its world premiere, out of competition, at the current Cannes Film Market.

The film's director, Nick Brown, claims the seizure was "a disguised act of censorship" and that the film deserved a public screening before condemnation.

A source close to the production described the film as showing the actual deaths of actors and behind-the-camera crew members during production of a low-budget American indie horror film called The Evil Eye, that was filmed in the summer of 2006 among the Turkish and Greek Islands in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Evil Eye deaths were first reported in the Rhodes daily newspapers Dimokratiki. According to Dimokratiki, the largely American crew was using a 33-meter long Turkish ship as a set, as well as for living quarters. But when the ship docked on 3 July 2006 in the port of Faliraki, it was in order to seek medical help for a young actress, Malaysian born Ying-Yu Tan, who later died of unnamed injuries.

A crew member told the paper that the filming of The Evil Eye was aborted when the director Zack Freedman, the cinematographer Scott Maher and soundman Ryan Denmark were killed when the small boat they were shooting from blew up during a staged explosion at sea.

Greek authorities continue to investigate and were quoted as saying that it was impossible to say how many people had been killed or were missing because it appeared that some of the dead might have been buried at sea. The surviving production team refused to cooperate with authorities and fled the country.

Brown now says he will fly to France in an attempt to resolve differences with French authorities, who were apparently tipped off by relatives of the deceased that he planned to screen his film out of competition at Cannes. Said Brown, One way or another this film will be shown at Cannes, and I predict that people will find, in spite of all the rumors swirling around, that it is a very entertaining movie.

Laws against hoardings in India and and Bangladesh

Based on an article from the Blitz

Authorities in Bangladesh are planning actions against supposedly vulgar hoardings as well planning to ban use of foreign models in advertisements of products of various consumer items.

Meanwhile in India, worried that "obscene" hoardings will distract motorists into accidents and expose Mumbai's children to "corrupt influences," the BMC has decided to set up its own censor board to examine every hoarding before it's put up for public view and block all the "vulgar" ones from cropping up across the city.

The civic censor board will be set up in the form of a central committee at the BMC headquarters and sub-committees at the ward level. The committees will give certificates only to those hoardings that pass the obscenity test.

There is already a law against supposedly vulgar advertisements but it is rarely implemented because of a lack of machinery to enforce any restrictions.

If the proposal gets through, the BMC may consider banning cigarette and tobacco ads on city roads too.

Beyer Recommends... Sex...With Mum & Dad

Contributing to the hype for Sex...With Mum & Dad

Based on an article from the Express see full article

A "shocking" and “disgusting” BBC series will broadcast the word 'cunt' uncensored and show parents simulating sexual positions in front of their children.

And the provocatively titled Sex… With Mum & Dad will supposedly flout the code of broadcasting regulator Ofcom when aired this week, it has been claimed.

The BBC3 programme features two families – the Hicks and Garrattleys – who discuss aspects of sex.

One will show Becky Garrattleys, 16, describe the behaviour of her parents Chris and Karen as “disgusting” and “sick”. She becomes upset when she sees them demonstrating sex positions with dolls.

The nutters Mediawatch-UK pointed out that Ofcom rules state that due care must be taken over the physical and emotional welfare and the dignity of people under 18 who take part in programmes.

Publicity for the show, which begins on Tuesday, says: “Imagine your parents giving you a blow-by-blow account of the kind of things they do to each other when you go out. The theory is the more open people are [about sex] the less there is to hide and worry about. Which doesn’t mean it’s going to be any less awkward to hear about dad’s first time or mum’s stash of sex toys.” Another episode features detailed discussions about gay sex.

Mediawatch-UK spokesman John Beyer said: How can this show possibly fit in the BBC’s new public service remit? It is there purely to titillate and to cause controversy. The BBC should be encouraging parents to talk to children, not inviting a Dutch sexologist to counsel them. The C-word is the word people find most offensive. It was on BBC’s Balderdash & Pifle and the BBC is looking at another programme on the history of the word.

Executive producer Robin Ash­brook, from Shine production company, denied the programmes were titillating, adding: I would ask people not to judge it from a trailer, or what you read about it. We had the idea to make a series about sex education because of the high rate in Britain of teenage pregnancies and STDs (sexually transmitted diseases).

   
Censorial Australia publish bill to ban hardcore from new media

From Refused Classification see details of the Content Services Bill

The details of the CONTENT SERVICES BILL 2007 have just been released. All you need to know that it means more censorship. X18+ will be banned, as will electronic versions of Category 1 and 2 publications. So much for standardising the classifications.

About the TV showings of Saddam's execution

From Ofcom

The execution of Saddam Hussein on 30 December 2006 attracted worldwide attention. The former head of state was executed after judicial process and officially released footage of the execution, by the Iraqi government, was made available for broadcast. Many broadcasters chose to show extracts of these pictures and this was done at different times of the day and in different ways by individual broadcasters. The execution dominated news headlines for at least the first two weeks of January 2007, as unofficial mobile phone footage of the event came into the public domain (some of which was also broadcast on UK television).

Ofcom received 70 complaints from viewers who found some of the images broadcast to be offensive. Many complainants also expressed concern at the effect such images may have had on younger viewers. The complaints related to coverage on several channels and programmes. Ofcom viewed all of the material complained of and concluded that in most cases, the use of the footage was justified in context given the huge public interest there was in the news and that, for example, warnings were given to viewers about the nature of the material they were about to see and what was shown was appropriately limited. There was therefore no need, in these cases, to seek a response from the broadcasters.

The Broadcasting Code recognises the broadcasters and the audience’s right to freedom of expression (particularly, in this case, the right to receive and impart information and ideas). The issue Ofcom had to consider here was whether that right was exercised responsibly and therefore in accordance with the Code. The execution of Saddam Hussein had been widely anticipated. Further, the execution was clearly a matter of public interest. Nevertheless, many people found the footage leading up to the execution disturbing. We do not consider that the images themselves were too offensive for broadcast – provided they were properly justified in context.

The BBC News 24 bulletin, on the 30 December 2006, was broadcast in the hours immediately following the execution and the focus was on the events of the day. BBC News 24 prefaced the use of the images with the words you’re watching a BBC News special, with extensive coverage of the execution of Saddam Hussein.

The Sky News bulletin, on 2 January 2007, was reporting how the Deputy Prime Minister had described the manner of the execution as deplorable. Sky News referred in its introduction to the “jeering” in the execution chamber. We, therefore, believe that while there were no specific warnings, the broadcasters - in both cases - did provide “appropriate information” (for news channels) as required by the Code and so viewers would have been aware to a great extent of the nature of the subsequent reports

Given the unique nature of the events, Ofcom considers in both instances the use of the pictures was justified by the context, so that there was no breach of the Code. At all times the footage was curtailed to events surrounding the execution; the moment of death was never shown. We also bore in mind the fact that both BBC News 24 and Sky News are rolling news channels, the audience for which is overwhelmingly adult and self-selecting.

While we do not consider that there were breaches of the Code in respect of these two bulletins, broadcasters should be aware that footage, such as, this may contain particularly disturbing images (for instance, the jeering and taunting of Saddam Hussein before his execution). Broadcasters therefore need to consider very carefully the use of such strong material as general ‘background’ imagery in, for examples, interviews or live discussions with correspondents. It may be the case that where images are extremely powerful broadcasters will need to give greater context to the pictures (e.g. by careful scripting).

Complaints not upheld

Details of extreme fines and jail sentences

From SEAPA see full article

On 9 May 2007, legislators voted 119 to 1 for the bill at its third reading, which now awaits royal assent before it can be promulgated as the Computer-Related Offences Commission Act.

SEAPA is troubled by the unclear criteria on what constitute "offences", the disproportionate punishments to violators and the implications of some of the provisions on free expression.

One of the law's provisions seeks to strengthen the government's intent to manage access to, and content on, the Internet by penalising people who seek ways around government-ordered blocks and filters. The law thus penalises the use of proxy servers to access sites banned by the government.

While campaigning for more responsible use of the Internet, Thai lawmakers are also taking aim at the anonymity the Internet affords many users. Free expression online may however suffer as a result, as measures of anonymity and privacy facilitate open and equal discussions, objectivity in the evaluation of the message rather than the messenger, and information-sharing pertaining to concerns over official wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, the harsh punishments and unclear criteria defining the offences will encourage self-censorship on the Internet. For example, the law says that disseminating "improper" content is punishable with a five-year imprisonment and a fine of Baht 100,000 (approx. US$3,066), or both, under article 13. The law also holds the Internet operator or webmaster liable, with a possible five-year imprisonment or a fine of Baht 100,000 (approx. US$3,066), or both, under article 14.

Doctoring pictures of individuals that cause damage to their reputation can land one in prison for three years or with a fine of Baht 600,000 (approx. US$18,363), or both, under article 15.

Under article 11, which concerns offences that affect national security, damaging the information system of a computer can lead to a 10-year imprisonment or a fine of Baht 200,000 (approx. US$6,123), or both. Undermining national security is punishable by between three and 15 years' imprisonment or a fine of between Baht 60,000 (approx. US$1,837) and Baht 300,000 (US$9,185), or both. For endangering a life or causing death, one could face between 10 and 20 years' imprisonment.

The law also seeks to apply to acts abroad that are deemed to "damage the country, both directly and indirectly".

Malaysia now populated by granny rapists?

Given that the internet was uncensored and teens being teens, viewed the porn, how many actually turned out to be granny rapists?

I lived in Georgetown for a few months and used to marvel that Malaysia had installed a 'super information highway' whilst the more traditional highways still had rat infested open sewers.

From the Khaleej Times see full article

Malaysia's former prime minister wanted to censor the Internet to prevent Malaysians from accessing pornography, but was foiled because of the need to appease foreign investors.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who retired in 2003 after 22 years in power, said in an interview with independent news Web site Malaysiakini.com that he had long held the belief that the Internet is undermining moral values. They put on the Internet all those pornographic, dirty pictures and things like that. If a young boy, a teenager, sees all those things, he goes crazy and he rapes little children and rapes even his grandmother.

Mahathir said he was under pressure by foreign investors to keep the Internet uncensored because of efforts to develop Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor, a high-tech zone shaped after California's Silicon Valley that Mahathir launched in the late 1990s to house technology firms.

I was forced to say 'I will not censor the Internet', Mahathir said: But I was never convinced. Even now I'm not convinced. I don't mean censor contrary views. Contrary views (are) OK, but censor those filthy and dirty things.

Thailand wants to trace uploaders of insulting videos

From the Bangkok Post

Just as the kerfuffle over the Internet videos appeared to be dying down and headed for a mutual resolution after YouTube.com began removing supposedly insulting videos and the government said it would reopen the site to all Thai visitors.

The Information and Communication Technology Ministry re-escalated the battle against the anti-monarchy videos, saying Thai authorities would demand YouTube.com hand over the Internet addresses of those who uploaded the clips.

The number of clips insulting the monarch has mushroomed after news spread around the world that Thailand had banned the popular site.

As of Friday night at 9 p.m. Thailand time, several of the insulting clips had disappeared from the YouTube.com site. But many others remained.

Now, ICT Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom says authorities wanted to charge those who posted the mocking video clips with lese majeste, the crime of offending a monarch, which is punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment.

Sitthichai did not say what might happen if YouTube refuses to hand over the information. A decision by YouTube or its owners to give such information to the Thai government would earn Thailand and Sitthichai a firestorm of criticism across the Internet, and by civil rights groups around the world.

As of now, no one knows where the uploaders of the insulting videos live. IP addresses can be traced to an Internet company, which then would have to be compelled to match the Internet Protocol address to a specific user. There is little chance that a foreign court would allow such an invasion of privacy, but a Thai Internet provider would probably turn over such information in a case of insulting the monarchy.

Sitthichai said the ministry would unblock the YouTube website "immediately" - when all the clips were gone.

But there is great uncertainty over whether the videos will be removed. The text of the letter to Mr Sitthichai from Google vice president Kent Walker has been released, and Walker said at least two of the videos cited by a Thai complaint would stay as they did not break lese majeste laws.

They appear to be political comments that are critical of both the government and the conduct of foreigners," the letter said: Because they are political in nature, and not intended insults of His Majesty, we do not see a basis for blocking these videos.

Data provided on YouTube claimed that the five most-seen videos that are meant to be offensive to the monarchy have been seen 137,000 times - a tiny number by YouTube standards, where popular videos routinely have more than 10 million views.

   
And shareholders approve at Google

And Google then immediately said they would remove the videos insulting the Thai king

From CNET News see full article

Google shareholders rejected a proposal to require the search giant to set policies to protect freedom of access to the Internet and not self-censor.

Google must make special efforts to avoid being seen as complicit in human rights abuses...and not be proactive in censorship, said Patrick Doherty, a representative of the New York City Pension Fund, which submitted the resolution. When it created its Web search site for China, Google said it would remove results from its www.google.cn Web site that would likely offend the Chinese government.

Before the shareholder vote, Google chief legal counsel David Drummond said the board opposed the measure because it would do more harm than good: We appreciate the spirit of this proposa. However we oppose the proposal because we don't think that at the end of the day it advances the causes of free expression and access to information...Pulling out of China, shutting down google.cn is, to us, not the right thing to do at this point and is not the answer to the Internet censorship problem.

   
Smoking may trigger an R Rating

Yes but if one starts awarding R ratings for innocuous films then parents will start to ignore the ratings as worthess.

From New York Post see full article

The US film censor, the MPAA announced a new tobacco taboo yesterday - and said “pervasive” or “glamorized” smoking in a film could lead to an R-rating.

In effect, lighting up will now be viewed the same as sex, nudity, violence, cursing and drug use.

Now, all smoking will be a consideration in the rating process, said Dan Glickman, chairman of the MPAA

The MPAA stopped short of an automatic R, but Glickman said smoking will be reviewed among many other factors, including violence, sexual situations and language, in the rating of films.

The association will also consider whether it's artistically necessary to have characters smoke.

New film-rating descriptions will include the phrases "glamorized smoking" or "pervasive smoking."

Christopher Buckley, who wrote the novel that inspired the satirical film Thank You for Smoking said, I can only hope this means that the MPAA will strip such films as Casablanca . . . of their G ratings and relabel them for what they were: insidious works of prosmoking propaganda that led to millions of . . . deaths.

Hong Kong man fined for posting porn link on forum

From the Khaleej Times see full article

A man has been fined 5,000 Hong Kong dollars (640 US dollars) for incorporating a pornographic link in an internet forum posting in the first case of its kind in Hong Kong.

Woo Tai-wai pleaded guilty to publishing eight obscene photographs via a local internet forum in the first prosecution related to internet porn sites under the city’s obscene and indecent articles laws.

Internet Society chairman Charles Mok Nai-kwong said the court case raised several concerns. In this case, the court has given a new direction to the public concerning the responsibility of internet users, he said.

Mok added that he also believed the case could damage the freedom of information on the internet. This man posted a link on the internet which now becomes an act that constitutes the breaking of law, and my question is whether a link is being regarded as the ‘obscene article, he said.

Search engines, including Yahoo and Google, carry links to porn sites, he added.

Google censors bow to Thai censors

Good timing for Thailand as Google share holders have just decided not to adopt a policy of resisting censorship

From the Bangkok Post

The Information and Communications Ministry has dropped the criminal lawsuit it planned to file against Google today after the internet giant officially informed Thailand that it will remove controversial video clips from its YouTube website. ICT Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said yesterday that he had received a letter from Google's vice-president Kent Walker to this effect.

The letter said the company did not want to encourage any wrongful act and promote hostile feelings as a result of the video clips depicting His Majesty the King, the minister said.

The letter added that it took time to find the huge number of clips sent to the video-sharing website, but they would be removed immediately after they were spotted, the minister said.

The police would have to make their own decision as to whether or not to proceed with a lese majeste charge against the US-based internet firm.

The minister had earlier said the video clips, which depict the King in unflattering ways, were an offence to the feelings of Thai people that foreigners would never understand.

   
And the adverts that they whinged about

Based on an article from the BBC see full article

Top 10 adverts of 2006 by volume of complaints.

1. Gay Police Association ad, 533 complaints
   
   Featuring a claim from the Gay Police Association of a link between homophobic attacks and religious motivation. Several Christian groups complained saying it was offensive to them and discriminatory in tone.
    
2. Revenue and Customs ad, 271 complaints
   
   The advert offended many self-employed people, and plumbers in particular, who said the advert made them look like tax evaders.
    
3. Dolce & Gabbana 166 complaints
   
   A new concern from 2006 was the glamorisation of knives.
    
4. Motorola ad, 160 complaints
   
   Another appearance for D&G whose joint advert with Motorola, complainants said, "condoned knife-related violence" and "glamorised sexual violence".
    
5. Carphone Warehouse ad, 145 complaints
   
   The familiar Carphone Warehouse adverts riled customers and competitors, particularly claims that its service would be "free forever".
    
6. French Connection ad, 127 complaints
   
   A TV advert in which two women had a martial-arts contest, culminating in a kiss.
    
7. Channel 5 ad, 99 complaints
   
   Five ran a teaser poster campaign saying that "nothing good ever came out of America". Some people complained that the teaser was racist towards Americans and socially irresponsible in that it could incite racial violence.
    
8. Kellogg's ad, 96 complaints
   
   Objections to a Kellogg's television ad featuring a man riding a dog claimed that it portrayed cruelty to animals and would encourage viewers to try the same stunt at home.
    
9. National Federation of Cypriots ad, 93 complaints
   
   An advert drew complaints from a human rights organisation which was concerned it was offensive to the Turkish community and likely to incite racial hatred.
    
10. Dolce & Gabbana, 89 complaints
    
    D&G and the politics of same-sex relations appeared three times each in the top 10. D&G's TV ad showed a brief kiss between two men, and was followed by complaints that it was unsuitable for children to see, and some that it was unsuitable to show at any time.

New Thai law criminalises use of internet proxies

Based on an article from the Bangkok Post

The main immediate effect of a new bill will be to outlaw any attempt to get around government censors to access any of the tens of thousands of sites censored for moral or political purposes, or to damage the country.

The National Legislative Assembly approved the Cyber Crime Bill, which gives officials power to crack down effectively on hacking and internet-related crimes through harsher punishments.

The bill sailed through its third reading on Wednesday by a vote of 119 to 1. It requires royal endorsement before it can be formally enacted into law.

The bill regards as a crime the intention to withhold internet protocol (IP) addresses and violators are subject to severe punishment, according to the NLA special committee assigned to scrutinise the law.

The IP is a unique address used to identify computer users while communicating with others on the network. However, the committee said, "ill-intentioned users" often hide or falsify their computer addresses so that they can easily carry out illegal acts and get away with them.

Penalties apply to all illegal acts using the internet, including those carried out abroad and deemed to damage the country both directly and indirectly.

From Freedom House see full article

Press freedom suffered continued global decline in 2006, with particularly troubling trends evident in Asia, the former Soviet Union and Latin America. A major study of the state of media freedom released today by Freedom House also warned of a growing effort to place restrictions on internet freedom by censoring, harassing, or shutting down sites that provide alternate sources of political commentary.

The study, Freedom of the Press 2007: A Global Survey of Media Independence, showed mixed trends in Africa, as well as a continuation of a longer-term pattern of decline in press freedom in Latin America and the former Soviet Union.

Among the most critical setbacks singled out by Freedom House this year were:

• Setbacks in Asia—notably Thailand, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the Philippines and Fiji—stemming from coups, political upheaval, insurgency or states of emergency
• Setbacks in Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and other Latin American countries, in some cases due to state action, in others due to a deteriorating security environment
• Aggressive efforts by the Russian government to further marginalize independent media voices, punctuated by plans to regulate the internet
• Stagnation in the Middle East/North Africa region, bringing to a halt several years of modest progress.

Thailand to sue YouTube over video of king

Perhaps YouTube should sue Thailand for insult to our revered freedom of speech.

From the Bangkok Post

Information and Communications Technology Minister Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom said he will press a criminal lawsuit against Google Inc at the Bangkok criminal court on Friday.

The suit will charge that YouTube.com, owned by Google, hosted video clips offensive to the monarchy. It was not clear where Sitthichai will charge the American company with lese majeste, defamation or a cyberlaw violation.

Google has no office in Thailand, although it does business with many Thai-based websites and businesses. Similarly YouTube.com has no offices in Thailand.

A ministry statement said the suit will take the form of a petition to the criminal court for emergency protection. Sitthichai added that the ministry is studying the case to determine if the lawsuit can be filed in an international court.

YouTube has reportedly asked the Thai government "by e-mail" to send the controversial clips deemed insulting the King as evidence so it will remove them as requested by Thailand. Sitthichai said the request showed that YouTube was "playing a game".

Sitthichai has argued that Google had bowed to China's requests to block certain topics deemed politically sensitive, such as all references to democracy, so he saw no reason why it could not act similarly over Thailand's sensitivities over its revered monarch.

The ministry has attempted to block all access to YouTube from Thailand since April 4.  That clip has long since been removed, and the surfer who uploaded it has been banned by YouTube. But because of the high profile publicity of Mr Sitthichai's censorship, at least a dozen other offensive video clips have been uploaded to YouTube.com.

Increasing government censorship of websites was cited as one of the reasons Thailand was downgraded earlier this month from 107th to 127th place out of 195 countries on the Freedom House ranking of press freedom.

And Vietnam will ban photo exhibition to keep it secret

From Vietnam Bridge see full article

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Information has recently refused to give permission for a nude photo exhibition titled Closer by female photographer Nguyen Kim Hoang, sparking a debate on censorship.

The Department of Culture and Information says: The beauty of Vietnamese women is a secret beauty. All the photos in the exhibition capture and display the most sensitive parts of the woman, so showing this exhibition to the public wouldn’t be suitable to Vietnamese values and customs.

According to Uyen Huy, Vice Secretary General of the HCM City Art Association, the most sensitive parts of the woman are nothing more than the chin, the arms, the back, the shoulders, the elbows and the breasts, and these are merely beautiful images of bodily curves and lines.

There is absolutely no obscenity, sexual stimulation, or violation of values and customs at all. Perhaps since these photos were shot at a close angle, the department hesitated, said Uyen Huy.

For her part, photographer Nguyen Kim Hoang said she was willing to shelve photos considered inappropriate if necessary. Yet, she was completely surprised to hear that her works were rejected because they were unsuitable to Vietnamese values and customs.

   
Satellite Porn

From Christian Today

The nutter head of Christian Accountability Network, Chris Rosebrough, is calling on Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, to discipline media executive Rupert Murdoch for owning and expanding a network of pornographic channels in Europe.

Rosebrough said, Rupert Murdoch is a born-again Christian and Rick Warren claims to be his pastor. As a Christian, Murdoch is committing an egregious sin by owning, expanding and profiting from pornographic channels and Rick Warren, as his pastor, has a biblical duty to call Murdoch to repentance and/or put him out of the church.

He added that Murdoch's decision to run the porn channels was a clear case of a Christian openly committing a monstrous and unthinkable sin.

   
Spiderman 3 rating criticised

Based on an article from Functinpix see full article

The BBFC have come under criticism from the British Society Of Cinematographers for the 12A certification it awarded to the latest Spiderman 3 movie.

Fans and that the film does not warrant a 12A certification. The movie was awarded a PG-13 in the US.

The BBFC refused to comment but an insider said that the board deliberated only briefly on the movie and that the board of film censors may have been influenced by the studios. But really they should have been more lenient with it’s classification say fans. They argue that at no point in the film is there any material unsuitable for under 12’s.

Marvel Studios, the makers of the Spiderman trilogy, say that the BBFC have got the certification of the third Spiderman movie spot on.

The debate continues and the issue will be raised at the British Film Council meeting next week.

   
Penny Averill moves on

From the Hollywood Reporter see full article

Penny Averill, most recently deputy director of the BBFC, has joined industry body Women in Film and TV as its new chief executive, the organization said Friday.

Averill succeeds Jane Cussons at the promotional and lobby body and will take up the reins this month, reporting to Women in Film chair Sophie Balhetchet.

Before joining the BBFC, Averill's career included stints as head of compliance for UKTV, the joint venture between BBC and Flextech and spells in film acquisition and TV programming.

South Africa and the pre censorship of all mass media

From Legal Brief see full article

The Film and Publications Amendment Bill may have to go back to the drawing board after the chairperson of the Home Affairs Committee, Patrick Chauke, said that Parliament would not approve drastic new controls on the functioning of print and electronic media if they were unconstitutional: We don’t want to legislate and see it going to court. We are going to speak to the state law advisers; we think we can come to an amicable solution.

The DA was scathing of the Bill. MP Dene Smuts said: Boards such as these have no automatic right to exist in a constitutional state. They cannot be thought police. That is why I find the provision that these people can exercise pre-publication censorship on hate speech so shocking. No one at all should be conducting pre-publication inspection. That is censorship of the most primitive kind, whether imposed on broadcasters or the print media, and it is plainly unconstitutional. We do need an electronic communications regulator. We do not need a censor board/

An editorial in the Mail & Guardian said what the bill does is bring the mass media into the ambit of classification, though they have been excluded for 38 years by an exemption granted to publishers and broadcasters. In addition, it seeks to give the Film and Publications Board more powers to limit free expression than are provided for by the Constitution.

In effect, the Bill would mean that most content related to the reportage of sexual conduct, incitement to imminent violence and the advocacy of hatred based on any identifiable group characteristic would be subject to pre-publication censorship.

Near the watershed

From Ofcom

An appeal about a previous decision regarding Hellbound: Hellraiser II on Rapture TV, 15 May 2006, 21:00

Introduction

Rapture TV is a general entertainment channel. Hellbound: Hellraiser II is a well-known 1980's horror film rated 18 by the BBFC. A viewer complained about the broadcast of graphic violence so near to the watershed on a channel which is not PIN protected, and therefore widely accessible. Rapture TV was asked to comment in relation to Rules 1.6 and 1.21 of the Broadcasting Code which state:

Rule 1.6: The transition to more adult material must not be unduly abrupt at the watershed or after the time when children are particularly likely to be listening. For television, the strongest material should appear later in the schedule.

Rule 1.21: BBFC 18-rated films or their equivalent must not be broadcast before 2100 on any service except for pay per view services, and even then they may be unsuitable for broadcast at that time.

Response

Rapture TV said that the film was preceded by an 18 visual and audio warning and that it was transmitted after the watershed. It said that the EPG description was clear and highlighted that the film was a horror film and therefore unlikely to be family viewing. It commented that the weekly slot promoted by the channel for a horror movie should have meant that the audience would expect a horror film at that time.

Decision

This film contains graphic sequences of violence from the start, e.g. a scene of a man, whose face is impaled by hooks, being torn apart; graphic scenes of bloodied mutilation which explained how the main character, Pinhead came to be; and an image of a corpse covered in maggots.

The film was preceded by a visual warning which included the BBFC's 18 rating symbol and text noting that the film was not suitable for persons under 18. An accompanying audio warning stated: The following film is not suitable for any persons under the age of 18 years. It may contain scenes of an adult nature and contains bad language from the beginning.

The information given before this film was in both audio and visual format. However the wording of the on-screen text was insufficient to fully inform viewers of the nature of the content to follow. Similarly, although the audio information was more comprehensive, this suggested that the film may contain scenes of an adult nature which would not have prepared viewers for the sequences of graphic violence which were present from the very start of the film.

We accept that regular viewers of the channel may be familiar with this weekly horror slot and that some information had been provided before the broadcast of the film. However, given the extreme violence in the very early scenes of the film, it was unsuitable for broadcast so soon after the watershed on a free-to-air, general entertainment channel. The violent and extreme nature of the imagery at the beginning of the film resulted in the transition after the watershed to more adult material being unduly abrupt. For the same reason, this film was not suitable for broadcast at 21:00.

The scheduling of the film was therefore in breach of the Code, rules 1.6 and 1.21.

   
Arrested essayist can return to school

From The Times see full article

A high-school senior arrested for writing a violent essay for an English class can return to school and will be allowed to graduate with his class, his attorney says.

Allen Lee wrote the essay April 23 at Cary-Grove High and was arrested the next day on two misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct.

The decision to readmit Lee, an honors student with a 4.2 grade-point average, followed negotiations with school-district officials. Attorney Dane Loizzo said: We all reached the same conclusion, which is that he's not a threat and never was a threat and he should be treated as such.

Loizzo contended the charges were a product of paranoia, born of the April 16 massacre of 32 students at Virginia Tech.

Lee's essay read, in part: Blood, sex and booze. Drugs, drugs, drugs are fun. Stab, stab stab, stab, stab, s... t... a... b... puke. So I had this dream last night where I went into a building, pulled out two P90s and started shooting everyone, then had sex with the dead bodies. Well, not really, but it would be funny if I did.

Loizzo said the teacher had told students: Be creative; there will be no judgment and no censorship.

Lee had planned to enlist in the Marine Corps after graduation, but he was dropped from the enlistment program. Marine officials said he could reapply if the charges were dropped.

Loizzo said he will ask McHenry County prosecutors Monday to drop the charges.

Civil blogging proposal should be implemented in the UK by Tessa Jowell

From The Guardian see full article by Tessa Jowell, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

User-generated content on the internet - citizen journalism - is just one welcome example of "virtual ourspace". But as power shifts increasingly into the hands of citizens, responsibility must follow. The internet is transforming the way the government interacts with people and the way people interact with one another. But change never comes without challenges.

That's why in a lecture for the organisation Progress on Monday night, I publicly welcomed and supported the initiative by web pioneer Tim O'Reilly and Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales for a blogging code of conduct.

The wonderful, anarchic, creative world of the blogosphere shouldn't be a licence for abuse, bullying and threats as it has been in some disturbing cases.

There is a need for serious discussion about maintaining civilised parameters for debate, so that more people - and women and older people in particular - feel comfortable to participate.

I'm not wedded to the specific words and phrases in the draft code that O'Reilly and Wales have proposed (that is up for debate), but I do think their proposal is right in principle and should be adopted here too. Blogging took off earlier in the US and the blogging community has become a powerful political force there - I hope the same happens here. But surely its full potential to benefit civil society cannot be realised unless the quality of online debate itself is civilised? Surely we do not want online discussions simply to mirror the often aggressive, boorish and pointless exchanges that sometimes pass for debate on the floor of the House of Commons, and which are such a turn-off for voters?

Some commentators have suggested that the idea of a code of conduct shows the growing maturity of the blogging community in the US, although some of the more virulent attacks on the suggestion (and on O'Reilly and Wales themselves) have shown nothing except the immaturity of some users. But perhaps, taken as a whole, this proposal is a rare example of a good lesson for us in Britain to learn from American politics?

   
Ruddock allows just a month for discussion

From News.com.au see full article

Censorship rules banning the publication of material that advocates terrorist acts should come into force next month, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said.

A discussion paper on the proposed changes was being released today and he wants the public consultation process completed within a month.

I'm now getting the discussion paper out and it will enable people to look at what we are proposing as amendments to national classification codes, he said: The proposal is to put beyond doubt that publications, films and computer games that advocate terrorist acts are refused classification.

Ruddock said if state attorneys-general failed to agree by the beginning of June to the proposed changes to the classification process he would consider introducing legislation to implement them.

David Lepper sets his sights on censoring YouTube

From the The Argus see full article by Brighton MP, David Lepper

Following a story in The Argus about disturbing images celebrating gang violence in Churchill Square and other parts of the city appearing on the internet, I am asking both the Home Office and the communications regulator Ofcom to look at whether we need to do more to control what appears on websites like YouTube.

Every so often, some event makes many ask what we can do to minimise the internet's potential for harm. The violent death of Brighton teacher Jane Longhurst was one. It raised concerns about access to and the effects on behaviour of violent internet pornography.

I congratulate The Argus on the vital role it played in backing the campaign by Jane's mother Liz to get Government action to curb this extreme pornography. The campaign was later backed by Amnesty International and has led to legislation soon to come before Parliament about possession of such images.

As one of the MPs with Mrs Longhurst at many of her meetings with ministers and civil servants, I discovered just how difficult it is to control what is on the internet, especially when - unlike with the issue of child pornography - there is no international consensus about what is or is not acceptable. It can be difficult, if not impossible, to track down where material originates.

It is a different kind of violence - highlighted last month by The Argus - which has once again raised this issue. In this case there is no real doubt about the origin. The pictures, apparently taken from CCTV cameras and from mobile phones, glorified real-life violence. They showed a gang fight and violent attack in Brighton's Churchill Square, harassment and violence at Moulsecoomb railway station and an incident on a bus. The images had been edited with a music track and posted on YouTube.

Everyone who has seen this footage and the stills from it has been shocked, not only by the mindless and inexcusable thuggery but that it has been made publicly available in a way which seems to celebrate extreme aggression.

There is no doubt the intention of those who did this was to boast about their involvement and Sussex Police are investigating how the CCTV footage got on to the internet.

Of course, the very great virtue of YouTube is that it provides a space where anyone can post their films and thoughts and ideas. But YouTube has a code of practice which should exclude material like the Brighton pictures. The fact it did not exclude them until a fuss was made raises questions about how the code of practice is monitored.

That is why I am asking the Home Office and the communications watchdog Ofcom to consider whether stricter regulation is needed, not just for YouTube but also for other sites like it.

I don't know the answers to those questions. It could be that selfregulation by the industry is enough and that YouTube was just sloppy in letting these images through. I welcome the fact that the courts have dealt with at least some of those involved in the violent incidents.

The question I believe we now need to consider is if the courts also need the power - if they don't already have it - to deal with those who posted or sanctioned the posting of the material on YouTube.

If they don't have that power already, then maybe the law needs changing.

Chinese market and censorship is toning down Hong Kong movies

From Rocky Mountain News see full article

Hong Kong movies, long known for their stylish violence, are being geared toward the expanding Chinese market and stricter censorship standards there, and observers are worried that Hong Kong cinema is losing its edge.

Hong Kong-Chinese co-productions are now the norm. Top directors favor ancient Chinese epics that appeal to a broader audience and are less likely to offend Chinese censors wary of bloodshed or flesh-baring. Stories about gang feuds and urban love stories are becoming rare, giving way to period dramas.

John Woo, who made the Hong Kong gangster classic A Better Tomorrow and moved on to Hollywood fame, is about to start shooting Red Cliff, based on a famous ancient Chinese battle.

Now the first thing Hong Kong investors will say is, you have to find a mainland Chinese partner. Can this movie be released in mainland China? If it can't, (they'll say) 'I'll have some concerns,' said Peter Tsi, executive director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival.

Ann Hui, a respected Hong Kong director, said she was careful about portraying a Chinese policewoman in her Chinese-financed love story Goddess of Mercy. The Chinese censorship system bans quite a few topics, including sex, violence and the dark side of real life, she said.

   
And a protest outside of WH Smiths

From Dan

The anti-porn "feminists" lobby really can't make their mind up about what their campaign against lads mags is about.
 
One minute they want regulation of their sale and the next they want stores to ban their sale completely.

I'm really fed up with these anti-freedom feminists so I've stared a a blog...

http://profreedan.wordpress.com

From Charliegrrl See full article

Northwest Feminists and supporters demonstrated outside WH Smith in Leicester, calling for WH Smith to stop selling lads mags.

The demo was a great success. Many people supported us and we collected 70 signatures for Object’s petition, calling for regulation of lads mags in the way they are displayed and sold. The demo resulted in lots of lively discussion with the public about the harm of lads mags and why we think WHSmith should stop selling them.

The management of WHSmith weren’t happy… They called the police but our demo was peaceful and legal so they didn’t hassle us.

From CPJ see full article

Three nations in sub-Saharan Africa are among the places worldwide where press freedom has deteriorated the most over the last five years, a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found.

Ethiopia, where the government launched a massive crackdown on the private press by shutting newspapers and jailing editors, leads CPJ’s dishonor roll. The African nations of the Gambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo join Russia and Cuba among the world’s worst “backsliders” on press freedom.

In issuing its report to mark World Press Freedom Day, May 3, CPJ is calling attention this year to long-term erosion in press conditions. Rounding out CPJ’s “Top 10 Backsliders” are Pakistan, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Morocco, and Thailand.

The backsliders reflect a mixture of relatively open countries that have turned increasingly repressive and traditionally restrictive nations where press conditions, remarkably, have worsened. Nations such as Thailand and Morocco have been considered press freedom leaders in their regions but have charted sharp declines over the past five years. Other countries such as Cuba have long had poor records but have ratcheted up press restrictions through widespread imprisonments, expulsions, and harassment.

To determine trends in press conditions, CPJ analyzed case data worldwide for the years 2002 through 2007. Its staff judged conditions in seven categories: government censorship, judicial harassment, criminal libel prosecutions, journalist deaths, physical attacks on the press, journalist imprisonments, and threats against the press. CPJ staff excluded from consideration major conflict zones such as Iraq and Somalia, which lack conventional governance and newsgathering.

Here are CPJ’s “Top 10 Backsliders:

1. Ethiopia
2. Gambia
3. Russia
4. Democratic Republic Of Congo
5. Cuba
6. Pakistan
7. Egypt
8. Azerbaijan
9. Morocco
10. Thailand

Obscene intolerance in Iran

From adnkronosinternational see full article

The culture committee of the Iranian parliament approved on Monday a bill sentencing to death producers of 'pornography', videos and films deemed vulgar by the country's censorship.

The draft law will now go to parliament where it is expected to be approved by an ample majority. Amateur porn films have a prosperous market in Iran and can fetch up to 30 euros each.

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

   
Typical over reaction to student essay

From The Times see full article

An 18-year-old student at an Illinois school is facing disorderly conduct charges for writing an essay that the authorities described as violent and disturbing.

Allen Lee, a student at Cary-Grove High School, was arrested after completing the essay. At the very last sentence, I said that this teacher’s method of teaching could lead to a school shooting, Lee said. He said that he had intended the essay as a joke.

After reading the piece his teacher alerted the school’s head, and district officials reported it to the police.

The writing assignment depicted violence, was disturbing and inappropriate Ron Delelio, the Cary police chief, said. The police have declined to release a copy of the essay.

Lee has been removed from the school and now faces disciplinary action.