The Penang government is asking cinemas in the island state to observe a ban of the movie Tanda Putera .

The executive councillor in charge of local government affairs Chow Kon Yeow announced the state's decision and said the request will be issued today:

We have no control over the content of the film, (which is the prerogative of) Finas (National Film Development Corporation Malaysia).

However, in view of the sensitive nature of the movie, we are directing the two local councils to write in to ask the 'cooperation' of the cinemas to not screen the movie.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng claimed:

The film has scenes which are slanderous, based on lies, and it is a threat to the harmony between the different communities in the country.

Those scenes of Chinese youth urinating inside the Selangor menteri besar (Datuk Harun Idris') residence and Malaysian flag can create chaos in society.

We cannot understand how the government can spend money to sponsor such a malicious and dangerous film.

Lim's father, DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, has been engaged in a war of words with Tanda Putera director Datin Paduka Shuhaimi Baba, for the past year since news broke of an inflammatory scene of a Chinese man urinating on a flag pole at the Selangor mentri besar's residence in the historical film.

Update: Tanda Putera opens in Penang

31st August 2013. See  article from  thestar.com.my

The film opened in Penang after a two-day delay.

The movies was set to open after the state government's clarification that it had never issued a directive against the movie, but had merely given an advisory . The film has been approved by the Censorship Board.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng gave an assurance that the state government would not take any action against cinema operators who screen the movie.

Human Rights Watch has criticized a Dunkin' Donuts advertising campaign running in Thailand that features a model whose face is painted black to sell a chocolate doughnut.

Dunkin' Donuts Thailand recently started running ads for its Charcoal Donut, which features a model wearing blackface makeup and bright pink lipstick and holding up a bitten doughnut. The translated Thai slogan reads: Break every rule of deliciousness.

Phil Robertson, deputy director of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch, spouted:

It's rather incredible that an international company like Dunkin' Donuts would run such an ad. He claimed the ad fits into a long history of racist advertisements in Southeast Asia.

The chief executive of Dunkin' Donuts in Thailand told the AP that the criticism is just paranoid American thinking. CEO Nadim Salhani said:

It's absolutely ridiculous. We're not allowed to use black to promote our doughnuts? I don't get it. What's the big fuss? What if the product was white and I painted someone white, would that be racist?

Thai people have never treated black African people badly, they have never mocked them via minstrel shows or whatever, and simply do not have the background to understand why the West finds it so politically incorrect to have blacked up media people. Thais do call black Africans, 'chocolate men' though.

Similarly Thais have little knowledge or background about Hitler and Nazis and so frequently get caught out being politically incorrect with Nazi imagery.

Perhaps Thais need a few history lessons about when westerners have been real shits, and how they now use over-exaggerated politeness to try and plaster over historic wrongs.

A cinema ad and a TV ad for a men's fragrance , 1 Million Intense:

• a. The cinema ad featured a man who walked into a room and clicked his fingers, which caused a vault style door to close behind him. When he clicked his fingers again, the lights came on and a woman stood up from a chair. They walked towards each other, briefly touched, and the woman then walked backwards and clicked her fingers, which caused a screen to close in front of her. The woman was shown dancing behind the screen and the man sat down on a bed. As the man clicked his fingers the ad cut to various images which included the woman removing her bracelets, a fireplace lighting up, ice cubes dropping into a drink and the woman's belt falling to the floor, followed by her dress, and her jewellery. The man stood up and clicked his fingers again. The room and the woman turned to gold and she emerged from behind the screen. She walked towards the man and he placed his hand on her waist and clicked his fingers, which caused the lights to go out. An image of the product appeared on screen with the text paco rabanne www.pacorabanne.com. The voice-over stated, "1 Million Intense. The new fragrance for men by Paco Rabanne.

• b. The TV ad was similar to the cinema ad, but shorter in duration.

The ASA received five complaints.

1. One complainant challenged whether the cinema ad was offensive because he felt it was sexist and objectified women.

2. Four complainants challenged whether the TV ad was offensive on the same grounds.

ASA Assessment: Complaints not upheld

1. & 2. Not upheld

Whilst the ASA acknowledged the complainants concern that the scenario featured in the ad was sexist and objectified women, we considered that the ad showed a surreally dramatized, but complicit seduction between the male and female characters, who had been shown to have equal magical abilities. Whilst we accepted that some viewers might find the ad distasteful, we did not consider that the female character was portrayed as inferior to the male character, or that she had been objectified. We therefore concluded that the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offense.

We investigated the ads under CAP Code rule 4.1 (Harm and Offence) and BCAP Code rule 4.2 (Harm and offence) but did not find them in breach.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has instructed all the cellular operators of the country to immediately stop all kinds of chat packages, including voice and SMS, at any time of the day.

A previous directive had banned late night chat services but the phone companies had found ways around the rules.

According to the latest directive titled Directive relating to packages offered by CMTOs contrary to moral values of society , cellular operators continue voice and SMS package (bundle offers) with different names despite a ban imposed by the PTA.

The PTA has previously banned all kinds of late night packages in November 2012. However, the cellular operators start selling these packages with different names and times.

Later, the PTA conducted a comprehensive survey which revealed that the chat packages are still operational under different names in clear violation of the PTA directives.

The cellular operators' consortium had approached the Supreme Court over the previous ban and proceedings on their petition are still pending there.

The telecom industry officials said the PTA this time without consulting the stakeholders again issued a directive on packages which generated a major share of the industry revenue. They said they will decide the future course of action after a meeting.

Facebook writes about their 1st transparency report

Transparency and trust are core values at Facebook. We strive to embody them in all aspects of our services, including our approach to responding to government data requests. We want to make sure that the people who use our service understand the nature and extent of the requests we receive and the strict policies and processes we have in place to handle them.

We are pleased to release our first Global Government Requests Report, which details the following:

The report details the following:

• Which countries requested information from Facebook about our users
• The number of requests received from each of those countries
• The number of users/user accounts specified in those requests
• The percentage of these requests in which we were required by law to disclose at least some data

The report covers the first 6 months of 2013, ending June 30.

As we have made clear in recent weeks, we have stringent processes in place to handle all government data requests. We believe this process protects the data of the people who use our service, and requires governments to meet a very high legal bar with each individual request in order to receive any information about any of our users. We scrutinize each request for legal sufficiency under our terms and the strict letter of the law, and require a detailed description of the legal and factual bases for each request. We fight many of these requests, pushing back when we find legal deficiencies and narrowing the scope of overly broad or vague requests. When we are required to comply with a particular request, we frequently share only basic user information, such as name.

Data Requests (for countries with 50 or more requests)
 

Total Requests Users/Accounts Requested Proportion actioned at least in part Argentina 152 218 27 % Australia 546 601 64 % Belgium 150 169 70 % Brazil 715 857 33 % Canada 192 219 44 % Chile 215 340 68 % France 1,547 1,598 39 % Germany 1,886 2,068 37 % Greece 122 141 54 % India 3,245 4,144 50 % Israel 113 132 50 % Italy 1,705 2,306 53 % Malta 89 97 60 % Mexico 78 127 37 % New Zealand 106 119 58 % Poland 233 158 9 % Portugal 177 213 42 % Singapore 107 117 70 % Spain 479 715 51 % Sweden 54 66 54 % Taiwan 229 329 84 % Turkey 96 170 47 % United Kingdom 1,975 2,337 68 % United States 11,000 - 12,000 20,000 - 21,000 79 %

 

Comment: Why do we find out more about British snooping in snippets published by American companies than we do from the British authorities themselves?

30th August 2013. See article from bigbrotherwatch.org.uk

It is absurd that we learn more about Government surveillance from Microsoft, Google and Facebook than our own authorities. These figures were never mentioned during the Parliamentary debate on the draft communications data bill, nor in the annual report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner's report.

It is particularly concerning that 32% of requests did not result in any data being provided, yet in theory these requests had been signed off as necessary and proportionate by the police force making the request. This should be addressed by the Interception Commissioner and we will be writing to him to make this argument. It also highlights the ongoing questions about the skill base within the police to understand the data that is available -- far, far more than ever before.

What we do not know from these figures is how many requests were made through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty process (which involves a formal legal request being made through the US legal system) and how many were voluntarily complied with by Facebook. This is also the case with other companies.

Ultimately, it should not be for US companies to be the ones publishing data on how our own police forces are using these powers. It is impossible to have a realistic debate about capability gaps and how powers are being used if we do not have the data, and the Government should be far more proactive in publishing information.

Madras Cafe is a 2013 Indian action drama by Shoojit Sircar.
With John Abraham, Nargis Fakhri and Rashi Khanna.

The film is proving controversial in India as it is based on the Sri Lankan civil war where emotions are still running high.  Director Shoojit Sircar has conceded that his movie may have certain scenes resembling events related to Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, but he clarifies that the film's story is not a biopic on the former prime minister. Sircar said:

This is not a biopic on him, this is not a story based on him. Yes, you can say that there is a similarity to that incident. There is a similarity in the facial structure (of the actor who plays the said role).

Rajiv Gandhi died when an LTTE suicide bomber detonated a bomb at an election rally in May 1991. A similar incident has been showcased in the film's trailer. However, the director explained:

We have taken that incident which we read in the paper. Rest, whatever is around it, has been fictionalised in the scripting. But somewhere you may find some historical references in the fictionalised bit too.

Madras Cafe is already facing the ire of Tamil activist groups Naam Tamizhar and MDMK. The members have sought a ban on the film contending that it portrays LTTE cadres as terrorists.

Banned in Tamil Nadu

The film was passed by the Indian film censors but faced court actions calling for a ban in Madras and Tamil Nadu. The court actions failed, but cinema owners took the hint in Tamil Nadu and decided not to exhibit the movie.

Banned in Britain

Now the film has been similarly banned by British cinemas. UK cinema chains, Cineworld, Odeon and Vue, have banned the film saying in a statement:

Our policy is to show a wide range of films for different audiences ...HOWEVER... following customer feedback and working with the film distributors, we have decided to not show Madras Cafe. We apologise for any inconvenience.

Press reports suggested that some Tamils had complained that the film was anti-Tamil. The Facebook page of the Tamil Youth Organisation UK has been full of agitation against the film.

The BBFC passed the film 15 uncut for strong violence and injury detail. The BBFC InSight alluded to the emotional impact of the film:

This is a sombre drama and the violence is depicted realistically, with a strong emotional impact. In the opening scene people are forced off a bus and made to kneel in a field as they are massacred. Blood spurts are seen as several of them are shot in the back, and in a more distant image a little girl is shot too as she tries to run away. Several executions are shown, including a man tied to a post, his body juddering under fire with lots of blood as he is killed.

A TV ad for the mobile network giffgaff opened with on-screen text that stated This is an Advertisement and this text appeared at one-minute intervals throughout the ad. The ad featured a herd of zombies entering a rural village. The zombies groaned and dragged their feet and the village's inhabitants appeared terrified. However, they gradually understood that the zombies had only come to help them.

Scenes included a zombie twisting and pulling his own arm off to help coax a cat down from a tree, a zombie's body on the roof of a house fixing an aerial while the zombie's head watched TV in the living room and a coconut shy where zombies heads rested on stands in the place of coconuts.

The ASA received 105 complaints:

1. The majority of viewers challenged whether the level of horror and gore was offensive and likely to cause distress.
2. Eleven viewers challenged whether the violence in the ad was offensive and so trivialised a recent news item in which a man had been murdered.
3. Nine viewers challenged whether the ad was suitable for a general viewing audience, which could include children.
4. Four viewers challenged whether it was sufficiently clear that the material being broadcast was an ad.

The ad was cleared by Clearcast with a post 9 pm restriction.

ASA Assessment: Complaints not upheld

1. Not upheld

The ASA acknowledged that giffgaff intended for the ad to be humorous and a parody of a well-known genre. We recognized that the use of zombies was a creative device to show consumers that something they were initially afraid of could actually be useful. We concluded that the level of horror in the ad was not shocking and fell within a well-established zombie genre that audiences would be familiar with, particularly given the ad was not aired before 10.15 pm. We also noted that the horror in the ad faded as it was made clear the zombies were there to help the village's inhabitants. In this context therefore, we concluded that the level of gore and horror was not offensive or likely to cause serious or widespread offence.

On this point we investigated the ad under BCAP Code rules 1.2 (Social responsibility), 4.1, 4.2 and 4.10 (Harm and offence), but did not find it in breach.

2. Not upheld

We acknowledged that the ad contained some blood and gore, as is inherent in the zombie genre. However, we noted that the ad did not depict murder or violence and we therefore concluded, that the ad was not analogous to, nor did it trivialise, a news item in which a man was murdered.

On this point we investigated the ad under BCAP Code rules 1.2 (Social responsibility), 4.1, 4.2 and 4.10 (Harm and offence), but did not find it in breach.

3. Not upheld

We acknowledged that the ad did not air earlier than 10.15 pm, nor did it air adjacent to any programme directed at, or likely to appeal to audiences below the age of 18. We concluded therefore, that children were unlikely to view the ad and the allocated scheduling was appropriate for the level of horror and provided sufficient protection to audiences aged under 18.

On this point we investigated the ad under BCAP Code rules 32.1 and 32.3 (Scheduling) but did not find it in breach.

4. Not upheld

We acknowledged that the ad opened with a herd of zombies entering a village and there was no mention of giffgaff or the service being advertised. However, we considered the on-screen text that stated This is an Advertisement and which appeared at one-minute intervals throughout the ad, was prominent enough on the screen and made it sufficiently clear that the material was an ad, rather than an editorial or programming.

On this point we investigated the ad under BCAP Code rule 2.1 (Recognition of advertising) but did not find it in breach.

Lawmakers in California are currently debating a bill targeting the posting of so called revenge porn , when compromising pictures are posted after a relationship has broken up.

The bill would make it a crime to post pictures of anyone in a state of full or partial undress even if the picture was originally taken with that person's consent. But a crime would have only been committed if the pictures were posted with the intent to cause serious emotional distress, and [that] the other person suffers serious emotional distress .

The bill reads:

This bill would provide that any person who photographs or records by any means the image of another, identifiable person without with his or her consent who is in a state of full or partial undress in any area in which the person being photographed or recorded has a reasonable expectation of privacy, and subsequently distributes the image taken, with the intent to cause serious emotional distress, and the other person suffers serious emotional distress would constitute disorderly conduct subject to that same punishment.

The law has been passed by the State's senate and is now under consideration by the state assembly.

If convicted offenders could be fined up to $2,000, or face a month in prison - or both, according to the BBC. More severe penalties would follow if more offences were proven.

The bill been opposed by anti-censorship groups who argue its definition is too broad in the context of the US constitution.

Ofcom published the following statement in the latest complaints bulletin:

Violence in pre-watershed programmes

Ofcom reminds television broadcasters of the need to ensure that all material broadcast pre-watershed which features violent scenes is appropriately limited. Broadcasters should consider whether individual acts of violence within a programme are suitable, as well as where the overall tone is malevolent, menacing and threatening, that this also remains suitably limited.

Given the lack of recent detailed studies specifically into viewers' attitudes to violence on television, Ofcom has commissioned new independent research on this subject. This research will further inform us about the level of concern about violence included in television programmes scheduled before and immediately after the watershed, and any areas of particular concern to viewers e.g. specific types of violence or genres of programme. The research should be complete this year and Ofcom plans to publish the results as soon as possible in 2014.

The statement was related to Ofcom's censure of a fight scene in Hollyoaks.

Hollyoaks
Channel 4, 19 March 2013, 18:30

Hollyoaks is a long running British television soap drama set in a fictional suburb of Chester called Hollyoaks. It features a large cast of characters primarily aged between 16 and 35. Its main target audience is teenagers and young adults. The programme is broadcast each weekday evening on Channel 4.

Hollyoaks regularly deals with controversial storylines such as sexual abuse, domestic violence and drugs. A complainant alerted Ofcom to a scene in this programme, in which one of the main characters was violently killed by a speeding train. The viewer considered this scene was unsuitable for broadcast before the watershed, particularly as children might have been watching. The scene in question marked

The scene in question marked the conclusion of a long running revenge storyline between two characters: the former undercover policeman, Walker, and the former drug dealer, Brendan. Walker believed Brendan was responsible for the death of his brother Cam, who had died from taking drugs supplied by Brendan. This scene was broadcast at 18:54. From the point at which the characters first made physical contact with one another to the immediate aftermath of the train collision was one minute and nine seconds in duration.

Although the intention was clearly to show an intense fight between these characters, Ofcom particularly noted that, overall, where punches and kicks were exchanged the movements of arms, fists and legs were tightly edited to avoid showing any shots of the actual impact and the use of fast paced music gave the scenes a stylised tone.

In addition, there were no images depicting the impact of the train as it hit Walker, or its aftermath.

Ofcom considered, however, that the cumulative effect of the violent fight scene taken together with Walker being hit by the train, broadcast well before the watershed, raised issues warranting investigation under:

• Rule 1.3: Children must...be protected by appropriate scheduling from material that is unsuitable for them.

• Rule 1.11: Violence, its after-effects and descriptions of violence, whether verbal or physical, must be appropriately limited in programmes broadcast before the watershed...and must also be justified by context.

Ofcom Decision: Breach of Rules 1.3 and 1.11

This episode featured a particularly aggressive fight sequence, ending with one character being pushed into the path of an oncoming train and so to his violent death. The fight sequence itself was carefully edited not to show the actual point of impact of most of the numerous punches and kicks. However, it was clearly intended to leave viewers with the impression that both characters experienced violent punches to the head and the body, as was evident from the blood on their faces as a result of these blows, the impact sounds of the physical contact between the characters, and the groans and moans from the characters as a result of the violence.

In this case it is Ofcom's view that this scene was both violent and shocking and had the potential to distress younger viewers as well as raise concerns about the level of violence amongst parents watching with their children regardless of the editorial context presented or the signposting provided.

For all these reasons Ofcom considered that it was unsuitable for children. Ofcom then went on to consider whether this material was appropriately scheduled. We have set out above in some detail the nature of the violent content in this programme that Ofcom considered unsuitable for children. Ofcom also assessed the nature of the violent scenes as part of its consideration of whether they were appropriately scheduled.

In summary, Ofcom's view was that while the fight sequence was limited in duration it was intense and the climactic scene where Walker was pushed into the path of a speeding train was both shocking and unexpected.

Ofcom acknowledged that the Licensee took steps in attempt to ensure that this sequence complied with the Code. These measures were however on balance insufficient. Ofcom concluded that cumulatively the violent content in this sequence exceeded viewers' expectations for a drama transmitted long before the watershed when young children were available to view and in this case were watching in large numbers. Ofcom, therefore, concluded that the episode was in breach of Rule 1.3.

In summary, Ofcom's view was that the cumulative effect of the violence in the final scene was not sufficiently limited for this time of the evening, nor was it justified by context given that a significant number of younger children were viewing and available to view. Ofcom therefore concluded that this episode was in breach of Rule 1.11.

Breaches of Rules 1.3 and 1.11

Comment: Mediawatch-UK soundbite

29th August 2013. See article from telegraph.co.uk

Vivienne Pattison, director of Mediawatch-uk, said there was a concern that because of the success of late-night dramas such as The Fall and Ripper Street, which deal with serial killers, there were signs that violence was beginning to be seen as more acceptable before the 9pm watershed. She added:

I think it is good that Ofcom are coming in now and reminding broadcasters that violence is not acceptable, but I just hope that when broadcasters are found in breach Ofcom can show its teeth

Three online ads, for Piri Piri Pot Noodles:

• a. A video ad seen on the Pot Noodle Facebook page, opened with a young man sitting on a bus, eating a Pot Noodle and struggling to cope with its spiciness. Whilst eating, he saw a young woman next to a pole. She was looking at him in a seductive manner. The man and woman started dancing and, towards the end of the ad, the woman took her top off whilst the man watched. He then realised that the Pot Noodle pot was empty and the woman was revealed to be a shabbily dressed man. The voice-over stated Dreaming of something a bit hotter? With new Piri Piri chicken flavour it's easy to peel the top off a hottie. The ad concluded with an image of two Pot Noodle lids, which were arranged to suggest a woman's bust, along with the text PEEL THE TOP OFF A HOTTIE .
• b. The ad, which was an online game, appeared on the Pot Noodle Facebook page. It showed a cartoon image of the young woman and shabbily dressed man from the video, standing in Pot Noodle containers. In the centre of the ad, there was a picture of two Pot Noodle lids, arranged in the same way as the in the video, alongside the text PEEL THE TOP OFF A HOTTIE .
• c. The ad appeared on the Pot Noodle Facebook page. It showed a female model in a bikini next to a picture of a Pot Noodle with the text Phwarr is it me or is it getting hot in here? HOT OFF. Which one gets you hotter? .

Issue

1. Eighteen complainants challenged whether the ads were offensive, sexist and degrading to women.
2. Six of the complainants also challenged whether the ads were irresponsible and harmful because they suggested it was acceptable to try and remove women's clothing without their consent.

ASA Assessment

1. Upheld in relation to ad (c) only

The ASA noted video ad (a) featured a scene in which the female character and the male character flirted in a playful way and that although the tone of the scene changed slightly when the female character was shown (from behind) starting to voluntarily remove her top, this image was very brief and was immediately replaced by the reality of the situation and that it was actually a man with whom the main character was flirting. Although the tone of the ad was mildly sexual, we considered that the interaction between the characters was not salacious and that the female character was not presented in a sexist or degrading way. We therefore concluded that the ad was unlikely to cause serious offence to those visiting the Pot Noodle Facebook page.

We noted ad (b) was presented in cartoon-like style and featured two of the characters (the female character from the video ad along with her male counterpart) and that the text Peel the top off a hottie was overlaid on two Pot Noodle lids which were positioned and shaded in such a way they looked like a pair of breasts in a low cut top. Although we considered some consumers may have found the ad distasteful, we considered the images were likely to be seen as puerile rather than sexually explicit and considered that the ad was unlikely to cause serious offence to those visiting the Pot Noodle Facebook page.

We noted ad (c) featured an image of the female character from the ads wearing red knickers and a revealing red bra and that she was posed in a provocative way. We further noted the image of the woman was presented next to the image of the product with text stating Hot off and Which one gets you hotter? . Although we noted the intention of the ad was a tongue-in-cheek play on the word hottie , we considered the presentation of the woman in a sexual pose and the blatant comparison with the food product was crass and degrading and therefore likely to cause serious offence to some visitors to Pot Noodle Facebook page

On this point ad (c) breached CAP Code rules 1.3 (Social responsibility) and 4.1 (Harm and offence).

2. Not upheld

We noted all of the ads made use of the phrase peel the top off a hottie and considered consumers would understand from their content that this phrase was a play on words and as a reference to both the removal of an attractive person's top (in this instance a woman) and the removal of the Pot Noodle lid. Although video ad (a) showed a brief image of the female character beginning to remove her top in the flirtation scene, the male character merely watched on and the female character was not shown to be doing anything against her will. Although ad (b) featured the pot noodle lids shaped like breasts with one of the lids starting to be peeled off (revealing fire underneath to represent the heat of the product) and ad (c) featured the female character in her underwear, neither ad used visual images to show the removal of the female characters clothing with, or without their consent. We considered that although some visitors to the Pot Noodle Facebook page may have found the Peel the top of a hottie to be distasteful, we considered that none of the ads condoned the removal of a woman's clothing without her consent or suggested that such an act was likely to be acceptable.

On this point we investigated ads (a), (b) and (c) under CAP Code rule 4.4 (Harm and offence) but did not find them in breach.

The Parents Television Council has issued a whinge in response to MTV's Video Music Awards. PTC Director of Public Policy Dan Isett enthused:

MTV has once again succeeded in marketing sexually charged messages to young children using former child stars and condom commercials -- while falsely rating this program as appropriate for kids as young as 14. This is unacceptable.

This much is absolutely clear: MTV marketed adults-only material to children while falsely manipulating the content rating to make parents think the content was safe for their children.

MTV continues to sexually exploit young women by promoting acts that incorporate 'twerking' in a nude-colored bikini. How is this image of former child star Miley Cyrus appropriate for 14-year-olds?

How is it appropriate for children to watch Lady Gaga strip down to a bikini in the opening act?

How is it appropriate for 14-year-olds to see a condom commercial and a promo for an R-rated movie during the first commercial break?

PTC Advisory Board Member and former BET Executive Paul Porter said:

The Miley Cyrus/Robin Thicke performance simply substituted talent with sex. Viacom has a set of corporate broadcast standards that were obviously broken in this case for financial gain. While the performance was shocking to the audience, MTV approved it during the show run prior to the broadcast. Heads should roll at MTV.

Offsite Comment: Daily Mail Outrage

28th August   2013. See article from mediasnoops2.wordpress.com . Thanks to Dan

Mail Hack Outraged Over Miley Cyrus' Display Complete With Pics In All Their Raunchy Innocent Children Corrupting Glory

...See the full article

...And if you want to see the naughtiness in all its glory, the Daily Mail is more than happy to oblige, see article from dailymail.co.uk

Background

London's traditional bank holiday horror film festival, provides the perfect setting to watch scary movies which subvert cliches, such as You're Next and No One Lives. By Anne Billson.

See  article from  telegraph.co.uk By Anne Billson

The Films

Day 1 : The Dead 2: India, Curse of Chucky, You're next

See  article from  theskinny.co.uk

Day 2: The Dyatlov Pass Incident, Dementamania, Hatchet III, Haunter, V/H/S/2, 100 Bloody Acres

See article from theskinny.co.uk

Day 3: The Hypnotist, Frankenstein's Army, Hammer of the Gods, No One Lives, R.I.P.D, Cheap Thrills

See article from bleedingcool.com

Day 4 : Missionary, In Fear, The Conspiracy, The Last Days, Willow Creek

See review from  bleedingcool.com

Total Film's annual awards . Best Film: We Are What We Are

See  article from  totalfilm.com

Saeed Malekpour, an Iranian programmer residing in Canada, was sentenced to death in Iran for designing porn websites. This death sentence has now been commuted to life imprisonment, with the explanation that Malekpour had repented.

As AVN reported in January of last year, Malekpour was detained by Iranian authorities in 2008 after traveling back home to visit his father, who was ill. He was charged with helping design porn sites in Canada, and despite appeals from the Canadian government, his family and others that he was innocent of the charges, he was convicted and sentenced to death in December 2010.

Iran had accused Malekpour of being the head of the biggest Persian-language network of pornographic websites. But credible supporters said he had simply worked as a freelance website developer and programmer, creating a program to allow designers to upload photos to their websites.

Posters promoting David and Cathy Guetta's compilation CD Fuck Me I'm Famous have fallen foul of the ad standards board, over the word fuck .

The poster, based on the album cover, was the subject of a few complaints to Australia's Advertising Standards Board (ASB).  The album cover features topless Guetta cupping his wife's breasts through her bra. This was combined with the prominent title featured the asterixed word F***.

The ASB found the F word is being alluded to in conjunction with an image of a near naked couple and is used in a sexual context (fuck me).

The censor also claimed that the poster was likely to be viewed by a large cross-section of the community and as such:

Considered that the advertisement does not treat the issue of sex, sexuality and nudity with sensitivity to the relevant broad audience.

The Board considered that a reference to fuck me is strong and would be considered obscene by many people and its use in outdoor media is not appropriate.

Department store chain Target has fiercely defended celebrity advertising endorsements by Gok Wan after it received complaints about using a gay man to advertise women's underwear.

Australia's Advertising Standards Bureau has dismissed complaints about Wan's use of the word bangers to describe breasts in the ads about women being properly fitted for bras, explaining that the ad complies with their anti-discrimination and sexualisation rules.

The How To Look Good Naked TV star is champions women's bra style, saying your bangers will never feel so loved .

The ASB received a few puerile complaints, such as

• Why do we have to watch an obvious gay man talking about women in this way? It is insulting.
• A female body is a beautiful thing, not to be cheapened by a poofter calling breasts 'BANGERS'!

Ad Standards concluded the term bangers , while uncommon in Australia, was used in a light-hearted way:

The Board considered that the overall tone of the advertisement is positive and light-hearted and is intended to draw the attention of women to the various bras available in store and also to the fact that it is important to purchase the correct bra size.

The women appear very happy and comfortable being presented in their underwear. The reference to woman's breasts and bras and the use of the term bangers by a male fashion stylist does not amount to material that is discriminatory of any people or persons of a particular gender

A total of 6,640 websites were blocked for violating the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 and other laws since 2008, the Dewan Rakyat was told yesterday.

Deputy Minister of Multimedia and Communications Datuk Jailani Johari said the websites blocked include fake bank websites and for copyright infringement, pornography and insulting the royal institution.

Up to June, 29 cases are under investigation including websites which insulted the Yang Pertuan Agong, royal institution and the sultans, he said when replying to Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN-Kinabatangan).

The Electoral Commission , Britain's elections watchdog, has concluded that government plans to censor political campaigning before a general election are flawed and in part unworkable.

In a private briefing sent to interested parties, the commission says that it has significant concerns about the coalition's lobbying bill, that some parts of it may be unenforceable and that it is not at all clear how the new restrictions affecting charities will work.

When the transparency of lobbying, non-party campaigning and trade union administration bill 2013-14 was published in July, the day before MPs broke up for their summer recess, it emerged that, as well as long-expected plans for a statutory register of lobbyists, the bill includes proposals that would drastically censor campaign groups from speaking on political issues in the 12 months before a general election.

In its letter, the commission says the proposed rules about spending at constituency level may be unenforceable , partly because it will often be hard for campaigners to identify with a reasonable level of confidence when an activity has 'no significant effects' in a given constituency .

More broadly, it says the proposed rules about what constitutes election-related activity are not sufficiently clear. The briefing says:

In our view, it is not at all clear how that test will apply in practice to the activities of the many third parties that have other purposes beyond political campaigning. For instance, it seems arguable that the new test could apply to many of the activities of charities, voluntary organisations, blogs, thinktanks and other organisations that engage in debate on public policy.

John Sauven, executive director at Greenpeace , one of more than 100 charity organisations that have expressed concerns about the bill, said the legislation was the most pernicious assault on campaign groups in living memory .

A spokesman for the Electoral Commission said it had significant concerns about the bill and would be explaining them in detail to a select committee in September. The bill's second reading is on 3 September, with its three-day committee stage a week later.

A champion of a secret police state, former Metropolitan Police Commissioner Ian Blair, has called for anti-terror laws to be extended to prevent leaks of official secrets. Blair claimed that publication of such material could put lives at risk.

Blair told BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House programme:

The state has to have secrets - that's how it operates against terrorists.

It has to have the right to preserve those secrets and we have to have a law that covers a situation when somebody, for all sorts of wonderfully principled reasons, wishes to disclose those secrets.

It just is something that is extremely dangerous for individual citizens to [make] those secrets available to the terrorists.

He claimed there was a new threat which is not of somebody personally intending to aid terrorism, but of conduct which is likely to or capable of facilitating terrorism , citing the examples of information leaks related to Bradley Manning and the Wikileaks website. He said:

Most of the legislation about state secrets is in the Official Secrets Act and it only concerns an official.

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger has said: The state that is building such a formidable apparatus of surveillance will do its best to prevent journalists from reporting on it.

Gender extremists from Object and UK Feminista organised a series of protests outside Tesco stores calling on them to ban lads' mags.

19 Tesco scores around the country saw small gatherings of protestors at Manchester, London, Portsmouth and Glasgow

The feminist groups claim that lads' mags:

Fuel sexist behaviours and attitudes underpinning violence against women. Tesco would never allow "girlie calendars" on their office walls. Why are they choosing to stock degrading, pornographic lads mags on their shelves?

Kat Banyard, the founder of UK Feminista, said:

As long as Tesco sells lads mags like Nuts and Zoo its claims of being a responsible corporate citizen are a farce.

The No More Page 3 campaign founder Lucy Holmes said:

Protests are a great way of engaging with the public about the issue.

But the groups seem to be largely failing to attract much in the way of engagement. For instance the Daily Mail, well known for getting onboard moralist bandwagons, itself publishes material just a little too close to lads' mags content for comfort, so has been generally negative about the Feminsta campaign. Similarly the lads' mags material is also a little close to sexy celebrity material that is so widely enjoyed by the general public, so the campaigners don't seem to be attracting wide public engagement with their cause.

The head of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has personally ordered preparations for laws that would block the Tor anonymity network from the entire Russian sector of the Internet.

FSB director Aleksandr Bortnikov announced the initiative at a recent session of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee, saying that his agency would develop the legislative drafts together with other Russian law enforcement and security bodies.

The FSB official said that the agency initiated the move as internet anonymizers were used by weapon traffickers, drug dealers and credit card fraudsters.

At the same time, an unnamed source told the newspaper that not all Russian security specialists welcomed the idea, as various criminals often overestimated the protection provided by the Undernet, acted recklessly and allowed themselves to get caught. The blocking would require the development of some new methods of search and control in new anonymity networks that would appear soon after the Russian audience loses access to existing ones, the source noted.

Lower House MP Ilya Kostunov noted that the problem was important but doubted that it was technically executable. As far as I know, it is impossible to block Tor, Kostunov said. The network re-tunes quickly, switches to different hubs and starts working again.

The Tor Project administration also said that the blocking of the system was extremely difficult, adding that even Tor's own specialists could not control the information flowing through their servers or identify users.

Egypt's judiciary has turned down a court case calling for banning of internet pornography websites.

The case was filed by lawyer Ibrahim Atteya, citing article two of the now suspended 2012 constitution. The article stated that the principles of Islamic Sharia are the main source of legislation. Atteya claimed that internet websites which spread indecency do not comply with Islamic Sharia.

The case was turned down since Atteya failed to abide by proper procedure when filing his original requests to cancel the decision.

Hassan Azhary, lawyer at the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) had argued that: Technically speaking, the internet pornography ban is almost impossible . He explained that the ban is very costly; it could costs millions of Egyptian pounds. He added that it's very difficult to list down the names of all pornography websites. Azhary also said there are some programs which can open banned websites: A ban would be a waste of public money.

Noor TV

Al Ehya Digital Television Ltd in respect of its service Noor TV has been fined £85,000 for inciting violence.

The programme Paigham-e-Mustafa was found to be in breach of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code rules:

• Rule 3.1: Material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or to lead to disorder must not be included in television or radio services.
• Rule 4.1: Broadcasters must exercise the proper degree of responsibility with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes.

Noor TV is a digital satellite television channel that broadcasts programmes about Islam in a number of languages, including English, Urdu and Punjabi. It can be received in the United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

The Finding related to the programme Paigham-e-Mustafa, broadcast on 3 May 2012. The programme featured a presenter, Allama Muhammad Farooq Nizami who answered questions about a wide range of issues and personal conduct relating to Islam and Islamic teachings.

At approximately one hour and 18 minutes into the programme Nizami answered a question from a caller, who was identified as brother Yasir Hanif who asked: What is the punishment for the individual who shows disrespect for Prophet Muhammad? Nizami responded:

There is no disagreement about this [the punishment]; there is absolutely no doubt about it that the punishment for the person who shows disrespect for the Prophet is death. No one [among the Islamic scholars] disagrees about this. No one disagrees about this. The Koran, hadeeth [orally transmitted quotes of Muhammad], the actions of the companions of Prophet Muhammad, all testify to this [punishment] and there is no room for doubt in it. Whoever shows disrespect for Prophet Muhammad will be given death penalty. The procedure for carrying out the death penalty is that if there is an Islamic government operating in a country, then the Islamic government will carry out the implementation of this punishment to the one who shows disrespect for the Prophet. However, if there are no Islamic laws [implemented], if Islamic Law is not being abided by, if the Islamic Law is being shredded and is in tatters, and this environment prevails in Pakistan, then [drops the sentence]. You saw a few months ago, a man specifically said that the Islamic law which was especially designed to protect the sanctity of Prophet Muhammad, whom Allah praises and protects, was a black law. By saying so, he slighted the law and committed insolence against Prophet Muhammad. Then what happened? You saw what happened. The man who did it [killed the Governor] is Mumtaz Hussein. He is a Ghazi and we can absolutely not say that his act was a wrong act [because] the Koran and hadeeth [orally transmitted traditions], testify that the punishment of the one who shows disrespect for the Prophet is death.

Ofcom considered the breach of Rule 3.1 in this case was particularly serious given the wide audience reach of the channel and the fact that the statements were delivered to a Muslim audience, in a religious programme, by a presenter who was held out to be an expert on Islamic teaching; a person who holds a position of authority and respect within the Muslim community, speaking direct to camera. Taken together, these factors would have given the comments extra weight. The seriousness of the breaches was further compounded by the fact that the Programme made no condemnation of any killing or violent action by individuals in response to a perceived insult to, or perceived blasphemy against, Mohammed.

The potential for these comments to be acted upon is demonstrated by evidence of a number of very serious threats and attacks having been made in Western countries against individuals or entities perceived as insulting or making pejorative remarks about the Prophet Mohammed. Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was murdered by Muhammad Bouyeri in 2004 following the condemnation of his film Submission by Islamic clerics, and in the same year Danish cartoonists received death threats following the publication of illustrations which included depictions of the Prophet Mohammed. In November 2011, there was a fire bomb attack on a magazine in Paris for publishing a satirical cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed.

Takbeer TV

Takbeer TV Ltd has been fined £25,000 for breaches of Ofcom's Broadcasting Code:

• Rule 4.1: Broadcasters must exercise the proper degree of responsibility with respect to the content of programmes which are religious programmes.
• Rule 4.2: The religious views and beliefs of those belonging to a particular religion or religious denomination must not be subject to abusive treatment.

Two programmes, both of which were broadcast in Urdu:

Global Khatm-E-Nabuwat Movement – Broadcast on 9 June 2012 at 22:00, this was a two and a quarter hour ‘phone-in’ programme in which a panel of four people answered telephone callers’ questions on issues of Islamic theology;

Ofcom noted that:

• members of the Ahmadi community were described in words that amounted to abusive treatment of the Ahmadiyya religion and the Ahmadi community more generally. For example, they were described as having monstrous intentions and being both lying monsters and worthy of elimination by Allah, by using worms and vermin ;
• one of the panellists and a caller made statements that were highly abusive to members of the Ahmadi community and their beliefs, by, for example, equating such beliefs to having piles and agreeing that Ahmadis require operating on ... without ... anaesthesia ; and
• two callers made sustained, repeated and derogatory references to Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani, founder of the Ahmadiyya religion , stating, for example, that the whole world knows... Mirza died in a shit cubicle.

Khatm-E-Nabuwat – Broadcast on 3 July 2012 at 22:00, this was a two hour
programme that showed the proceedings of a symposium4 on Islamic themes held in  Luton.

Ofcom noted in particular that the presenter:

• stated that Ahmadi holy books were: replete with filth ;
• said the word 'Qadiani' is ... detestable ; and
• described the Ahmadi religion as filth .

Europe's top justice official has expressed worries about press freedom in the UK after British authorities' crackdown on the Guardian over its revelations of US spying programs based on leaks by Edward Snowden.

Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland has called on British Home Secretary Theresa May to explain the pressure put on the newspaper by the British officials over Snowden case.

And Viviane Reding, the EU's commissioner in charge of privacy rules has backed up this call. She said on Twitter:

I fully share Jagland's concerns [over the issue].

British Prime Minister David Cameron ordered his top civil servant Sir Jeremy Heywood to collect sensitive material which has been leaked to the paper by Snowden to be published. Brazilian David Miranda, the partner of the Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, was also detained on Sunday at Heathrow Airport, where he was in transit on his way from Berlin to Rio de Janeiro.

Porn or literature? Don't bother asking ISPs

The current crop of website blocking options are totally over the top in overblocking with a safety first approach that blocks websites over totally trivial use of eg strong language. It is not clear if the Government or ISPs are intending to upgrade their filters to prevent businesses being trashed over negligent website blocking decisions by automated software. But presumably they will stick with the current crap. Related issues are that educational websites are being likewise blocked merely for using words associated with sexuality.

David Cameron's plan for UK households to block internet porn with default search filters will be very damaging for LGBT people and vulnerable adults who could be denied access to legitimate sexual health and education sites, a group of authors and journalists has warned.

In an open letter to the Prime Minister, prominent figures including the Belle de Jour writer Brooke Magnanti and feminist blogger and author Zoe Margolis, warned that the Government was taking:

A dangerous and misguided approach to internet safety. Focusing on a default 'on' filter ignores the importance of sex and relationship education and sexual health. Worse, you are giving parents the impression that if they install Internet filters they can consider their work is done.

They point out that faults with existing internet service provider filters have been reported numerous times and warn that any default filters could:

Unintentionally block important sites related to sexual health, LGBT issues, or sex and relationship education. This will be very damaging for LGBT young people, for example, or vulnerable adults who may be cut off from important support and advice, in particular those with abusive partners who are also the Internet account holder.

Lee Maguire, technical officer at the civil liberties organisation the Open Rights Group, said that filters could never distinguish:

Between sites that seek to titillate and those with frank discussion of sexuality.

Sites dealing with issues surrounding sexuality are likely to fall foul of miscategorisation as they often contain certain keywords that filters see as inappropriate for children. Even when humans categorise sites, categories will often be set by individuals with their own cultural values.

The open letter, which was also signed by the science-fiction writer Charles Stross and the New Statesman journalist Laurie Penny, said that by promising families one click to protect the whole family , the Prime Minister was:

Giving parents the impression that if they install Internet filters they can consider their work is done. We urge you instead to invest in a programme of sex and relationship education that empowers young people and to revisit the need for this topic to be mandatory in schools. Please drop shallow headline grabbing proposals and pursue serious and demonstrably effective policies to tackle abuse of young people.

Madras Cafe is a 2013 Indian action drama by Shoojit Sircar.
With John Abraham, Nargis Fakhri and Rashi Khanna.

The film is proving controversial in India as it is based on the Sri Lankan civil war where emotions are still running high.

Director Shoojit Sircar has conceded that his movie may have certain scenes resembling events related to Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, but he clarifies that the film's story is not a biopic on the former prime minister. Sircar said:

This is not a biopic on him, this is not a story based on him. Yes, you can say that there is a similarity to that incident. There is a similarity in the facial structure (of the actor who plays the said role).

Rajiv Gandhi died when an LTTE suicide bomber detonated a bomb at an election rally in May 1991. A similar incident has been showcased in the film's trailer. However, the director explained:

We have taken that incident which we read in the paper. Rest, whatever is around it, has been fictionalised in the scripting. But somewhere you may find some historical references in the fictionalised bit too.

Madras Cafe is already facing the ire of Tamil activist groups Naam Tamizhar and MDMK. The members have sought a ban on the film contending that it portrays LTTE cadres as terrorists.

Update: Not banned by Madras court

22nd August 2013. See  article from  timesofindia.indiatimes.com

The Madras high court has cleared the way for the release of the Bollywood movie Madras Cafe refusing to entertain a petition seeking its ban.

The judges in their order also said that the filmmakers have the liberty to release the dubbed version of the film as soon as it gets the clearance from the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).

However the court case against the film will still go ahead with the next hearing on 3rd September.

Update: But banned in Tamil Nadu

23rd August  2013. See  article from  dailymirror.lk

Madras Cafe is seemingly banned in Tamil Nadu for showing the LTTE group in bad light. The spy thriller would not be screened in the state, reported a spokesperson of the Tamil Nadu Film Exhibitors Association.

The decision has been unanimously taken by the several pro-Tamil groups and political parties, including BJP. The pro-Tamil group demanded delete of some objectionable scenes but the leading actor of the film John refused to do so. He claimed that if censor board has not objection in any scene of the film then why should he delete those scenes.

Four TV ads for the film Evil Dead:

• a. The first ad showed an external shot of a cabin followed by a silhouette of a man standing in the doorway shown from the inside. On-screen text and the voice-over stated, EVIL . A girl was shown running through a forest before the ad cut to a shot of a man inside the cabin looking nervously over his shoulder. On-screen text and the voice-over stated, IS . A book was shown slamming shut and a girl in a white bloodied dress with her head bowed was shown slowly raising her arms. On-screen text and the voice-over stated, COMING followed by a girl walking backwards away from the cabin which was on fire.

• b. The second ad was identical to ad (a) other than the final screen.

• c. The third ad showed a shot of man sitting at a desk unwrapping and opening a book as the voice-over stated, I read a passage from that book. A girl was then shown running through the forest before the shot cut to a man by a car and a flooded river. The voice-over continued I released something evil. A number of clips were then shown including a woman standing and screaming inside a cabin whilst other people cowered across the room from her, a figure rising from a swamp, a man holding a chainsaw, a cabinet mirror breaking in front of a woman's face and a cabin bursting into flames. The clips were interspersed with on-screen quotes from critics that stated TERRIFYING , JAW-DROPPING and ASTONISHING . The ad ended with a woman being pulled from behind through a trapdoor.

• d. The fourth ad showed a number of clips from the film including a cabin bursting into flames, a man operating a chainsaw, a knife passing in front of a woman's bloodied face, a figure rising from a swamp, a woman looking over her shoulder with a scared expression and a woman being pulled from behind through a trapdoor.

Ads (a) and (b) were cleared by Clearcast with an ex-kids restriction, which meant they should not be shown in or around programmes made for, or specifically targeted at, children. Ads (c) and (d) were cleared by Clearcast with a post 7.30 restriction.

The ASA received 28 complaints.

1. 1. Twenty-five complainants challenged whether ads (a) and (b) were inappropriately scheduled.

2. 2. Two complainants challenged whether ad (c) and (d) were inappropriately scheduled and one complainant challenged whether ad (d) was offensive.

ASA Assessment

1. Upheld

The ASA considered that the scenes in ads (a) and (b) which showed the girl in the bloodied dress and the log cabin burning could cause distress to young children. Furthermore, we considered that the voice-over stating, Evil is coming along with the use of swift cuts, darkly lit scenes and eerie music created a sinister and tension-filled atmosphere. Whilst we acknowledged that the ads had been given an ex-kids restriction and had therefore not been broadcast around programmes that were of particular appeal to children, we considered that they were inappropriate for broadcast during the day when young children might be watching and we concluded that ads (a) and (b) should have been given a post 7.30 restriction.

The ads breached BCAP Code rule 32.3 (Scheduling).

2. Not upheld

Whilst we acknowledged that some adults would find ad (d) distasteful, we did not consider that it was likely to cause serious or widespread offence to adults and we therefore concluded that it did not breach the Code in that regard.

We considered that the atmosphere of ads (c) and (d) was similar to that in ads (a) and (b), but that there was an elevated level of threat, partly due to a greater use of scenes involving people who appeared frightened or distressed, including a woman audibly screaming in ad (c) and a bloodied knife passing in front of the face of a woman who appeared to be frightened in ad (d). However, we considered that the post 7.30 restriction was sufficient to ensure that they would not be broadcast when young children, who might be distressed by them, would be watching and we concluded that the ad had been appropriately scheduled.

On this point, we investigated ads (c) and (d) under BCAP Code rules 4.1 and 4.2 (Harm and offence) and 32.3 (Scheduling) but did not find them in breach.

Nightbreed is a 1990 USA horror fantasy by Clive Barker.
With Craig Sheffer, Anne Bobby and David Cronenberg.

Shout! Factory and Morgan Creek Productions have officially announced a strategic distribution alliance to bring Clive Barker's classic horror film Nightbreed extended director's cut to the home entertainment marketplace in the U.S and Canada and on digital entertainment platforms next year. The news initially broke at Comic-Con 2013, however the agreement formally reached by both parties occurred on 19th August 2013.

For years rumors swirled about substantial missing footage from the film. A fan-driven movement was created (www.OccupyMidian.com) to see the full version of the film restored and re-released, which was not only a more faithful adaptation of Clive Barker's book Cabal , but is what originally he intended Nightbreed to be.

Clive Barker said:

I had a dream about the tribes of the moon. They would live in a city called Midian and, though they were monsters of every shape and size, they would be the heroes of a movie called Nightbreed. However, when I made the movie, the studio was not comfortable with this inversion of the classic structure. They wanted the monsters to be simple-minded scare machines, while I wanted them to be the dark side of all of us, mysterious and misunderstood. Finally, with this new version of Nightbreed, which contains over forty five minutes of previously unseen material, my original vision has been realized. Come with me to Midian, the city of monsters. The tribes of the moon await us.

Shout!'s SCREAM FACTORY plans an aggressive rollout of Nightbreed extended director's cut through physical home entertainment releases and a variety of digital entertainment distribution platforms sometimes next year.

David Robinson, President of Morgan Creek Productions said:

We'd also like to take this opportunity to thank the fans. Without their hard work and persistence, this would have never become a reality. Clive Barker is one of the greats, and we are tremendously proud and excited to be working with him and Shout! Factory on this release.

The parliamentary Culture, Media and Sport Committee has announced another inquiry into Online Safety:

Despite technological innovation and an increase in public understanding of dangers, the online world continues to pose hazards, from images of child abuse to trolling. These dangers are the correlation of the immense benefits provided by unimpeded communication and free speech, so any attempts to mitigate harms have to be proportionate and, where possible, avoid disadvantageous consequences.

The Culture, Media and Sport Committee has decided to investigate a number of aspects of online safety that are currently raising concerns, in particular:

• How best to protect minors from accessing adult content;

• Filtering out extremist material, including images of child abuse and material intended to promote terrorism or other acts of violence;

• Preventing abusive or threatening comments on social media.

The Committee invites written evidence from those who wish to contribute to the inquiry.

Social networking site Ask.fm has unveiled changes to make its site safer after recent online bullying cases.

It said it would view all reports within 24 hours, make the report button more visible, and include bullying and harassment as a category for a report. It said some of the changes would be live on the site by September.

Ask.fm said it would:

• Hire more staff, including a safety officer, to moderate comments on the site
• Create a bullying/harassment category for reported comments, alongside spam or scam , hate speech , violence and pornographic content
• Raise the visibility of a function to opt out of receiving anonymous questions
• Limit the number of features unregistered users were able to access, and
• require an email address upon sign-up for registered users

The UK Safer Internet Centre, which promotes the safe use of technology, said it was delighted by Ask.fm's proposed changes, and added the increased visibility of the anonymous opt-out option was an important development. We strongly advise users, especially children, to switch off anonymous questions, and to report any abuse they see on the site, the group said.

Comedian Jeff Mirza has been reported to police for using the word Paki on flyers for his Edinburgh Fringe show.

Mirza was dressed in character as a butcher called Paki Bashir while handing out the leaflets on on the Royal Mile. He was questioned at a city centre police station after handing a flyer for his show Meet Abu Hamsta and Paki Bashir to a fellow British Asian, who took offence.

However the comedian told police that he was trying to reclaim the word, and was sent on his way. Mirza said policemen advised him to put his finger over the offensive word when handing out flyers in future. Police said they would take no further action.

The web inevitably makes available some content which is unsuitable or inappropriate for children to access. Some of this will be illegal, but much more will not, or may be suitable say for over 13s or over 16s only. A traffic light system may therefore struggle to distinguish between these and runs the risk of imposing the strictest warning on masses of content by default.

A greater concern however, is how the new system will guard against becoming a tool to enable prejudices of one kind or another to be played out. The system can only operate if it is the crowd's decision which counts - the reason this is even being considered is because there is too much content for a regulator or platform to consider. Relying on the crowd assumes that a collective consciousness emerges from the great mass of web users and their shared values, rather than a set of subjective reactions. This is a dangerous assumption. As a recent MIT study reported in Science suggests, the wisdom of the crowd may be a myth, its mentality more akin to that of a mob or herd.

...Read the full article

Baise-moi is a 2000 France crime drama by Virginie Despentes and Coralie.
With Raffaëla Anderson, Karen Lancaume, Céline Beugnot.

The Australian Censorship Board has just re-banned Baise-Moi.

The film played in Australian cinemas with an R18+ (18) rating but the real sex coupled with rape made it very controversial. The government stepped in and requested that the film be banned on home video. The resulting ban has persisted from 2002 to the present day.

Now Potential Films have just resubmitted the film for home video hoping that time has healed whatever ailed the censors. But to no avail, the film censors reaffirmed their ban.

Uncut in the UK

UK: Passed 18 uncut for sexual violence, real sex and very strong language with previous BBFC cuts waived for:

• UK 2013 Arrow R2 DVD at UK Amazon

However the 2001 cinema release was cut by 10s and 2002 DVDs were cut by 12s. The DVD cuts were:

Cuts required to two sequences of sexual violence involving strong sexual imagery:

• explicit close up of sexual penetration of woman during rape scene
• sight of gun being pressed into man's anus prior to being fired

See also: Melon Farmers film cuts details for Baise-Moi

Update: Reasons for the Ban

18th August 2013. See  article from  refused-classification.com

See  article from  refused-classification.com . Note that the version banned by the censors in 2013 was a pre-cut version with the sight of penetration deleted from the rape scene. The Film Censorship Board explained its majority decision to ban the video:

In summary, as this film contains depictions of explicit sexual activity and sexual violence, sexualized violence and violence which are very high in impact and, as such, exceeds what can be accommodated within the R 18+ classification, and, as the film also contains violence, sexual violence and sexualized violence and, as such, cannot be accommodated within the X18+ classification, this material warrants Refused Classification.

American internet TV providers will have to pay the same censorship fees as cable companies from 2014, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) confirmed this week.

The FCC said it had been persuaded by the argument that digital television delivered via high-speed internet should pay fees, in an attempt to create a level playing field between operators:

By assessing regulatory fees on cable television systems, but not on IPTV, we may place cable providers at a competitive disadvantage.

The FCC went onto claim that internet TV providers somehow benefit from FCC 'regulation'.

Sangat TV is a general entertainment satellite broadcaster that broadcasts in English and Punjabi. It is based in Birmingham and broadcasts via the Eutelsat 28A, Sky UK satellite to the Sikh community. The licence for Sangat TV is held by Regis Ltd.

Ofcom had already found Sangat TV to be in breach of Ofcom rule 3.1 in finding published on 21 January 2013 in Broadcast Bulletin 2224. Rule 3.1 states:

Material likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime or to lead to disorder must not be included in television or radio services.

The Finding related to a programme about the attack on Lieutenant-General Brar, which was broadcast on 1 October 2012. This was broadcast almost entirely in Punjabi, was approximately half an hour in duration and comprised eight panellists, including a presenter, who discussed issues surrounding the attack. It had been reported that on a date shortly before the broadcast, while on a visit to London, Lieutenant-General Brar and his wife had been attacked in a central London street by four men. Despite suffering knife injuries, Lieutenant-General Brar survived the attack. In the Finding, Ofcom noted that, in relation to the attack, two men of Sikh origin had been charged with wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Ofcom found that the programme was likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime. We considered that, cumulatively,  statements in the programme were an indirect call to action to members of the Sikh community to take violent action against Lieutenant-General Brar, other members of the Indian armed forces who had taken part in Operation Bluestar (the Indian Army's controversial military operation against the Golden Temple at Amritsar in June 1984)7 or those who supported this military operation.

Ofcom decided it was appropriate and proportionate in the circumstances to impose a financial penalty of £30,000 on the Licensee in respect of the breach of Rule 3.1. In addition, Ofcom decided it should issue a direction to the Licensee to broadcast a statement of Ofcom's findings, on a date and in a form to be determined by Ofcom.

In the UK, rightsholders have the power to demand arbitrary censorship of websites they dislike, and ISPs are required to block those sites. The Premier League carelessly added the IP address of a major web-host to its censorship list, and as a result blocked The Radio Times, Galaxy Zoo, and many other legitimate sites.

People who tried to visit those sites instead saw a warning saying that the sites were devoted to copyright infringement and that anyone visiting them was also infringing copyright.

ISPs were flooded with complaints, and began to unblock the sites themselves.

But the Premier League is outraged at this. They say that even if the Premier League censored the wrong sites, it isn't up to the ISPs to uncensor them,  the ISPs are supposed to comply with the lists they get from rightsholders, no questions asked.

Jim Carrey has famously refused to promote this film -- not on the grounds that he's in it for only about half an hour, during which time he's as dull and unfunny as the rest of the picture, but because he feels it trivialises violence.

Actually, it goes further than that. It supports vigilantism, advocates violent revenge and revels in gang warfare. It also suggests that the way to deal with bullies is to bully them back, even more brutally.

...Read the full endorsement

Update: Sob story

16th August 2013. See  article from  dailymail.co.uk

Chris Tookey spins a ludicrous yarn about how he himself is desensitised to violence after having watched so many violent films...

...and of course takes to opportunity to have another rant at Kick-Ass 2 (and also Only God Forgives starring Ryan Gosling).

...Read the full rant .

Snowflake - the White Gorilla is a 2011 Spain children's cartoon  comedy by Andrés G Schaer.
With David Spade, Ariana Grande and Jennette McCurdy.

UK: Passed U for no material likely to offend or harm after 8s of BBFC category cuts for:

• 2013 Lions Gate video

The BBFC commented:

Distributor chose to cut a use of discriminatory language ('spaz') to achieve a U classification. A 12 without cuts was available.

Summary Notes

Snowflake is special, he's the only white gorilla in the world. He is the zoo's main attraction, children love him, but the other gorillas don't see what's so charming about this weirdo being the center of attention

Ludicrous TV censorship in Thailand has again come under fire after a blogger posted blurred out content in scenes from Japanese cartoons, or animes, broadcast by MCOT Channel 9.

The blogger wrote his posting in a Japanese news website on Aug 9, including in it a video clip and two images. The posting went viral and has been attracting attention from many online communities.

In the video clip, female characters from the Sailor Moon animation series have their swimsuits blurred out. The girl Shisuka in the popular Doraemon cartoon also has her swimwear edited in the same way, while another picture portrays a young Son Goku from the classic Dragon Ball Z anime with his chest censored as his clothes are ripped apart during a transformation.

The blogger pointed out that many viewers do not think about anything inappropriate when they watch cartoons. However, when censorship is applied it makes audiences assume that there is something unsuitable on screen and brings the content to their attention.

A man using the British Library's wi-fi network was denied access to an online version of Shakespeare's Hamlet because the text contained violent content .

Author Mark Forsyth was writing his book in the library, and needed to check a line from the famous play. He revealed on his blog that the filter had logged his attempt to access the page.

The British Library said the fault was caused by a newly installed wi-fi service from a third-party provider.

A spokesperson for the British Library said Hamlet had since been made accessible.

Internet filters have recently come under increased scrutiny, after the government announced that pornography will be automatically blocked by UK internet providers, unless customers choose otherwise. In general the most minute examples of a few words alluding to adult content can be enough to trigger a block. The software then errs on the side of caution and unfairly blocks many websites.

And of course these companies show little concern about legitimate businesses that suffer as a result.

Prof Ross Anderson, a security expert at Cambridge University, told the BBC that internet filters were pointless and that it was completely inappropriate to have one in the British Library. He added:

Everything that is legal should be available over the library's wi-fi network. The only things they should block are the few dozen books against which there are court judgements in the UK. One of the functions of deposit libraries is to keep everything, including smut.

Meanwhile one filter maker has a bit of a Gerald Ratner moment

15th August 2013. See  article from  techradar.com

Some customers of newly filtered ISPs are finding that porn is still getting through , but bona fide sites are being blocked . That's because filter algorithms struggle to distinguish between porn and legitimate sites, like lingerie retailers.

None of these systems are perfect, says George Anderson from online filtering security firm Webroot:

If you're an underwear site that's pretty close [to a porn site] and you get blocked because of this ban, that's going to cause issues.

Ministers want parents and teenagers themselves to be able to assign age-ratings (that don't seem to align with ages) to videos and other content which has been uploaded by internet users onto websites.

The government is working with ISPS and internet censors to test how crowd sourcing such age ratings can work, The Telegraph has learnt.

David Cameron said last month that he lamented the lack of rules on age controls that apply to websites.

The government and industry has formed a working group, led by the British Board of Film Classification, to develop the new system.

Ministers accept that there is far too much material generated by users on their mobile phones or webcams for conventional censors such as the BBFC to be able to monitor.

However, a prototype has been designed, under which website users are asked to complete a simple questionnaire on the depiction of behaviour, drugs, horror, language, sex and violence for videos posted online.

The BBFC and Nicam, the Dutch media regulator, have designed a scheme which can be linked to online filters and which includes an alert feature allowing users to report content to the authorities.

A senior government source said ministers were supporting the developments, which would help protect children from potentially damaging and inappropriate material . The source said

On YouTube at the moment people put comments but there is no way of crowd sourcing, where you can say whether you think this is an appropriate clip for 12 year olds or 14 year olds.

It is a bit strange therefore that the government is supporting a scheme with no obvious differentiation between 12 and 14 year olds. One option being considered would be a traffic light system. A video could be rated as green if it is safe for all, amber if it requires parental guidance and red if it is suitable for adults only.

Green for videos suitable for young children and red for adults only are pretty straightforward, but the large gulf between doesn't seem to make much sense. Most horror films are 15 rated and would be scary for younger children. How does one have a combined 12 and 15 rating. It could nether be said to be either a 12 or a 15. If it is vaguely called 'parental guidance', it then does not convey enough information for parents to know whether it is suitable for their 12 year olds.

Update: Trial

2nd September 2013.  See  article from  huffingtonpost.co.uk

Italian viewers will soon be able to make use of this international ratings tool. Italian media giant Mediaset will shortly being trialling the rating tool for users of its 16MM website and television channel.

We will be monitoring the results of this pilot project closely. What we learn from this trial will help us as we work with other platforms to see how they might apply the tool.

Kes is a 1969 UK drama by Ken Loach.
With David Bradley, Freddie Fletcher and Lynne Perrie.

The BBFC received Ken Loach's Kes for classification in May 1969. The original examiner reports written for the classification of Kes in 1969 are unfortunately no longer available, but letters sent by Stephen Murphy (BBFC Secretary 1971-1975) in reply to complaints made about use of bad language in the film do reveal the thinking behind the classification of Kes.

In a 1972 letter, Murphy informs the complainant that a U certificate was the most appropriate category for the film at the time - with the categorisation then available, to have given KES anything but a 'U' certificate would have been positively immoral .

In another letter from 1972 Stephen Murphy explains the positive values of the picture were more than compensation for any irritation caused by some authentic dialogue, much of which, for example the word 'bugger, is not regarded as offensive in the area where the film was shot (indeed it is often a term of affection).

...Read the full article

A poster for The Lodge Gentlemen's Club in Oxford showed an image of a woman wearing a bra lying on her back, looking towards the camera. With her right hand she was playing with her hair; the left side of her body was obscured by shadow.

A complainant, who stated that the poster had been placed within 100 m of a nursery and directly opposite a youth hostel, challenged whether the ad:

1. was offensive, sexist and degrading to women; and

2. was irresponsible, because it appeared where it could be seen by children.

1. & 2. Starwhite Ltd, t/a The Lodge Gentleman's Club stated that they did not wish to offend anyone, but felt that the image was not of an offensive nature and that the text was innocuous. They said the poster was located almost opposite a youth hostel, but not within 100 m of a nursery. They also said that before the poster had been put up, the ad had been submitted to the CAP Copy Advice team, who had advised that it was suitable.

ASA Assessment: Complaint not upheld

1. Not upheld

The ASA acknowledged that advertising for gentlemen's clubs would often contain images of women, many of which were likely to be seen as at least mildly sexual because of the nature of the service promoted. However, the fact that a product was offensive to some people was not grounds for finding a marketing communication in breach of the Code. It was therefore necessary to consider the overall impression given by the ad.

We noted that the image showed a woman lying on her back, looking towards the camera. The complainant had described this as a sexually submissive position. Much of the woman's body was shrouded in darkness, but she was shown alone and did not look distressed or coerced in any way, and given that she was wearing a bra and most of the lower part of her body was not visible we considered that the image was only mildly sexual in nature. Whilst acknowledging that the ad would be distasteful to some, we did not consider that it would be generally seen as objectifying or being sexist or degrading to women, and concluded that it was therefore unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence.

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

2. Not upheld

We noted that the CAP Copy Advice team had viewed the ad before it appeared, and had advised that it should not be placed within 100 m of a school or places that children frequented. We considered that, given the sexually suggestive nature of the ad, that restriction was appropriate and would reduce the risk of its being seen by children. The complainant had believed that the poster was located within that distance of a nursery. However, we understood that the poster was in fact around 350m away from the nursery school. We also understood that the youth hostel referred to by the complainant was generally used by those aged 16--18 years, who were not classed as children under the Code. Because the ad had been placed away from schools or businesses that provided children based services, we concluded that it was not irresponsible.

On that point, we investigated the ad under CAP Code rule 1.3 (Responsible advertising), but did not find it in breach.

A popular Cardiff nightclub has apologised and withdrawn a promotional image after it came under fire from an easily offended Lib Dem MP

Cardiff Central MP Jenny Willott claimed she was horrified and offended by the posters used in the Cardiff Tiger Tiger.

The adverts featured a woman holding a board with Tiger Tiger Cardiff written on it covering her chest and another with a QR code, a type of barcode, over her crotch area. The poster then directs people to the venue's Facebook page for all our latest deals and news .

Ms Willott claimed that the image was far too provocative and that she would be writing to Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) as a result. She spouted:

Do Tiger Tiger not realise how offensive this kind of advertising is? It suggests the venue is a strip club -- is that really the sort of reputation the company wants?

All too often we see women's bodies used as a tool for selling products and services. To have such an advert on display around Cardiff concerns me greatly, as a woman, a mother and an MP.

The MP added she will be encouraging others who are similarly offended by the adverts to make their concerns heard to the ASA.

The PC extremist advert censors at ASA will no doubt will be very keen to hear, and it only takes a couple of complaints to qualify as 'widespread' offence.

Two episodes of classic Tom & Jerry cartoons have been pulled from the latest volume of a Blu-ray collector's disc because the feuding cat and mouse were blacked up .

Volume 2 of Warner Brothers' Golden Collection, which fans believed would be a full chronological and uncut series, was meant to have been released two months ago but still hasn't reached the shops and may not be seen until next year. Fans complain that the planned running order omitted Casanova Cat and Mouse Cleaning , episodes from 1951 and 1948 that are often censored when broadcast on children's TV.

One line of protest has been to bombard online sellers, particularly Amazon, with messages on its pre-sale order pages. Culture is always reflected in cartoons, and while this may not have been right, it existed. It is a shame to omit pieces of history in a collection simply due to PR getting shaky boots over the past, said one. Another added: These releases are almost exclusively for the adult collector, so why treat us like infants?

Meanwhile, a Facebook campaign called Unleash the banned Tom and Jerry cartoons rages on.

In Casanova Cat, above, Tom tries to impress a rich she-cat by blacking up Jerry's face with cigar smoke and then making him do a minstrel dance.

It is Tom who is blacked up in Mouse Cleaning. With his face covered in coal dust, he fools Mammy into thinking she is chatting to a black man by talking in an African-American accent.

A Warner Brothers spokesprat said:

The company felt that certain content would be inappropriate for the intended audience and therefore excluded several shorts.

Murder Files: The Sketchbook Killer
Channel 5, 11 December 2012, 20:00 to 21:00

Murder Files: The Sketchbook Killer was an episode of the factual documentary strand Murder Files, which explores how the police have caught suspects in major criminal investigations.

A complainant alerted Ofcom to violent themes and imagery in this programme, which the complainant considered unsuitable to be broadcast before the 21:00 watershed when children might be watching.

This episode featured the crimes of the eponymous Sketchbook Killer, John Sweeney. The episode opened with actual footage, dating from 2001 and filmed from a police helicopter. It was described in the commentary as showing the horrific discovery of holdalls located in the Regent's Canal in London in 2001 which were found to contain ten parts of the dismembered body of Paula Fields. The programme went onto explain how a similar discovery of a dismembered body, later named as Melissa Halstead, in a Rotterdam canal some 11 years previously, was, after many years of investigation linked to the same murderer, John Sweeney. The programme explored: Sweeney's life before he met his first murder victim, Melissa Halstead, and his violent relationship with her; the subsequent violent relationships he formed with two other women, Delia Balmer and Paula Fields; and the events leading to his arrest for the murders of the two women found in the canals.

Ofcom noted that the programme included the following example:

A series of reconstructions using actors, darkly lit and in soft focus and largely consisting of a series of brief shots tightly edited together, of the violence inflicted by Sweeney on Melissa Halstead and Delia Balmer. These included, at the times indicated:

20:14: an attack by Sweeney on his first victim, Melissa Halstead, in a hotel room in Austria which had taken place prior to Melissa Halstead's murder. This reconstruction was introduced by the narration: ...it's here that Sweeney's savage nature brought him right to the brink of murder. The reconstruction which followed showed a man and woman arguing, the man pushing the woman onto the bed, a brief shot of a hammer being picked up, and the man moving his arm up and down violently, accompanied by the thumping sound effect of a hammer. The voiceover continued over the reconstruction: It's never been established what prompted this attack but it left Melissa with a fractured skull and other injuries which needed emergency surgery . This final image of the male actor wielding the hammer continued, until the British Detective Inspector, Steve Smith, who investigated Sweeney's crimes, appeared saying: he [Sweeney] was convicted of attacking her [Melissa Halstead] with a hammer. He was imprisoned in Vienna...but Melissa...petitioned the judge and asked for clemency. The visuals then returned briefly to the actor playing Sweeney using the hammer and the accompanying hammering sound effects, before this sequence concluded with a final comment from the detective

Ofcom considered Rule 1.3:

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

Ofcom Decision: Breach of Ruler 1.3

While Ofcom acknowledges that the use of reconstructions and real life police footage and photographic evidence is central to murder investigation documentaries like Murder Files, this particular episode included a number of reconstructions throughout the programme (as detailed above), some of which were repeated albeit in an edited form. In our opinion these reconstructions when assessed individually were reasonably limited, showing for example, no detail of the head wounds inflicted with the hammer on Melissa Halstead, the attack with the axe on Delia Balmer, or the dismembering of the body of Melissa. The images used in Ofcom's view implied the horrific violence perpetrated rather than explicitly depicted it.

Ofcom was of the view that the overall effect of the (albeit limited) reconstructions, accompanied by detailed commentary on Sweeney's savage acts and the menacing music, resulted in material which would have been more suitable for an adult audience. We noted how the British police footage and Dutch police photographs, anatomical drawings and photographs were combined with relatively explicit descriptions of the dismembered body parts. In Ofcom's opinion these factors, taken together, meant that this programme was unsuitable for children.

Breach of Rule 1.3

A children's novel is being reviewed by the New Zealand Office of Film and Literature Censorship (OFLC).

Auckland author Ted Dawe's Into the River claimed the top prize in this year's New Zealand Post Children's Book Awards. But the Herald on Sunday reported one well-regarded book store refused to stock the novel because of explicit descriptions of sex and drug-taking. Parental advisory stickers were sent to stores to put on the covers after concerns were raised.

OFLC Information officer Kate Ward this week confirmed Into the River was now being reviewed and a decision would be made within weeks. The office has the authority to order a book be labelled unrestricted and recommend a suitable age or restricted - with a legally-enforceable age limit for sale or distribution.