Based on an article from News.com.au

SBS, the Australian multicultural broadcaster, was accused yesterday of being soft on terrorism and broadcasting pornography. NSW Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells criticised SBS officials, and also accused the broadcaster of "siding with" Australian terror suspect David Hicks.

Senator Fierravanti-Wells said the SBS documentary When Sex Goes Wrong had included such insightful little gems (as) individuals recounting their most disgusting experiences involving sex.

However, SBS managing director Shaun Brown rejected her claims. I don't accept your assertion that it's porn. We do not broadcast porn.

SBS broadcasts a range of programs with strong sexual content including Stripperella, an animated series whose main character, voiced by Pamela Anderson, is a stripper named Erotica Jones.

Senator Fierravanti-Wells also raised concerns about the broadcaster's coverage of terrorism, saying it had an "equivocal attitude to terrorism". She said a radio broadcast in which Hezbollah was referred to as a "so-called terrorist organisation" was unacceptable.

From GamesIndustry.biz

British retailer Currys last week took the astonishing decision to publicly refuse to stock Bully, renamed Canis Canem Edit in Europe, a clear bending to tabloid will in the face of perfectly clear facts about the product. This kind of spineless pandering to the tabloid mentality is rife among US retailers. However, in the UK, retailers do not customarily pander to tabloid outrage, and Currys' decision to do so is a disgustingly simpering attempt to hop onto a PR bandwagon which, we hope, is rolling inexorably over a cliff.

There are a few possible scenarios which arise from Currys' decision. The first is that the firm gets the PR it wants from the decision, appeals to the narrow cross-section of middle England which is prepared to get its hackles up over lunch about videogames they've never even seen, and loses only a tiny amount of revenue from lost sales of the game. In this instance, we start to slide down a slippery slope towards the US situation, where retailers routinely refuse to stock anything that the newspapers, or the moral moronity, might have a whinge about. This is not a situation we'd like to see mirrored in Britain.

Another scenario, however, is that people who are sick and tired of this treatment of the videogames medium decide to take matters into their own hands, rather than simply rolling their eyes at the media's ignorant reporting or at the antics of ludicrous characters such as Keith Vaz and Jack Thompson.

Currys is a major home electronics retailer. They sell videogame consoles, televisions, speaker systems, cables, and a host of other related devices - and with HDTV being rolled out at increasing pace in Britain, they will be expecting a bumper Christmas as people, many of them gamers, walk through the doors of the store to upgrade their home entertainment systems. Wouldn't it be quite a message to send, if a significant proportion of gamers were to decide to boycott the Currys chain - and to let them know that their appalling behaviour over Canis Canem Edit was the reason for this boycott?

After all, there are many places to buy high definition TV sets and so on; and only one of them has chosen to take the side of the tabloids over this issue, when simply doing their job and stocking the product without such judgments would have been perfectly acceptable. As a member of the games industry, or simply as a gamer, this is certainly worth bearing in mind if you find yourself pondering a home entertainment system upgrade in the next few months. When our opponents have reached the point of lying about products to push their agenda forward, perhaps it's time to make our voices as consumers heard.

From The Telegraph

The bed-hopping days of Zhang , China's answer to EastEnder Dirty Den are over - thanks to a finger-wagging not from his long-suffering wife, but from China's television censors.

Ever mindful of public morality, Beijing's media watchdogs are purging the nation's soaps of extramarital affairs because of fears that the likes of Zhang are encouraging people to cheat on their spouses.

The new measures, quietly announced by state media during a public holiday, follow on from restrictions imposed two years ago on depictions of crime on television.

Too many television series that exaggerate extramarital affairs can make juveniles believe those kinds of relationships are acceptable, said Zheng Xiaolong, the film and television director at the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the government's main censorship body.

There is increasing official paranoia over a perceived decline in public morals.

Scores of high-ranking members of the Communist Party have been sacked for enjoying multiple affairs, and soaring annual divorce rates - rising from 340,000 in 1980 to 1.3 million by last year - have coincided with a boom in the so-called ernais. These "second wives" provide their married lovers with sex and companionship in return for expensive gifts.

The state has now imposed a ban on co-habitation outside of marriage and threatens adulterers with two years in jail.

Based on an article from the BBC
Picture from www.mediawatch.org.uk

The TV network behind the cartoon South Park has defended the latest episode which makes fun of the death of TV naturalist Steve Irwin.

The episode shows a bloody Irwin with the stingray that killed him in September hanging from his chest. In the episode, shown on Comedy Central in the US this week, Irwin is at a Halloween party hosted by the devil. Other guests include Hitler and Diana, Princess of Wales, but Irwin is thrown out because he is not in fancy dress.

Comedy Central said: The South Park guys do inappropriate things all the time...Their goal is to make people laugh, not to offend people.

John Beyer of the nutters Medaiwatch-Uk said of the Irwin sketch: Mr Irwin's family are obviously still grieving about their tragic loss and it seems inappropriate to me that South Park should be trying to make some capital out of it. To lampoon somebody's death like that is unacceptable, and so soon after the event is grossly insensitive and shows a great deal of disrespect for his family.

But Irwin was surely shown respect when mourned by thousands of people in Australia, who considered him as a national hero because of his conservation work. Tributes and donations to his charity Wildlife Warriors also flooded in from around the world and more than 5,000 people attended a memorial service at Irwin's Crocoseum stadium in Queensland.

Based on an article from KVUE

Death of a President has opened across the US but it is noticeable that there's no scheduled opening date for Dallas, hometown of Bush and scene of a previous assassination.

In the movie, President Bush is gunned down after a speech in Chicago amid violent street protests in October 2007. Suspects, most of them Islamic, are rounded up and detained, and a new Patriot Act, called Patriot III, is signed into law. The assassination happens early in the film; the rest deals with the fallout on civil liberties.

Some of the country's largest theater chains, including California-based Regal and Texas-based Cinemark, have publicly refused to show the film. CNN and National Public Radio won't run ads or sponsorship messages.

We would not be inclined to program this film, Regal Entertainment Group CEO Mike Campbell told Reuters. We feel it is inappropriate to portray the future assassination of a sitting president, regardless of political affiliation.

This critic's assessment: Death of a President is well made and well acted, and the documentary verisimilitude is eerie. The film presents President Bush as a sympathetic figure, beloved by his staff. But it also crosses a line never before drawn, it makes for queasy viewing, and the fetishistic attention to detail is creepy.

Perhaps someone has realised that if kids were bored by only having access to childish games, they could devote more time to binge drinking, punch up porn and religious indoctrination.

Based on an article from Pro-G

Nutter MP Keith Vaz has backed down from previous plans to scrap the PEGI rating system used for video games.

Back in 2005, Vaz demanded that the industry should scrap the PEGI rating system, in favour of a statutory Government regulation on age ratings. However, the situation has now changed, and having witnessed the work the industry has been doing over the last year, Vaz said:As the prime minister has said there has been huge progress made: What I'm after is a meeting of industry, parents groups and Government to see what we can do for the future. We have made progress but there are still examples of young people buying video games that are rated 18 plus.

Many video games do now receive BBFC ratings, which make it illegal to sell the title to anybody under the specified age rating, but the current PEGI system (the most common form of age rating for video games) only acts as a guide and is not legally enforced at retail.

ISo why would someone campaigning against punch up videos describe them as 'porn'? Surely 'porn' means 'sexy and entertaining'

From the BBC

An MP is calling for a ban on the sale of violent football hooligan videos on an internet auction website. Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Perry Barr, describes the trade as "punch up porn" and believes it will stir up more trouble by inflaming local rivalries. He is promising to take action in Parliament and said he plans to ask e-Bay to stop selling them.

One DVD features a fight between Wolverhampton Wanderers fans and Birmingham City's Zulu Warriors. Another shows trouble flaring between 70 Aston Villa fans and West Bromwich Albion supporters outside the Uplands pub in the Handsworth area of Birmngham.

Adverts on e-Bay for the DVDs promise "toe-to-toe fights" and "footage of mayhem". There are currently 35 DVD sellers on the site, including one from Small Heath in Birmingham.

From the China Post

A Danish court ruled on Thursday that a newspaper did not libel Muslims by printing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad that unleashed a storm of protests in the Islamic world.

Seven Danish Muslim organizations brought the case, saying the paper had libelled them with the images by implying Muslims were terrorists. One cartoon depicted Mohammad with a bomb in his turban.

Jyllands-Posten, which published the 12 drawings in September last year, hailed the ruling, saying any other outcome would have been a catastrophe for a free press.

Of course it cannot be excluded that the drawings offended some Muslims, the Aarhus court said in its ruling: But there is no sufficient reason to assume that the cartoons are or were intended to be insulting ... or put forward ideas that could hurt the standing of Muslims in society.

The ruling said some of the cartoons did not depict Mohammad or have a religious subject, while others fell outside the scope of defamation laws. But the court did find that three of the cartoons fell within what the law could deem as insulting.

The court ordered the seven organizations to pay the paper's court expenses. A Muslim imam said the plaintiffs would continue to fight in higher courts.

In March, Danish prosecutors declined to press charges against the newspaper under Danish blasphemy and anti-racism laws

From WSWS

Censorship of filmmakers, artists and writers is escalating in Sri Lanka in line with the Rajapakse government’s intensification of its war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

In a recent case, the Sri Lanka Ruphavanini Corporation (SLRC), the island’s state-funded television channel, cut dialogue from the weekly teledrama Sudu Kapuru Pethi (White Camphor) early last month and a few days later axed the series entirely, claiming it “disgraced” the military.

The then SLRC chairman Newton Gunaratne told the media the television show had insulted the security forces. Some parts of this teledrama bring disgrace to these soldiers and their self-respect, he claimed. Gunaratne, however, made no attempt to substantiate his claims.

Last month’s axing of Sudu Kapuru Pethi was equally arrogant and provocative. SLRC management did not even bother to tell director Athula Pieris that dialogue had been cut from his show. He only learnt about it during the broadcast of its tenth episode on September 3.

When Pieris protested this violation, management “suggested” he re-edit the entire program. He refused and the show, which had another 13 episodes to run, was summarily cancelled.

The cancellation of Sudu Kapuru Pethi foreshadows further assaults on democratic rights. As it widens its deeply unpopular war, the Rajapakse government is determined to silence any opposition. In this case, the suggestion that ordinary Tamils and Sinhalese share common problems and concerns was enough to provoke the ire of those who are deliberately stoking communal hatreds.

...Wearing a White Ribbon

Based on an article from X Biz

Phil Burress, the leader of the nutters, Citizens for Community Values group, will launch the White Ribbon Against Pornography campaign next week in a bid to raise awareness about what he calls the social ills of adult entertainment. The campaign seeks to raise awareness about America’s pornography problem by asking supporters to wear white ribbons.

Burress said he hopes that by wearing the white ribbon, supporters will be able to spark conversations about the issue, which will help raise awareness.

The White Ribbon campaign begins Oct. 29 and runs through Nov. 5.

Based on an article from Lifestyle Extra, Thanks to Dan
Picture from www.mediawatch.org.uk

Mediawatch-UK have formally complained about footage of George Michael smoking cannabis. Coverage of the singer lighting up and telling how the drug keeps him "sane and happy" was filmed for the South Bank Show, and coverage on news channels has sparked a complaint to Ofcom. The interview is set to be screened in full, as part of a documentary, at the end of the month.

John Beyer, director of mediawatch-uk said he was concerned about the footage, because it glamorised drug abuse. He said: Anything that normalises that sort of drug abuse is wrong. I have sent in a complaint to Ofcom because George Michael was shown on Sky News today. By showing it, drug abuse was being glamorised. It was in breach of Section 1.10, which states the use of illegal drugs must not be condoned, encouraged or glamorised in programmes broadcast before the watershed. It was also in breach of Section 2.4 which states programmes must not glamorise anti-social behaviour.

Britain's leading drug information charity DurgScope added its voice to the debate. Chief Executive Martin Barnes said: Although cannabis use has fallen to its lowest level in nearly ten years many people continue to underestimate the harms associated with the drug. Given the known risks associated with cannabis, anyone with or who has had mental health problems such as depression really shouldn't touch it with a barge pole.

From Gawker

When a user flags a YouTube video as inappropriate, they're presented with five potential reasons (all exclusive of copyright complaints, which are handled separately). The available flavors of naughtiness are "Sexually explicit," "Mature (over 18 only) content," "Other terms of use violation," "Graphic violence," and the recently added "Hate speech." Some of these flags, especially the "Mature" variety, can just result in a clip getting an interstitial warning -- users will henceforth see a screen asking them to confirm their willingness to wallow in the evil video before it plays. Those that fail the appropriateness test completely get deleted. Supposedly, any flagged clip will be reviewed within 24-48 hours.

Activist video flagging got a little attention a couple weeks back when YouTube inadvertently incited a miniature ideological jihad between conservative and liberal blogger types. Fan favorite Michelle Malkin had one of her videos pulled after unfriendly YouTube users flagged it as "inappropriate." Crying censorship, or at least inappropriate censorship (the irony!), other conservative bloggers retaliated by fanning out across YouTube and flagging clips that represented viewpoints they didn't like. You can guess what happened next. Retaliatory flagging has quickly become a standard practice to sabotage your opponents or just piss them off. It wouldn't be surprising if our Ann Coulter clips were flagged and yanked by someone who just doesn't like Ann Coulter. We may just be the victims of friendly fire.

YouTube does not respond to requests for explanation when videos get pulled for inappropriate content, and there's no stated way to appeal the decision (let alone track or confront one's accusers/flaggers). Again, the situation's both different and inconsistent with copyright complaints, which sometimes involve formal notification before a clip gets pulled, and sometimes don't. Still, given YouTube's burgeoning presence and publicity, it's hard to imagine their censorship review department can afford to spend much time splitting hairs, content-wise, when faced with a 48-hour deadline to review every flag.

From Reuters
See the full list at RSF

The Restrictions on civil liberties due to the "war on terrorism" have undermined media freedom in the United States and Russia over the past year, journalists' rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

RSF's 2006 Worldwide Press Freedom Index, a survey of censorship, intimidation and violence against journalists, found Finland, Iceland, Ireland and the Netherlands the most media-friendly. North Korea was last again.

Denmark fell from first last year to 19th after a Danish newspaper's publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad sparked Muslim outrage and threats against reporters.

The United States fell nine places to 53rd in the survey of 168 countries, on a par with Botswana, Croatia and Tonga. It came 17th when the index was first compiled in 2002.

Relations between the media and the Bush administration sharply deteriorated after the president used the pretext of 'national security' to regard as suspicious any journalist who questioned his 'war on terrorism', The zeal of federal courts which ... refuse to recognise the media's right not to reveal its sources, even threatens journalists whose investigations have no connection at all with terrorism, RSF said.

Russia also fell nine places, to 147th, in a year marked by the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was fiercely critical of government policy, particularly of Moscow's campaign against the insurgents in Chechnya whom it calls terrorists.

France fell five places to 35th, partly due to an increase in searches of media offices and journalists' homes, RSF said.

The UK is 27th in the list and Thailand is 122nd.

North Korea, Turkmenistan and Eritrea remained the three most repressive countries, clocking up the highest scores. They were the only states to score more than 90 points last year but Iran, China, Burma and Cuba joined them this year.

From AsiaNews.IT

The Chinese government plans to register millions of Chinese Internet bloggers who are using the web to publish their views under a pseudonym, thus forcing them to subscribe to censorship from the central authorities. This was reported today by the official state media.

Under the new system, currently being assessed by legislators, users would be allowed to continue using their online pseudonyms to write their blogs, but must register with the authorities under their real names.

The real name requirement is an “unavoidable choice” if China wants to properly develop its blogging community, according to the head of the Internet Society of China, Huang Chengqing. The Internet Society of China is the state-controlled organisation in charge of developing the new monitoring system.

The government “acknowledges that the decision to register bloggers could create problems of privacy and free-speech concerns”.

I do not know the paper but what is the betting that they call for censorship at every possible opportunity.

I had a look at the Milton Road fight club video on YouTube. It is quite interesting.

It is in fact quite disturbing for being real and of course those partaking in the thuggery seem egged on by the thought of being on camera.

On the other hand, the level of violence was very much in line with depictions of beating on TV. With a confidence of knowing that the violence was staged, then nobody would have batted an eyelid if it had appeared on post-watershed TV.

From the Sunday Sun

When the Sunday Sun speaks, the powers-that-be listen.

Now to our battle to curb violence on the internet after our expose of the shocking videos being posted on YouTube has the backing of cross party MPs and the Government.

The reason why is simple. It makes sense.

We do not usually advocate censorship...BUT... when images of wanton violence and thuggery are broadcast for the gratification of some warped minds, a line has to be drawn.

When it comes to the misuse of the internet you have to look at the bigger picture, and pull the plug on such transgressions for the greater good of the community.

Based on an article from IWPR

The Uzbek government has introduced new registration procedures in order to tighten its hold over the media, and has now extended its reach to the internet as well.

Last week, the cabinet of ministers signed off on a resolution requiring 'further improvement' of the procedures for media registration. In comments to state-run domestic media, Otkir Joraev, the deputy chief of the government's Print and Information Agency, explained that the internet needed to be included since in his view, the medium is often used to communicate calls for violent regime change, war, violence, terrorism, religious extremism and separatism.

As one media expert said, the Uzbek government has always regarded the internet as 'one of its most dangerous enemies'. For instance, one can be fined for looking at news websites that the government deems mendacious and hostile. The authorities strive to exert tight controls over access to foreign websites, and block any sites of which they disapprove. The government has recently started developing websites of its own, carrying news and analysis in a bid to fend off external criticism.

From The State

A report by Reporters Without Borders, says Cuban Internet cafes at hotels and the post office allowed mostly unfettered access to Web sites, even those considered 'subversive'. But prices were excessive and security warnings popped up when the names of well-known Cuban dissidents appeared on the screen.

With just 2% of its 11 million people online, Cuba has one of the lowest Internet usage rates in the world, according to Reporters Without Borders. The report said Cuba has 1/13th the Internet usage of Costa Rica, ranking it alongside countries such as Uganda and Sri Lanka.

Cuba currently depends on satellites for Internet service, which offer spotty and slow service to privileged Cubans who have access at work or have the $4.50 an hour it costs at post office Internet facilities.

The price amounts to several weeks' pay and is an effective method of controlling Internet access, said Julien Pain, head of Reporters Without Borders' Internet Freedom program.

Internet is widely available in hotels, but Cubans are prohibited from entering tourist hotels. At the post office, two services were available: a national intranet service which provided e-mail access and cost $1.50 an hour, and an unrestricted international web that cost $4.50.

Keyword trigger a warning flash on the Internet cafe computer, saying it would shut down for "national security reasons". The keyword detection program is installed on the Internet cafe computer and is not limited to internet access. Sure scares people off the web.

From The Scotsman

A British art expert was seized at a Moscow airport when border guards found satirical cartoons in his luggage depicting the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, naked.

Matthew Bown, owner of the Matthew Bown Art Gallery in London's Saville Row, was last night being held at the Sheremetyevo-2 airport. According to initial reports, guards spotted art works which he had bought at the Moscow Marat Gelman gallery the day before.

The pictures included cartoons depicting Putin, the president of the United States George Bush, the terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and a female suicide bomber.

Bown was prevented from getting on his flight while an inquiry assessed whether the images constitute "anti-government agitation". It was not clear whether he was actually under arrest.

From BBC & Buzzle

Vietnam's communist authorities have banned two newspapers from publishing for a month because of their reporting about the country's new bank notes.

The ministry of culture said the two papers published inaccurate information about alleged mistakes in the notes. It says the papers ignored government instructions to stop making the claims.

The Vietnamese press has run a series of stories about mistakes made in the printing of new notes and about some notes being the wrong size. Others focus on so-far unproven allegations that the son of the central bank governor made money from the printing contract.

The ministry of culture has decided that it has all gone too far and ordered two papers to stop printing for a month from next Wednesday. It is also considering further measures against the two newspapers, Thanh Nien and Tuoi Tre, which have become most vocal in criticising corruption and government failures.

Meanwhile Vietnam has been attempting to control the use of the internet by encouraging providers and users to spy on each other and turn informant if they suspect politically 'subversive' activity, according to a report by Amnesty International.

The communist regime has harassed, detained and imprisoned its citizens for expressing peaceful political views online, leading to widespread self-censorship among the Vietnamese. Owners of the country's hugely popular internet cafes have been described by the organisation Reporters Without Borders as 'police auxiliaries'.

Internet service providers in Vietnam are required to inform on web users; internet cafe owners are required to inform on customers; and web users are required to inform on sites that oppose the state. Laws ban web users from spreading information that causes 'harm to national security or social order'.

Cong Thanh Do, who uses the internet to promote democracy in Vietnam, was arrested on 14 August, accused of attempting to 'implement a terrorist plot to destroy the US General Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City'.

He spent 38 days in solitary confinement in a cramped cell, maintaining a hunger strike for the entire period. American officials said there was no evidence to support the allegation and he was released. Amnesty believes that the arrest of the 47-year-old - who lives in America and travelled to Vietnam regularly but is now barred - was aimed solely at punishing him for expressing his political views.

From The Times

The registrar of the Irish .ie internet domain extension has decided it must try to shield people from smut on the internet and, as a standard-bearing start, has banned use of the word “porn”.

A businessman who tried to register the Porn.ie domain name has been refused under Section 3.4 of .ie naming policy, which states that website addresses must not be offensive or contrary to public policy or generally accepted principles of morality.

According to both the Irish registrar of the .ie internet domain extension and the Companies Registration Office (CRO), the word “porn” is a danger to public morality.

The application to register Porn.ie was made by Stephen Ryan from Dublin: They aren’t saying the act of porn is offensive or immoral, they’re saying the word is. This baffles me for a number of reasons. How is a word immoral? The act of rape is immoral, but the word ‘rape’ isn’t. It’s the same with murder. Why doesn’t this logic apply to porn, whether or not they think porn is immoral?

The Companies Registration Office (CRO) refused Ryan’s application to register the word as a business name, telling him his request was being returned as the name “could be deemed to be offensive to others”.

Ryan said: It doesn’t make any sense. Porn is perfectly legal in Ireland. I don’t know why they feel that they should be outlawing it and I don’t know how they feel they should be allowed to. What do they want us to call it, dirty pictures?”

The IE Domain Registry (IEDR) defended its decision last week, saying it made group decisions on possibly controversial registrations. They said 10 applications for “porn” have been refused since September 2001. But the IEDR says it seems to be the only word refused so far under section 3.4 of the naming policy.

It is now drawing up a list of words that will not be considered for websites on the national .ie domain. The body said sites with names such as fuck.ie or cunt.ie would almost certainly be included.

From the excellent National Secular Society Newsline
(To subscribe to Newsline, send a blank email with “Subscribe to Newsline” on the subject line to enquiries@secularism.org.uk)

Letter from Andy Mabbett:

Bodmin Council www.bodmin.gov.uk/terms_of_use.html  say: Your further use of this website will be considered as having accepted these conditions... You are not permitted to link to Bodmin Town Council if your site contains any content that may be considered offensive, scandalous, obscene, pornographic, blasphemous or threatening or in any other way conflicting with the Council’s stated Equal Opportunities Policy.

Surely their Equal Ops policy should defend the rights of (supposedly blasphemous) atheists? Perhaps you might link from your “blasphemous” website to theirs, then challenge them to sue you for doing so?

From All Headline News

The editor of an English-language newspaper in Bangladesh was attacked and beaten by a Muslim mob earlier this month over his advocating ties with the Jewish state.

Weekly Blitz Editor Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, himself a Muslim, was attacked by a gang of at least 40 people on October 5 while working in his office in the capital city of Dhaka.

He was briefly hospitalized with a fractured ankle.

A statement released by the Weekly Blitz said that senior officials associated with the ruling Bangladeshi National Party took part in the lynching. One of them reportedly called Choudhury an "agent of the Jews" while mercilessly beating him.

Police made no arrests following the assault, and refused to allow Choudhury to press charges against his assailants.

Instead, Choudhury is the one going on trial, on charges of blasphemy, sedition, treason and espionage. Choudhury could be sentenced to death if found guilty.

Choudhury has won the hatred of many of his countrymen for publicly criticizing Muslim extremists and urging his government to recognize Israel and establish diplomatic relations with it.

From The Guardian

Iran's Islamic government has opened a new front in its drive to stifle domestic political dissent and combat the influence of western culture - by banning high-speed internet links.

In a blow to the country's estimated 5 million internet users, service providers have been told to restrict online speeds to 128 kilobits second and been forbidden from offering fast broadband packages. The move by Iran's telecommunications regulator will make it more difficult to download foreign music, films and television programmes, which the authorities blame for undermining Islamic culture among the younger generation.

The order follows a purge on illegal satellite dishes, which millions of Iranians use to clandestinely watch western television. Police have seized thousands of dishes in recent months.

The latest step has drawn condemnation from MPs, internet service companies and academics, who say it will hamper Iran's progress. Every country in the world is moving towards modernisation and a major element of this is high-speed internet access, said Ramazan-ali Sedeghzadeh, chairman of the parliamentary telecommunications committee.

A petition branding the high-speed ban as "backward and unprincipled" bearing more than 1,000 signatures is to be sent to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Scores of websites and blogs are censored using hi-tech US-made filtering equipment. Iran filters more websites than any other country apart from China.

The crackdown comes in an atmosphere of increasing restrictions on the media. Last week, Ahmadinejad launched a fierce attack on the head of the state broadcasting organisation, IRIB, which he blamed for stoking public fears about inflation. Iran's leading reformist newspaper, Shargh, was also closed last month.

From The Telegraph

Jack Straw, the Commons Leader and former Home Secretary, backed efforts to prevent offensive material being easily available on the web.

In the Commons, Straw was alerted to a video on the YouTube website, apparently filmed in the north of England, showing a man being chased down a street and kicked in the head.

Iain Wright, Labour MP for Hartlepool, said the video, entitled the Milton Road fight club, features repeated swearing from the aggressor. The scenes were clearly filmed in his constituency.

To view the video, which even shows people watching the attack, YouTube users – who are required to give their date of birth when signing up – are warned that it may contain content that is inappropriate for some users.

Wright, who reported the video to Cleveland Police last Monday, told MPs that it showed a man being attacked in the street and kicked in the face until he is unconscious.. I am worried that acts of violence and instances of happy slapping recorded on mobile phones are being transferred to the web for wider consumption.

In a response that clearly took the backbench MP by surprise, the Commons Leader urged the MP to raise the matter when the Violent Crime Reduction Bill was debated a week on Monday. He said: There is a serious issue about how such videos should better be controlled.

It seems that this time round the court will also have to consider the additional possibility that Longhurst's death was the tragic result of consensual but dangerous breath play sex. 

From the BBC

A man has had his conviction for the murder of a teacher formally quashed by the Court of Appeal. Graham Coutts from Hove, East Sussex, was jailed for life in 2004 for murdering 31-year-old Jane Longhurst, who was from Brighton.

The three appeal judges said on Thursday that Coutts should be recharged on a fresh indictment within two months and then retried.

A re-trial will take place at the Old Bailey on a date to be fixed.

Coutts was remanded in custody pending a retrial, but he will be able to make a bail application to the Old Bailey.

Based on an article from The Bosh

The NBC network is planning to censor Madonna. The portion of the 'Live to Tell' song in which Madonna sings suspended from a giant cross and wearing a crown of thorns will not be shown in the broadcast. Instead, cameras will cut to other shots or images while Madonna is on the cross.

She steps away from the cross to finish the song.

A spokeswoman says the network doesn't discuss how its editorial decisions are made.

NBC did the right thing, but the fact that it did not say why the offensive part of Madonna's concert was cut shows cowardice, said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League

From The Guardian

London mayor Ken Livingstone has won his high court appeal against a ruling that he brought his office into disrepute when he compared a Jewish reporter from the London Evening Standard to a Nazi concentration camp guard.

A judge said Livingstone's "off duty" comments to the Standard's reporter, Oliver Finegold, were "unnecessarily offensive" and "indefensible", and he should have apologised. But the Adjudication Panel for England had misdirected itself when it found his outburst breached the Greater London Authority code of conduct, the judge ruled.

The three-man panel ruled in February that Livingstone was guilty of being "unnecessarily insensitive and offensive" and handed him a month's suspension from his duties as mayor of London.

Handing down his judgment in the high court today, Mr Justice Collins said the mayor had the right to freedom of speech in a democratic society and to express his views within the law "as forcibly as he thought fit".

Surprising as it may perhaps appear to some, the right of freedom of speech does extend to abuse, the judge said. Although the panel tribunal had been entitled to conclude his remarks brought the mayor himself into disrepute, the judge said he was not persuaded the office had also been brought into disrepute.

The panel had applied a test that failed to recognise the real distinction between the man and the office. He also said the panel's decision to suspend the mayor for four weeks, which he had already quashed at a hearing two weeks ago, was "clearly wrong". Livingstone had "a unique position with unique powers", the judge said, and people were entitled to expect that he would conduct himself "to a high standard suitable to his office".

That may well be so, but it does not mean that, if he falls below that high standard, the office as well as he are brought into disrepute.

For the record:

This is a transcript of the taped exchange between Ken Livingstone and Oliver Finegold which led to the Mayor of London being suspended from office by the Standards Board for England. Livingstone was leaving a reception at City Hall in February last year when approached by the reporter.

Oliver Finegold: Mr Livingstone, Evening Standard. How did it ...
Ken Livingstone: Oh, how awful for you.
OF: How did tonight go?
KL: Have you thought of having treatment?
OF: How did tonight go?
KL: Have you thought of having treatment?
OF: Was it a good party? What does it mean for you?
KL: What did you do before? Were you a German war criminal?
OF: No, I'm Jewish. I wasn't a German war criminal.
KL: Ah ... right.
OF: I'm actually quite offended by that. So, how did tonight go?
KL: Well you might be, but actually you are just like a concentration camp guard. You're just doing it 'cause you're paid to, aren't you?
OF: Great. I've you on record for that. So how did tonight go?
KL: It's nothing to do with you because your paper is a load of scumbags.
OF: How did tonight go?
KL: It's reactionary bigots ...
OF: I'm a journalist. I'm doing my job.
KL: ... and who supported fascism.
OF: I'm only asking for a simple comment. I'm only asking for a comment.
KL: Well, work for a paper that isn't ...
OF: I'm only asking for a comment.
KL:  ... that had a record of supporting fascism.
OF: You've accused me ...

I wonder what the chances are of seeing any representatives of porn viewing, non church going, game show watching, binge drinking ordinary folks....None?

From The Guardian

The government has announced a major overhaul of consumer rights in the UK with the formation of a new super body to ensure consumers' interests are better represented.

Ian McCartney, the consumer minister, announced that Consumer Voice will replace the National Consumer Council, Energywatch and Postwatch. He said the new body would act as a "powerful and effective advocate" for consumers.

Yesterday's announcement ends a consultation process that started in January, although it will be around two years before it opens its doors for business.

McCartney said Consumer Voice will represent the interests of consumers across a range of markets and have the responsibility and authority to voice the concerns of all UK consumers.

However, there is one notable omission. A Department of Trade and Industry spokesman said yesterday that Consumer Voice will not cover the telecoms and broadband sector as originally proposed.

Complaints about broadband providers are currently running at record levels, although the body which oversees the market, Ofcom, rarely intervenes on consumers' behalf.

From The Independent

A staff revolt at the Daily Star prevented publication of a spoof Islamic version of the paper called the "Daily Fatwa".

Muslim commentators said yesterday that the newspaper's attempt on Monday evening to mock Sharia law could have sparked international protests similar to those that followed publication by a Danish newspaper of cartoons of the prophet Muhammad.

The mock-up "Daily Fatwa", which promised a "Page 3 Burkha Babes Special" and competitions to "Burn a Flag and Win a Corsa" and "Win hooks just like Hamza's", was prepared to run as page 6 in Wednesday's edition of the Daily Star.

But shortly before the Star was due to go to press on Tuesday evening, concerned members of the National of Journalists (NUJ) called an emergency meeting. After 25 minutes, the NUJ chapel passed a motion saying that the article was "deliberately offensive" to Muslims.

The motion read: The chapel fears that this editorial content poses a very serious risk of violent and dangerous reprisals from religious fanatics who may take offence at these articles. This may place the staff in great jeopardy. This chapel urges the management to remove the content immediately.

To the surprise of some of the journalists, the newspaper's management promptly complied.

Yesterday Ahmed Versi, editor of Muslim News, said that publication of the "Daily Fatwa" would have had major repercussions for the Star: This would have been like the cartoons issue. It would have created a huge, huge backlash and outcry. I'm quite sure there would have been huge demonstrations outside the paper by the weekend and internationally outside the British embassies because the paper would be seen as a British institution.

Based on an article from Gamespot

Keith Vaz, Nutter Member of Parliament for Leicester East, called for a discussion of Rockstar Games' Bully (Canis Canem Edit in the UK) in Prime Minister's Question Time.

Vaz addressed Tony Blair: Last Thursday the British Board of Film Classification gave a 15 certificate to a video game formerly called Bully. This game contains scenes of violence including players terrorising teachers and students, teachers being head butted, and the aggressive use of baseball bats. Currys has banned this game. Given the link between video games and their propensity to encourage violence, that has been demonstrated in some research, will the Prime Minister convene a meeting of the stakeholders including the industry and parents' groups to discuss this issue? And will he accept this is not about adult censorship, this is about protecting our children?

Blair said that he hadn't seen the game himself, with one of his famous smiles, which caused laughter in the Commons. He answered Vaz by agreeing on a meeting to discuss the issues raised.

I know that the Minister for Creative Industries and also the Minister responsible for the industry are very happy to meet with him and stakeholders to discuss it. It's obviously an important issue. I know there's a lot of concern about it. It is, I think, right to say that the video games industry, or certainly a very substantial section of it, have made significant strides and advances over the last few years, but he's quite right, it's important that's maintained, Vaz said.

Based on a story from Euro Gamer

Electronics retailers PC World, Currys and Dixons have refused to stock Rockstar's game, Bully, renamed Canis Canem Edit in Europe.

All owned by DSG International, the group has confirmed the title will not be on sale in High Street stores PC World and Currys Digital, as well as online outlet Dixons.co.uk.

We have no plans to stock Canis Canem Edit, said a statement from Currys: We're fully aware people will be able to buy this game elsewhere, but we feel this game is not appropriate for Currys' family-friendly image.

PC World is taking pre-orders for Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, as well as Grand Theft Auto IV, to be released in October 2007.

Canis Canem Edit is released in Europe on October 27th, and carries a BBFC 15 rating.

From Stuff

Maori mystic Rua Kenana and colourful MPs Peter Fraser and Bob Semple were the best-known New Zealanders snared by sedition laws the Law Commission now wants wiped out.

In a consultation document released today the commission recommended seditious offences in the Crimes Act be repealed and not replaced.

A sedition charge was last used against Timothy Selwyn who in July was jailed for two months, after mounting an axe attack on the Auckland office of Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Ironically, sedition was used to jail Labour Party founding fathers Fraser and Semple in 1916, when they were seen as dangerous trade unionists undermining the state. Fraser's crime was calling for an end to conscription: It is time that the working classes of the different nations were rising up in protest against the ruling classes, he said. He served 12 months, recovering from the experience to in World War II become arguably the most respected of all New Zealand prime ministers.

The commission today gave six reasons for its recommendation:

• The legal profile of the offence was broad, vague, variable and uncertain. The meaning of "sedition" had changed over time.
• The present law invaded the democratic value of free speech for no adequate public reason.
• The present law fell foul of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.
• Seditious offences could be misused to impose a form of political censorship, and they have been used for this purpose.
• The provisions of sedition law have generally fallen into disuse, not only in New Zealand, but other jurisdictions studied. This was a policy indication the law was not needed.
• The law was not needed because elements of it that should be retained were more appropriately covered by other offences.

The commission is calling for submissions of its draft report which close on December 15.

A more insightful update from MediawatchWatch

Indian Christians have forced EMI to withdraw American thrash metal band Slayer’s new album because the cover art offended them.

Joseph Dias of the Catholic Secular Forum denounced Slayer’s Christ Illusion album as “offensive and in very bad taste”.

EMI have released a censored version of the album, with the offending image obscured by the band’s name. [See above, it seems that most online shops etc seem to prefer the censored version]

Based on an article from Boom Town

Jack Thompson is embarrassed again after a Florida judge refuses to play ball in the anti-games campaigners latest case against Take 2 and Rockstar.

Judge Ronald Friedman decided after spending some time viewing the game that Bully did not constitute a public nuisance.

Thompson was aiming to prevent Take 2/Rockstar from releasing the PlayStation 2 game Bully (also known as Canis Canem Edit) however the case has ended with the judge finding for common sense and the games companies. Thompson's downfall? The judge has actually played Bully - or at least seen it played.

If you put the real game, which is a fun adventure depicting a humorous look at fairly mild schoolyard antics against one man's imagined version of a school massacre simulator - the real game is likely to win. The judge decided to go with reality on this case, rather than one man's lurid imagination.

Thompson didn't take the judgement very well and spat out his usual vitriol and disingenuous lies:
Now that you have consigned innumerable children to skull fractures, eye injuries from slingshots, and beatings with baseball bats, without a hearing as to the danger, let me tell you a few things, with all respect for your office and with no respect for the arbitrary way in which you handled this matter. I can handle an adverse ruling by a judge. I’ve had plenty of those in my lifetime, and that’s fine. But the way you conducted yourself today helps explain why a great Dade County Judge, the late Rhea Pincus Grossman, could not abide you. She was not the only one."

How dare you, Judge, promise a hearing today and then prevent that hearing from occurring. How dare you, Judge, petulantly order the production of the game after it is released on Tuesday morning. I didn’t even ask for that. You did that out of spite, and you were smiling when you did that. You really enjoyed that one, didn’t you, Judge?

Rockstar, obviously, is rather pleased with the judgement.

Some people like our games; some don’t, Rockstar's Rodney Walker told Associated Press. We can’t try to beat these arguments. Our whole process we believe with Bully is we have to let the game speak for itself. We just want them to know that this is just entertainment.

There's a lesson here for Jack Thomson and similar. Never rant and rave about a game being a Columbine massacre simulator having never actually played it. You may end up looking rather foolish.

From Turkish Weekly

There must be some sort of birth defect enabling people to rise through the ranks of Customs.  How else can one justify that 'offensive videos' are somehow on a par with guns & knives in terms of worthiness for prosecution.

Based on an article from News.com.au

Imports of drugs, weapons and "nasty" pornography into South Australia are on the increase, and Customs says internet shoppers are largely to blame. Confiscation of supposedly illegal imports jumped 23% last financial year.

There has been a dramatic increase through all postal areas of imported illegal goods which can be attributed to the worldwide web, Customs regional director Jennifer Reimitz said: We have confiscated knives, firearms, drugs and nasty DVDs containing material of an offensive nature through the post. I can only imagine what people would want to import these things for.

Reimitz said the action taken against importers of illegal goods varied according to the individual case. If someone brought in a prohibited item through an airport but were aware it was illegal and had declared it, we would in most cases give a warning. But, if the item is a gun, knife or video of an offensive nature, we would look to prosecute.

From IFEX

The Tunisia Ministry of Culture's review board has announced the censorship of playwright Jalila Baccar's new work, Corps-otages (Captive Bodies), directed by Fadhel Jaibi. After wavering for more than three months, the review board, which is responsible for reviewing all theatrical releases in the country, refused to issue the permit required for the play to open. The board is demanding that Jaibi bring the play in line with a list of 100 themes subject to censorship before it grants the opening permit.

Board members took issue with the play's treatment of problems confronting Tunisian society as it enters its 50th year of independence (religious extremism, terrorism, intergenerational conflicts, abusive security policies), and have demanded that all dates, names of persons and places, as well as Koranic excerpts and references to Tunisian history be removed. Tunisians, it seems, will be denied the right to see a play which has only recently returned from a highly successful run at Paris's Odéon theatre, in June 2006.

In Tunisia, theatre is the only cultural form subjected to preliminary censorship under the law. A public performance permit (visa de représentation publique) must be obtained for all productions. Permits are granted by the national review board, a branch of the Ministry of Culture, which along with the Ministries of the Interior and of Religious Affairs, is also represented on the board.

From Refused Classification

Spin the Bottle an interactive DVD Game has been banned. Although it was not a computer game, the interactive nature of the DVD saw it was classified as such. Had it been viewed as a film then it would have undoubtedly been passed.

The game describes itself as: A new slant on 'Spin The Bottle' without using an actual bottle! This party game has over 500 different actions with thousands of different results. Get ready to laugh as your friends find themselves in compromising situations and reveal their most intimate secrets. Put your next party into overdrive with Spin The Bottle, a DVD Game of shocking truths and outrageous dares sure to set your heart racing!

In the UK the DVD was released in November 2005 by Universal. There it was Exempt from Classification, meaning it was not even considered necessary to rate.

From IFEX

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR)  expresses its deepest worries concerning the decision of the Egyptian Censorship Office to confiscate the book Modern Sheikhs and the Making of Religious Extremism by Dr. Mouhamed Fattoh, which constitutes a violation to freedom of opinion and expression as stipulated in Articles 47, 48 and 49 of the Egyptian Constitution,

The Egyptian Censorship Office raided the Madbouly bookstore and confiscated 280 copies of the book, claiming that the publisher had not acquired a license from the Islamic Research Council (IRC). There was no official court decision calling for the confiscation of the book. The book criticizes the IRC and its censorship of art and literature. The book also tackled the right of women to lead prayers, and the question of the separation of religion and the state.

Egyptian legislation grants the administrative authorities a wide range of powers and authority, such as banning publications and the distribution of printed materials. The Council of Ministries has the right to ban any foreign publication, or any book that may conflict with religion in a way that could disturb public security. Moreover, Law 40/1977 (Political Parties Affairs) grants the right to suspend political parties' newspapers, which constitutes another restriction to freedom of thought and belief, especially now when we need to open the doors of Ijtihad (personal interpretations of religion) to reform religious ideas and concepts.

Suggestions that the US and UK military may have gone to extreme measures to ensure that independent journalists didn't operate in Iraq during the invasion:

One of Britain's most experienced television correspondents was unlawfully killed by U.S. soldiers in Iraq, an inquest into his death ruled on Friday. Veteran war correspondent Terry Lloyd, 50, who worked for ITN, was killed in March 2003 in southern Iraq as he reported from the front line during the first few days of the U.S.-led invasion.

The driver of a minibus which took Lloyd to hospital, said Lloyd had been shot in the shoulder and his arm was broken from the initial exchange of fire but he had been able to walk to the vehicle. However, the driver said U.S. troops, possibly firing from a helicopter, had shot the journalist in the head while the vehicle was leaving the scene.

During the 10-day hearing, the inquest was also shown footage of the aftermath of the attack, taken by a cameraman attached to the unit accused of firing on Lloyd. A British Royal Military Police investigator said an expert estimated 15 minutes of film might have been cut from the beginning of the tape.

ITN bosses told the court that information might have been withheld about the incident, saying it was felt that both the U.S. and British military did not want "unilateral" journalists -- those operating independent of troops rather than embedded with them -- working in war zones. No U.S. soldiers agreed to appear at the inquest to give evidence.

When Chechen hardman Ramzan Kadyrov turned 30 last week, Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya said his birthday gift should be a criminal trial. Two days later, she was gunned down in her Moscow apartment building.

The high-profile murder of the crusading journalist has drawn increased scrutiny upon Kadyrov. The Kremlin favorite has brought visible improvements to Chechnya, still violent and wrecked by 12 years of war, but critics say he has gained power behind a phalanx of killers and thugs.

Politkovskaya's newspaper on Thursday published an unfinished article on torture in Chechnya that the journalist was writing when she died.

The article in Novaya Gazeta, accompanied by graphic images taken from a video, described the alleged torture by Chechen security services of two young men branded terrorists. Many Chechen security personnel are under Kadyrov's control.

Kadyrov denied on Wednesday any involvement in Politkovskaya's murder, saying it was enemies trying to make him look bad. But less than a month ago he suggested she worked for "enemies of Russia," and he could not put to rest widespread accusations of abductions and abuse by security forces under his control.

Politkovskaya was among those critics who say that Kadyrov's brutal tactics might backfire against accomplishing Russia's goal of turning Chechnya into a stable, loyal subject.

Based on an article from Gulf Times

Indonesian lawmakers have amended controversial pornography legislation that would have jailed women for up to 10 years for showing their arms and legs, and banned public kissing and artwork depicting nudity.

The extremely repressive bill, pushed by Islamic-based political parties and which did not do much to combat the creation and distribution of pornography, caused public outrage and a national debate on Indonesia’s morals and religious values.

A special House of Representatives committee has completed a new version of the bill that members say is more amenable to women, artists and non-Muslims, The Jakarta Post reported.

Rustam Tamburaka, a committee member from the ruling Golkar faction, was quoted as saying traditional body-hugging Javanese attire for women and organ gourds worn by indigenous tribes in Papua were fine.

He also said the bill would not consider art exhibits depicting nudity or events like fashion shows as violating public morality.

Should this version of the bill be endorsed as it is, those models could stay in their professions without having to worry, Rustam said. However, it remained unclear whether articles banning women from wearing skirts or tank tops in public, or swimsuits on Indonesia’s countless beaches, were removed.

However, conservative Islamic political parties, backed by fundamentalist Muslim groups, continue to push legislation based on Islamic law, in hopes of turning Indonesia into an Islamic state by stealth.

Based on an article from Red Bolivia

A list of 13 rules of conduct for journalists in Somalia was issued after the head of the Islamic court's judicial administration, Sheik Hassan Osman, summoned representatives of all privately owned media in Islamist-held areas of Somalia.

The proposed rules forbid journalists from, among other things, reporting information deemed contrary to Islam and from participating in foreign-sponsored seminars or programs without the permission of the Islamic courts' information bureau.

Another rule states that the media may not use terms which, in the words of the courts, infidels use to refer to Muslims such as terrorists, extremists, etc.

The director of the Africa Desk for Reporters Without Borders, Leonard Vincent, says that although most of the rules are aimed at limiting freedom of the press, he finds one of the rules particularly troublesome. The second one says that the media must not disseminate information likely to create conflict between the population and the Islamic courts. That means any information that would be negative for the image that the Islamic courts have of themselves will be considered a crime. I mean, it is impossible to exercise journalism in these conditions. They believe that they are going to restore peace and justice in Somalia. But, in fact, they are going to just plunge Somalia into a blackout of information and into obscurity.

Vincent says it is not clear what type of punishment the Islamic courts would mete out for journalists who disobey the rules. But he says he believes the penalties would be harsh.

Based on an article from the Washington Post

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. was ordered to demonstrate an upcoming video game titled Bully for a judge to determine whether it violates Florida's public nuisance laws. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Ronald Friedman issued the order yesterday.

The move is a major coup for Miami nutter Jack Thompson, known for his crusades against pornography and supposedly obscene rap music, and now the video game industry. He claims that the makers of the game have designed a "Columbine simulator" in Bully, which follows the life of a prep school student as he navigates the social ladders of a fictional school called Bullworth Academy.

Thompson filed the lawsuit a month ago, claiming that the game would violate Florida's public-nuisance laws, which are more typically used to prosecute environmental polluters. Besides Take-Two, the suit also names retailers Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and GameStop Corp.

My view is that the game potentially impinges on public safety,"he said. I'm pretty sure that the game is harmful to minors.

The game is scheduled to be released Tuesday for the PlayStation 2. It has been rated "T" for Teen by the game industry's ratings board.

So far, the early write-ups seem to have reviewers surprised by the game's lack of violence. Clive Thompson, who reviewed the game for Wired.com, concluded that the game is "snarkily clever social commentary." His review described the game as not violent: The game doesn't glorify bullying at all. Indeed, it's almost precisely the opposite.

From Editor and Publisher

The previous  block referred to came allegedly in response to an article posted on the site as the country approached the 25th anniversary of the Tienneman Square massacre. The country subsequently initiated a mass edit of political articles on the site.

There has been much speculation over the cause of this block, writes Wikipedia. Possible reasons offered include controversial articles in Wikipedia itself and recent controversial events in the news that Wikipedia has covered.

Perhaps another film where the BBFC have given an informal nod towards an uncut release.

From Andrew

Under Siege 2 was shown uncut on Bravo UK last night. Having seen the original British release several times the new bits were blatantly obvious. Bloody BBFC. Most of the cut violence actually made me laugh, as they were so ridiculously over the top (the hood being dragged under the train especially).

Based on an article from Personnel Today