Anti-Cuts Chopped…Facebook deletes 50 groups associated with student protests

Read more UK News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

Based on article from blog.ucloccupation.com

There appears to be a political purge of Facebook taking place. Profiles are being deleted without warning or explanation. Facebook has just deleted around 50 sites. It may well be that these groups are technically in violation of Facebook’s terms of agreement, but the timing on the royal wedding and May day weekend, is deeply suspicious. We don’t know for certain, but this purge of online organising groups could be linked to the wider crackdown on protest by authorities in Britain. Either way, it is a scandalous abuse of power by Facebook to arbitrarily destroy online communities built up over many months and years. Ultimately, the anti-cuts movement in the UK will need to start organising through self-hosted, open source platforms to avoid reliance upon the very corporate power structures we are aiming to challenge. Facebook pages that have been deleted: Open Birkbeck UWE Occupation Chesterfield Stopthecuts Camberwell AntiCuts IVA Womensrevolution Tower Hamlets Greens No Cuts ArtsAgainst Cuts London Student Assembly Beat’n Streets Roscoe Manchester Occupation Bristol Bookfair Newcastle Occupation Socialist Unity Whospeaks Forus Ourland FreeLand Bristol Ukuncut Teampalestina Shaf Notts-Uncut Part-of UKUncut No Quarter Cutthewar Bootle Labour Claimants Fightback Ecosocialists Unite Comrade George Orwell Jason Derrick Anarchista Rebellionist BigSociety Leeds Slade Occupation Anti-Cuts Across Wigan Firstof Mayband Don’t Break Britain United Cockneyreject SWP Cork Westiminster Trades Council York Anarchists Rock War Sheffield Occupation Central London SWP North London Solidarity Southwark Sos Save NHS Rochdale Law Centre Goldsmiths Fights Back Occupy Monaco

Shameless Nasty…A new release from Shameless of House on the Edge of the Park

Read more Video Nasties News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from mcbastardsmausoleum.blogspot.com

House on the Edge of the Park is a 1979 Italian horror thriller by Ruggero Deodato (Skyline). See IMDb Shameless Screen Entertainment have announced the scheduled release of Ruggero Deodato’s brutal video nasty House on the Edge of the Park starring David Hess and Giovanni Lombardo Radice. The release will include a new special introduction and interview with David Hess. Shameless have not yet submitted the film to the BBFC but intend to submit to a BBFC advisory board first, as they did with Cannibal Holocaust. The current UK releases were passed with massive cuts for: UK 2009 Cornerstone R2 DVD UK 2002 Protected R2 DVD The BBFC noted: Cuts required to several sequences of sexual violence, humiliating depictions of female nudity and gross violence From IMDb: BBFC removed most of the rape and assault scenes heavily edited the razor-slashing of Cindy heavily edited the opening murder scene removed shots of Tony’s head being slammed against a table

Hidden Agenda…EU proposal to create a Great Firewall of Europe

Read more EU Censorship News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from telegraph.co.uk

Broadband providers have voiced alarm over an EU proposal to create a Great Firewall of Europe by blocking illicit web material at the borders of the bloc. The proposal emerged an obscure meeting of the Council of the European Union’s Law Enforcement Work Party (LEWP), a forum for cooperation on issues such as counter terrorism, customs and fraud. The minutes from the meeting state: The Presidency of the LEWP presented its intention to propose concrete measures towards creating a single secure European cyberspace with a certain virtual Schengen border and virtual access points whereby the Internet Service Providers (ISP) would block illicit contents on the basis of the EU black-list. Delegations were also informed that a conference on cyber-crime would be held in Budapest on 12-13 April 2011. Malcolm Hutty, head of public affairs at LINX, a cooperative of British ISPs, said the plan appeared ill thought-out and confused. We take the view that network level filtering of the type proposed has been proven ineffective. Broadband providers say that illegal content should be removed at the source by cooperation between police and web hosting firms because network blocking can easily be circumvented.

The Uncensored Picture of Dorian Gray…Censored texts restored to Oscar Wilde’s novel

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See article from telegraph.co.uk

An uncensored version of Oscar Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, has finally been published. JM Stoddart, Wilde’s editor, made a number of alterations to downplay the overt homoeroticism in the novel before it appeared in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine in June 1890. He also removed references to the protagonist’s female lovers as mistresses, and withdrew other sections that smacked of decadence, according to Nicholas Frankel, the editor of the new, original edition. But his efforts did not go far enough, and following its publication more passages were removed, The Guardian reported. One section reading It is quite true I have worshipped you with far more romance of feeling than a man should ever give to a friend was changed to: From the moment I met you, your personality had the most extraordinary influence on me. Frankel said it was time to published the uncensored text, claiming he hoped to bring it out of the closet for a 21st century audience.

Every Little Helps…Police censor public screening of film about the Bristol Tesco Riot

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Based on article from bearsdenherald.co.uk

An unofficial screening of a film showing footage of a riot in Bristol has been blocked by the police. A large number of people had been expected to attend the event in a park in the city after advertising had been posted online. The free Riot Special, which has been organised by Occasional Cinema, was due to take place in Mina Park, in the St Werburghs area of the city. It was to show footage recorded last Friday night by citizen journalists during the riot in the Stokes Croft area. The advert stated: After the spectacular events of last week we present an evening of citizen journalist footage from the riot and discussions on how police tactics failed so miserably. However, before the event could start Avon and Somerset Police used legislation to prevent the screening. A force spokeswoman said: The group was dispersed under legislation available to the police to maintain public safety and reduce the risk of potential disorder. Bristol City Council, the owners of the land, also supported this decision. The organisers have now engaged with the police and the event has been moved to a privately-owned property nearby. Even there the police tried to stop the screening claiming that gathering constituted a rave under the Criminal Justice Act. Chief Inspector John Holt claimed: This was not about censorship. We believed there was a very real risk to the local community if the screening were to go ahead in a public park. We would always encourage people wishing to organise outdoor events to engage with us so that they can go ahead safely, peacefully and without disruption to local residents.

In fact it was a little bit frightening…Ludicrous easy offence at a beach bar performance of Carl Douglas’ Kung Fu Fighting

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See article from telegraph.co.uk

A pub singer has been arrested on supposed suspicion of racial harassment after singing King Fu Fighting in front of two Chinese people. Carl Douglas had a hit with the song in 1974 Simon Ledger says he fears he will end up with a criminal record for performing the disco classic at a seafront bar on the Isle of Wight on Sunday after two people walking past apparently took offence. After striking up the melody in front of customers at the weekend he noticed a man of Chinese origin walking past with his mother, making gestures at him and taking a picture on his mobile phone. He said that he later received a telephone call from police – while he was dining in a Chinese restaurant – asking him to meet officers about the incident. He was then arrested and questioned before being bailed.

Super Injunctionist…Andrew Marr comes out

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See article from bbc.co.uk

BBC presenter Andrew Marr has revealed he took out a super-injunction to protect his family’s privacy – but says he will not pursue it any further. Marr told the Daily Mail he was embarrassed about the gagging order he took out in 2008 to suppress reports of an affair with a fellow journalist: I did not come into journalism to go around gagging journalists, he said. The use of injunctions seemed to be running out of control, he added. In his interview in the Mail, Marr confirmed he had taken out an injunction to prevent details about the affair, which happened eight years ago while he was BBC political editor, from being published. He said: Am I embarrassed by it? Yes. Am I uneasy about it? Yes. ‘Sense of proportion’ But he added: I also had my own family to think about, and I believed this story was nobody else’s business. Marr who hosts a Sunday politics show on BBC One went on to say he knew injunctions were controversial, and the situation seems to be running out of control. There is a case for privacy in a limited number of difficult situations, but then you have to move on. They shouldn’t be forever and a proper sense of proportion is required.

Freedom to Censor…Obama’s administration to appeal court rulings so as to allow TV censors to continue to censor strong language and nudity

Read more US Censorship News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from rapidtvnews.com

Censor in Chief President Barack Obama’s administration apparently likes its entertainment served up family-style: it has asked the US Supreme Court to review a court decision that defanged the FCC’s restrictions on TV profanity and nudity. In two separate decisions, a federal appeals court in New York ruled that the FCC’s indecency policy was too vague to be applied in two rather blatant situations. One involved the use of ‘fuck’ on an awards shows on the FOX network, and the other concerned full-frontal nudity of a woman on ABC’s NYPD Blue. In both cases, the court ruled that the FCC could not impose fines. Now, acting US Solicitor General Neal Katyal is filing an appeal to the Supreme Court, saying the precedent now precludes the commission from effectively implementing statutory restrictions on broadcast indecency that the agency has enforced since its creation in 1934. If the court accepts the case, it will in the coming weeks.

Britain’s Got Talent for Censorship…Talent show running scared of glamourous acts

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See article from entertainment.stv.tv

Britain’s Got Talent producers have banned a glamourous act from the live finals over fears of nutter complaints. Sources told a tabloid newspaper that Lorna Bliss’s sexy Britney Spears lookalike act has been dropped by show bosses. An ITV insider told the newspaper: Until yesterday Lorna was in the show, but when they saw the edit they thought it was too risky. Ofcom could have seen it as show bosses sticking two fingers up at their authority.

Old Firm Censors…Scottish Labour and Greens call for more internet censorship of football sectarianism

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See article from thescotsman.scotsman.com

Scottish Labour has called for more censorship of sectarian internet sites. It was noted that there have been no prosecutions in recent years in connection with the internet bile that attaches itself to Rangers and Celtic. Solicitor General Frank Mulholland has indicated that such offences will soon be punishable by up to five years in prison. But Labour’s community safety spokesman James Kelly said: It’s clear from recent days that there are still instances of online campaigns which are sectarian in nature and are unacceptable. As well as condemning that behaviour, the authorities should be doing all in their power to try and clamp down on that. The job for a future parliament is to look at the laws around the internet and examine whether they’re tough enough or not – and if they’re not, look to beef those up. It’s not just a case of saying that these online campaigns are unacceptable and we want the authorities to act. We must ensure that the authorities have got the appropriate tools in legislation at their disposal to clamp down on this. Two youth footballers with Scottish senior clubs have been dismissed in recent days over online comments. Max McKee, an under-19 player with Clyde, was sacked after posting on Twitter: Somebody needs to hurry up and shoot Neil Lennon. Berwick Rangers youth player Keiran Bowell was dismissed for an online post which said he wished Lennon had been killed. Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said ISPs and hosting companies must take the same degree of responsibility as newspapers or magazine publishers in policing their content: If an ISP or a hosting company is having their service abused, or is allowing it to be abused in that way, they need to take action to cut people off. See article from independent.co.uk Police were said to be preparing to raid the homes of people allegedly involved in Old Firm internet hate campaigns. An operation to target people posting racial and religious hate comments about Old Firm stars such as Celtic manager Neil Lennon and Rangers striker El Hadji Diouf is planned ahead of the two teams meeting at Ibrox on Sunday. it was reported. The Daily Record newspaper said that the addresses were identified with the help of the ISPs.