BBFC Shows a Bit of Heart…BBFC’s 100 Years of Film Censorship celebrations will include an uncut screening of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

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See article from independent.co.uk

British fans will be able to see Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom just as its director Steven Spielberg wanted, almost three decades after its release. The film will be screened unedited at the National Film Theatre in London for the first time at the end of next year as part of a season of films put together to celebrate the centenary of the BBFC. Censors demanded a number of cuts to Temple of Doom when it was submitted in 1984 before it would grant a family-friendly PG rating. Paramount Pictures was keen to avoid a 15 certificate as the film was aimed at kids and families, but it was too violent and intense for a PG classification, a spokeswoman for the BBFC said. And the option for a 12 certificate wasn’t available at the time. The BBFC director at the time, James Ferman, flew to Los Angeles to edit the film for UK release with Spielberg. The numerous cuts reintroduced will please the more bloodthirsty of fans. They include close-ups of a heart being ripped out and a head cracking against a rock. A scene where Indiana Jones is forced to drink blood before being whipped will also be reinstated. The season will also include a showing of The Devils, directed by Ken Russell who died last month. But it seems that a hundred years of film censorship is not sufficiently important to persuade Warners to allow a screening of their uncut version. The season of censored films also includes The Evil Dead, which made the Director of Public Prosecution’s video nasties list in 1982. This is just one among several initiatives the BBFC is preparing for its 100th anniversary next year. David Cooke, director of the BBFC, said: This is a chance for us to look forward and to celebrate our past.

All Just TalkTalk…HomeSafe website blocking service attracts few takers

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See article from guardian.co.uk

The number of people signing up to a ground-breaking new service to block children from accessing self-harm and pornography websites has slumped amid criticisms that it fails to achieve its aims, could breach privacy and employs technology connected to the Chinese military. TalkTalk ISP launched its free HomeSafe service to its 4 million internet subscribers in May, but the product has only attracted around 200,000 users despite signing up more than 100,000 in its first two months. The slowing take-up follows HomeSafe featuring prominently in TalkTalk’s recent advertising campaign which attempted to attract customers by plugging the UK’s safest broadband. Some technology blogs and websites have raised concerns that HomeSafe might be easily bypassed by dubious websites, while also querying whether the product could introduce worries about privacy. On his blog, Dr Richard Clayton, a computer scientist at the University of Cambridge, wrote: I doubt that malware distributors will see this [HomeSafe] as much of a challenge. The system is described as ‘opt in’, [but] that only applies to whether or not websites you visit might be blocked. What is not opt in is whether or not TalkTalk learns the details of the URLs [websites] that all of their customers visit, whether they have opted in or not.

Proves Nothing Except to the Daily Mail…Radio 4′s The Media Show discusses research into children’s TV viewing

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Thanks to sergio Listen to recording from bbc.co.uk

The Media Show Special: Children and Television. First broadcast 16:30 Wednesday, 28th December. Steve Hewlett discusses research on TV’s impact on children and claims of possible harm.

Likely to Deprave and Corrupt?…Bollox about 1950′s Playboy images being considered obscene by police

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See article from dailymail.co.uk

When shop owner Lucy Wilkes decided on a window display for her business, she knew it would ruffle a few feathers. Two vintage, kitsch chairs, standing side-by-side, one decorated in pages from Playboy featuring nude women. However, even she was astonished at the level of controversy the display attracted among visitors to her shop The Print Room, in Lewes, East Sussex. She was stunned when police ordered her to remove one of the offending items after a customer complained that it was obscene. Clearly ignorant policemen claimed to Wilkes her vintage furniture contravened the Obscene Publications Act because it is decorated with 1950s Playboy magazines, which features images of topless women. Perhaps the police would have been better advised to cite the Indecent Displays Act or the more usual Public Order Act. It seems the police involved are in need of a little basic legal training. The astonished retailer was forced to hide the seat at the back of her shop and has now draped it with a public health warning. The ironic sign reads: This chair has been deemed inappropriate for public view. Please take care. Designer Laura Diez, who made the chair, insisted her creation was tasteful. She said: I can’t believe anyone in their right mind could actually be offended by this. I used 1950s Playboys which are no more scandalous than the front cover of some men’s magazines which are on show in any newsagents. A Sussex Police spokeswoman said: Police attended a Lewes shop following a complaint from a member of the public regarding an item that was on display in the shop window. The member of public was offended by the images displayed on a chair and the shop owner was politely asked by police to remove it from public view, which he voluntarily did.

Due Impartiality…Ofcom rejects appeal from the Islam Channel over censure of TV discussions about Gaza

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See article from thejc.com See Complaints Bulletin [pdf] from stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk

TV censor Ofcom has rejected an appeal by the Islam Channel over its coverage of Israel. The English-language satellite station had challenged a ruling last year that it breached Ofcom’s broadcasting code in two programmes which discussed Israel’s conduct in Gaza. But Ofcom’s broadcasting review committee, in a decision published this month, stated that the London-based channel had failed to maintain an adequate and appropriate level of impartiality. The committee noted the channel’s difficulties in finding guests to represent the Israeli government viewpoint. But it went on: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is, however, a matter of political controversy and the Islam Channel… was therefore obliged to ensure some discussion of the policies and actions of the Israeli government which represented its viewpoint. The two programmes under scrutiny were an edition of Umma Talk, broadcast on October 14 2009, and an edition of Politics and Beyond. The subject was the Israeli blockade of the peace flotilla to Gaza. The Ofcom review committee said that the Islam Channel was required to ensure that alternative viewpoints are adequately represented. Although the channel’s breaches of the broadcasting code were not serious enough to merit a statutory sanction, it was considered appropriate for the Islam Channel to be invited to attend a meeting with Ofcom, to discuss how to improve its compliance with impartiality rules.

Floating New Ideas for Censorship…Australia bans TV from showing asylum seekers arriving in boats

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See article from pri.org

Australian media companies are angry that immigration officials have pushed through new government media censorship that would ban them from showing video of asylum seekers in Australia. The Australian Communication and Media Authority says television stations will no longer be allowed to show video of asylum seekers reaching the country by boat. But media companies are crying foul, saying the the restrictions, implemented at the behest of immigration officials, amount to censorship. Chris Warren, federal secretary of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, said this amounts to an effort to prevent asylum seekers from telling their stories to the Australian people: It’s an unnecessary restriction, which will get in the way of Australians really understanding what asylum seekers go through. Warren said while there are valid concerns about privacy behind the measure, it’s not appropriate for the immigration authorities to step in and, in a heavy-handed way, try to impose restrictions on the media.

No Flies on Shameless…Argento’s Four Flies on Grey Velvet in a new fully restored version for UK DVD and Blu-ray

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See trailer from youtube.com See further details at Melon Farmers Video Hits: Four Flies on Grey Velvet

Four Flies on Grey Velvet is a 1971 Italy/France giallo by Dario Argento. With Michael Brandon and Mimsy Farmer. See IMDb A Restored Version/Rebuild Edit  was passed 15 uncut for strong violence for: UK 2012 Argent/Shameless 40th Anniversary Blu-ray at UK Amazon for release on 30th January 2012 UK 2012 Argent/Shameless 40th Anniversary R2 DVD at UK Amazon for release on 30th January 2012 From promotional material: This special 40th Anniversary Edition has been fully re-mastered in HD from the original negative and includes four inserts of previously missing footage, through print damage, known amongst Argento fans as the legendary missing forty seconds. However the inserts are in Standard-Definition quality only. The Blu-ray will allow for seamless branching of the four inserts giving viewers two versions of the film: one all HD without the re-inserted scenes and one longer version including the inserts. Previous Releases The film’s last appearance in the UK was X rated after BBFC cuts for the 1973 cinema release. Summary Review: Argento’s rarest giallo A musician is stalked by an unknown killer who’s blackmailing him for an accidental killing of another stalker. But is everything what it appears to be? Argento demonstrates some very creative camera work in this one. Furthermore, he keeps a nice and steady pace, there is very little downtime in this one and Ennio Morricone gives a good, if not great score. It also boasts some inventive deaths. Now, Four Flies on Grey Velvet certainly has its flaws. There is a bit too much comedy in for my tastes, which I feel distracted from the horror. Also, Morriconne’s score is underutilized and there isn’t enough nudity. Undoubtedly Dario Argento’s rarest giallo, Four Flies on Grey Velvet is none the less the weakest in his Animal Trilogy (which also includes The Bird with the Crystal Plumage and Cat O’Nine Tails), but it is still a pretty entertaining entry in the giallo genre.

Getting Propaganda Cake and Eating It…Whingeing at UK action against Iranian Press TV whilst jamming the BBC

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See article from presstv.ir See article from online.wsj.com

Press TV have issued another propaganda peice suggesting that Ofcom are set to ban the satellite channel from broadcasting with a UK licence. Press TV writes in a website posting: London has spared no effort in its two-year-long battle against Press TV. Its media tool, Ofcom, is now about to revoke the channel’s broadcast license, hoping this desperate measure will silence criticism. And in a coincidently timed piece, the Wall Street Journal points out that Iran is regularly jamming BBC programmes targeted at Iran: As uprisings rolled across the Middle East this year, Iran stepped up its jamming of the BBC, Voice of America and other Western networks with Persian-language news channels. The move is intended to prevent Iranian audiences from seeing foreign broadcasts the Iranian government finds objectionable, five networks protested in a joint statement this month. Some 45% to 60% of Iranians watch satellite TV, according to estimates from the state media company and an Iranian research center, exceeding the number believed to use the Internet. Iran so far seems to be winning a struggle to filter out unwanted TV content and broadcast its own propaganda: The country jams channels like the BBC on Western satellites even as Iran’s state media company broadcasts pro-government news on some of the same satellites, and at times has aired forced confessions of political detainees. Iran is having it both ways, said a U.S. State Department official. While they benefit from the international community’s respect for ‘freedom of expression’ and ‘freedom of the airwaves,’ they deny that same right to their own citizens, aggressively jamming Persian-language broadcasts from other countries.

Morally Unacceptable…Crap internet blocking at O2

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See article from openrightsgroup.org

For the last four months, and despite repeated complaints, O2 has blocked the website of a Sheffield church, claiming it features adult content. And as naff as O2′s blocking algorithm turns out to be, their procedures for putting things right is even worse. O2 customer and ORG Supporter Gervase Markham explains: My wife and I just moved to Sheffield and joined a network of churches called The Crowded House. I used my O2 Mobile Broadband to try and access their website, but it told me it was 18+ content! When I contacted O2, my first email was rejected due to having insufficient information. I finally managed to find a contact form which worked, and they told me that I could solve the problem by having my mobile enabled for 18+ content! I told them that this was definitely not what I wanted, and refused to go through their age verification procedure. Fixing the censorship for me alone is not a proper fix. The next thing I knew, a text arrived on my phone saying you can now access 18 rated content. I had to explain to my wife quite why I was getting a text saying that. During the call, an O2 representative told me that he and his manager knew of no procedure for appealing against a block. He said that the block wasn’t just for 18+ content, but it was also for things which might corrupt the morals of children. I asked him if he was describing my church’s website in that way, which he hastily denied. He told me they unblocked people’s phones all the time because they couldn’t access perfectly innocent websites. I suggested that perhaps that this indicated that the system wasn’t working very well. ORG believes that innocent websites should not be censored by default, and clear mechanisms should exist to get innocent sites taken out of automatically generated censorship lists. Just as importantly, people should provide their consent before having their Internet censored. They should be told what it means. And a customer should not be forced to label themselves a porn-fiend in order to remove censorship.

Bad Babes…TV Censor fines babe channels, Sport XXX Girls, Essex Babes and Northern Girls

Read more Ofcom Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See Sanction report [pdf] from stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk

Ofcom has fined Satellite Entertainment Ltd ฃ130,000 for being a little bit too sexy for what Ofcom prudes consider acceptable on babe channels. The fine is in respect of its services Sport XXX Girls, Essex Babes and Northern Birds. Ofcom considers babe channels to be advertising and censors such channels using advert censorship rules: Rule 4.2: Adverts must not cause serious or widespread offence against generally accepted moral, social or cultural standards. Rule 32.3: Relevant timing restrictions must be applied to advertisements that, through their content, might harm or distress children of particular ages or that are otherwise unsuitable for them In addition Ofcom whinged at a lack of recordings from the channels and cited their licensing rule: Rule 11: The Licensee shall adopt procedures acceptable to Ofcom for the retention and production of recordings in sound and vision of any programme which is the subject matter of a Standards Complaint The overly sexy programmes were broadcast in the period 5th – 14th April 2011. Ofcom highlighted a number of examples of broadcast material that were claimed to be clearly inconsistent with the Chat Service Guidance, such as: extremely prolonged and close up images of the genital area; bunching of underwear to simulate masturbation; pouring oil and white cream onto, and massaging it into, the buttocks, anal area and genital area; and presenters wearing clothing that did not adequately cover their genital and anal area. Ofcom noted that in conjunction with those images the presenters performed various other actions including: opening their legs wide to camera; stroking their bodies; thrusting their buttocks; massaging oil into their breasts; and miming sexual intercourse. The combination of these images and action resulted in prolonged and frequent scenes of a strong sexual nature. Ofcom said it was also concerned at the degree of offence likely to be caused to viewers who might come across this material unawares. Ofcom decided that the Code breaches were serious and repeated, and that the breach of Licence Condition 11 was serious, and therefore a financial penalty should be imposed in accordance with Ofcom’s Procedures for the consideration of statutory sanctions. Ofcom then also considered the level of the fine to be imposed. Having regard to the serious and repeated nature of the breaches of the BCAP Code, the serious nature of the breach of Licence Condition 11 and having regard to the Licensee’s representations and Ofcom’s Penalty Guidelines, Ofcom decided it was appropriate in the circumstances to impose a financial penalty of ฃ130,000 on SEL.