Wasting Space…After years of wasting money proposing internet censorship, the government is now crowing about how much will be saved by dropping the idea

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See article from theaustralian.com.au

The axing of Stephen Conroy’s other pet project, the controversial mandatory internet blocking scheme, will save the government more than $4 million. According to Budget 2013 papers, the government will achieve savings of $4.5m over three years by not proceeding with mandatory filtering legislation, a move announced in November. The plan would have forced ISPs to filter web pages that contain refused classification-rated content based on a government blacklist. Instead, major internet service providers will be required to block child abuse websites on Interpol’s worst of child abuse list, and anything else banned by government bodies such as the financial regulator. Senator Conroy mooted the ea in the lead up to the 2007 election but it has been fraught with delays ever since. The methods employed by the government were deemed impractical and seen as an attempt to censor the internet.

Big Knobs at the BBC…Senior BBC censors get all offended by the rowing play on words, ‘cox sackers’

Read more BBC and BBC Trust Watch at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article [pdf] from downloads.bbc.co.uk

Thinking Allowed BBC Radio 4, 4pm 25 April 2012 The BBC Radio 4 series Thinking Allowed explores the latest research into how society works and discusses current ideas on how we live today. Presenter Laurie Taylor is a former Professor of Sociology at the University of York. The complainant objected to a grossly offensive play on words in this edition of Thinking Allowed. The host, Laurie Taylor, read out an email from an audience member which used the term cox sackers . This referred to an item the previous week of the sacking of a cox from a rowing team. The complainant believed that most listeners would have interpreted this as an offensive term and it was unsuitable to be transmitted in a programme broadcast at 4pm when children may be listening. The complaints was previously dismissed by the programme team and then the BBC Editorial Complaints Unit (ECU), but this decision was appealed to the Editorial Standards Committee (ESC). TheEditorial Standards Committee considered that the phrase cox sackers was intended to be a play-on- words and if the words had been articulated clearly, the phrase would have been within the expectation of the programme’s audience. However, having listened carefully to the pronunciation of the phrase, the Committee believed the phrase was not articulated clearly enough and could easily have been misheard for the offensive word cocksuckers by the majority of the audience. On this point, the Committee agreed with the programme team that the words should have been enunciated rather more clearly and noted their apology to the complainant at Stage 1. Having concluded there was a strong likelihood that the audience would have misheard the phrase, the Committee noted that the word cocksuckers is considered to be a seriously offensive word across all audience groups. On this basis, the Committee considered that in this type of programme, where there would be little expectation of strong language, the pronunciation of cox sackers in this broadcast would exceed generally accepted standards. The Committee believed that the word cocksuckers , due to its offensive nature, was inappropriate within the context of this programme at any time of day. The Committee noted that the particular pronunciation of the phrase cox sackers , which the Committee had concluded was highly likely to have been misheard by a significant part of the audience as cocksuckers , was broadcast at around 4.15pm. Although the Committee took into account that very few children listen to Radio 4, the Committee was concerned that the content was broadcast at a time when a significant number of children are available to listen to the radio and are more likely to be travelling in cars where Radio 4 might be on during the school run . Having regard to the Editorial Guidelines on Harm and Offence, the Committee concluded that the programme was in breach of those Guidelines. The BBC is required to apply generally accepted standards so as to provide adequate protection for members of the public from the inclusion of offensive material. As it was highly likely that a significant part of the audience misheard the pronunciation of the phrase cox sackers and believed that a seriously offensive word had been used in its place, the content was in breach of the Guidelines. The Committee wished to apologise for any offence caused by this broadcast. The Committee agreed that it did not expect this segment to be featured in any repeat broadcast of this programme. ‘ Finding: Complaint upheld.

Privates on Parade…A campaign against EU legislation supporting the corporate sale of personal date without consent

Read more Privacy at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from openrightsgroup.org See campaign at nakedcitizens.eu

People from across Europe are sending postcards like this to their MEPs asking them to support new proposals protecting our privacy and giving us control over what happens to our data. Join them right now – click here to send your postcard! You can choose the message and how it looks and everything. Big business isn’t standing by though. They are flooding the normal democratic process with lobbying to get the plans watered down and strip us of our right to privacy. It wants to keep on profiting from our most intimate data. Take Everything Everywhere, reported this week to be selling the data of their 27 million mobile customers to the polling company Ipsos MORI. EE customers’ personal details could have been revealed to the police without their consent. EE say that the data has been anonymised but it is often possible to re-identify people from anonymised data. Phone companies like EE have been pushing particularly hard against the new data protection plans. It’s not hard to see why. They wouldn’t be able sell their customers’ data without their consent. As they stand, the new regulations would help make sure we control what happens to our data, not the big corporations making money from data about our personal lives. Here’s what the new laws would mean for you. You’d be able to decide who gets access to your data, what they can do with it and who they can give it to. You could delete your data or move it wherever you like, whenever you like. Your data would be protected whenever you could be identified. This includes so-called pseudonymous data that could still single you out despite being stripped of personal identifiers such as names and addresses. Services that want to use your data would have to get your explicit consent beforehand so there’d be no more vague or easy-to-misunderstand ‘agreements.’ There would be severe penalties when the rules were broken to help deter companies from misusing your data and infringing your privacy. But all this is under threat. If the big corporations and their armies of lobbyists get their way, the new law won’t have any teeth and companies will just keep on invading your privacy. Help stop their full frontal assault on our personal data! Please send a postcard to your MEPs.

Slugging Match…BBFC looks out the records for cuts to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Read more News: Latest Cuts at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from bbfc.co.uk

The examiner report for the 1982 cinema release of Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan notes that the film, with various explosions, deaths , was a likely A category. However a scene in which Khan tortures two of the captured Enterprise crew, by placing lobster-like slugs in their ears, contained two shots which were almost X material. Hence an AA certificate was proposed for the uncut version of the film. An A certificate would require the two shots to be cut – sight of the slugs crawling in to the ears and the shot of a slug crawling bloodily out of Chekhov’s ear. The distributor U.I.P. opted to make the cuts and the film was passed A. …Read the full article

The Awful Dr. Orlof…Uncut version of Jess Franco classic located and released on German DVD

Read more News: Latest Cuts at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See also Shopping List: Recent Releases

The Demon Doctor is a 1962 Spain/France horror thriller by Jesús Franco. With Conrado San Martín, Diana Lorys, Howard Vernon. Germany: Uncut for: 2013 ELEA-Media Limited Edition R2 DVD via UK Amazon [English audio] released on 15th April 2013 Censorship History The film was widely distributed in a cut European Version. The BBFC further cut the European Version by 37s. The BBFC commented: Cuts required to protracted scenes of sexualised violence against women The uncut version turned up on German DVD in 2013 and it runs about 10 minutes longer the the European Version. Summary Notes: Classic Dr. Orlof, a former prison doctor, abducts beautiful women from nightclubs and tries to use their skin to repair his daughter’s fire-scarred face. He is assisted by Morpho, a deformed monstrosity who delights in biting his victims. However a young police inspector and his ballerina girlfriend are onto his sadistic practices. In the European version, there’s a few [breast] shots here and there. Hysterically awful at times but so lovable as a relic of a bygone genre. The music is a cacophonus clanging that just adds to the lurid aura of Morpho stalking the women as his master waits nearby. Delicious b&w photography is preserved wonderfully on DVD. This movie is a CLASSIC of its genre and a must have for collectors.

Scrounging Links…Irish film censor pressurises Netflix over providing age rating information

Read more EU Censorship News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from thesundaytimes.co.uk

The Irish film censor is attempting to scrounge a website link from the US video on demand service, Netflix. The Irish Film Classification Office (Ifco) wrote twice last year asking Netflix to redirect people looking for information about the age suitability of a film to the censor’s website. Ifco wants a link to be added in the frequently asked questions (FAQ) section of the Netflix website. Ifco wrote: Ifco habitually receives queries and complaints, primarily from parents, relating to film content viewed without Ifco’s age ratings, often online. This being the case, we feel it would be beneficial to your Irish users, parents in particular, to know more detailed consumer advice regarding your content is freely available. Netflix have declined the link exchange citing technical difficulties.

Basket Cases at the MPAA…Director Frank Henenlotter’s anecdotes about the BBFC and MPAA

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See interview from theskinny.co.uk

Frank Henenlotter recalls: When we brought Frankenhooker to the MPAA the head of the board at the time called up our company and the guy said to the secretary, Congratulations, you’re the first film rated S. And she said S? For sex? And they said No, S for Shit. And this is the ratings board! … When we premiered Bad Biology [2008] in London I had dinner the night before with a bunch of people and one was a member of the BBFC. I said to him, ‘I’d love to know your opinion after the film, unofficially of course.’ I said, ‘How much trouble are we in?’ And he said, ‘Oh Frank, you’re not in any trouble at all, this is hilarious and harmless.’ Then he said, ‘But if this was 20 years ago we would have had you arrested.’ …Read the full interview

Living On to Fight Another Day…Google lose test case appealing against Russian internet censorship

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See article from bbc.co.uk

A test-case brought by Google to challenge Russian internet censorship has failed. The case related to a video clip uploaded to Google-owned YouTube, which portrayed, using a blunt razorblade and fake blood, a woman cutting her wrists. Russian regulators demanded the clip be removed, saying it provided information about how to kill oneself. Google complied, but filed an appeal, which has now been rejected by a Moscow court. Google argued the clip was intended as entertainment rather than to promote actual suicide. In response to the ruling, Google said: We do not believe the goal of the law was to limit access to videos that are clearly intended to entertain viewers. The clip, entitled Video lesson on how to cut your veins , was deemed by Russian regulators to break strict new rules on web content thought to be harmful to children. Perhaps it is relevant to note that the UK film censors of the BBFC used to cut sight of a particularly effective method of cutting veins when it was felt that not many people knew of this. The policy has now been adapted after the technique became more well known.

UK’s Snooper’s Charter Lite…Snooper’s Charter absent from Queen’s speech but there is a reference to new legislation to more accurately record and correlate users with their internet activity

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See article from publicaffairs.linx.net

This session’s Queen’s speech did not contain any explicit mention of the Communications Data Bill, but did make reference to proposals aimed at making it easier for law enforcement to match IP addresses to individuals. My government will continue to reduce crime and protect national security. Legislation will be introduced to reform the way in which offenders are rehabilitated in England and Wales. Legislation will be brought forward to introduce new powers to tackle anti-social behaviour, cut crime and further reform the police. In relation to the problem of matching internet protocol addresses, my government will bring forward proposals to enable the protection of the public and the investigation of crime in cyberspace. The government provides more details in the briefing notes on the Queen’s Speech: [IP] addresses are generally shared between a number of people. In order to know who has actually sent an email or made a Skype call, the police need to know who used a certain IP address at a given point in time. Without this, if a suspect used the internet to communicate instead of making a phone call, it may not be possible for the police to identify them. The Government is looking at ways of addressing this issue with CSPs. It may involve legislation. Commentators have linked these proposals to comments made by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg in April, suggesting that the government could be considering some sort of intervention relating to IPv6 adoption. Right now, there are not enough IP addresses to go round for all of the devices being used. Temporary addresses are attached to computers and phones while they are online, but the records of these are patchy, which means they cannot easily be matched back to individuals. The police say a clearer picture would be a huge help in their investigations and we should explore how that can be done. — Nick Clegg, writing in The Telegraph

The Highlands is not Camden…Hush nightclub in Inverness applies for a table dancing licence

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See article from heraldscotland.com

Regular table dancing could be brought to the Highlands by an Inverness nightclub, Hush, that has applied for a table dancing licence. The club is being backed by owners of lap dancing clubs in Aberdeen. The application will be decided by members of the Highland Licensing Board next week. Gender extremists are inevitably opposing the move, but the report from the Licensing Standards Officer (LSO) to the board is supportive of the application. It said: Hush is a popular city-centre nightclub in Inverness. It has a trouble-free operating history and on several occasions when it has been inspected by the LSO there has been a high standard of compliance. If the application is approved, there would be a list of strict conditions that would prevent performers being totally naked, performing in private booths or being touched or touching the club’s patrons during their performance, with the report adding the only contact allowed being the hand-to-hand payment of money at the conclusion of the performance . The Highland Violence Against Women Strategy Group is opposing the licence. The group includes representatives of NHS Highland, Police Scotland, the Highland Council, Women’s Aid and Rape and Abuse Line. The group has lodged a an objection citing debunked research from Camden. The objection claimed: There is a large body of evidence showing that ‘adult entertainment’ can increase crime and disorder in the areas in which it takes place. A number of reports have concluded that where ‘adult entertainment’ exists, particularly in the form of lap dancing clubs, incidents of sexual violence have increased within those communities, as have women’s expressed levels of fear of travelling at night within the areas. The official report going before licensing board members disputes the picture painted and the risks of such a licence being granted in Inverness. It said: The cited background research is quoted in generic terms and cannot be tied in reasonable terms to the circumstances prevailing in the Highland capital and more specifically to this application.