Crawling Along…New Zealand belatedly bans Human Centipede 2

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Thanks to refused-classification.com See article [pdf] from censorship.govt.nz

The New Zealand film censor at the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC). Has banned Tom Six’s Human Centipede 2 (Full Sequence). The film was banned as ‘objectionable’ on 4th April 2012. The OFLC summarised its reasons for the ban: The publication is a DVD containing a sequel to a well-known horror film and a number of extra components relating to its development and marketing. The availability of the publication is likely to he injurious to the public good. The feature is an unsubtle portrait of a sexually deranged man who tortures a group of largely anonymous victims in extreme, unflinching detail. Despite the occasional flashes of humour and a degree of sub-textural irony, these elements are overwhelmed by the feature’s sustained, gratuitous focus on victims’ torture, mutilation, forced defecation, rape and murder. These images are linked by a threadbare plot that provides limited narrative justification. While the feature does not promote or support this material, the likely injury to the public good is one of inuring people more generally to cruel, violent and degrading material through its presentation as entertaining, and of eroding the viewer’s ability to empathise with others. This material would disturb and shock most people. Consideration was given to offering excisions in order to remove the strongest images, however due to the pervasiveness of this material excisions were not deemed practical. While the classification is an absolute restriction on the freedom of expression as contained in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, it is a restriction consistent with Parliament’s intention that publications containing such a high extent and degree of torture, violence, cruelty, sexual violence and strongly degrading, dehumanising and demeaning material can be classified as objectionable to prevent the likelihood of injury to the public good.

A+ for Excessive Sleaze…India looks set to introduce three new film censorship classifications

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See article from asianage.com

India’s Information and Broadcasting Ministry is all geared up to expand film censorship classifications. U [Universal] , A [Adult] and U/A [Children must be accompanied by an adult] will continue to exist. A+ [indicating excessive gore, violence or sleaze], 12+ and 15+ are set to be introduced. The proposed changes amending the Cinematograph Act will be implemented by October 2012. Film censors of the CBFC said the need for devising new categories was felt as the film industry pressed for classification along international lines. Author Jaishree Misra, who has worked as a film classifier at the British Board of Film Classification in London, thinks it’s an extremely positive step to have a more refined system than the one India has had so far: The pressure has been growing (both from filmmakers and society) to move from less censorship to more classification. Consequently, parents rely more and more on the system to guide them and so the more ‘signals’ they get from the symbols, the better it is. The film industry can only benefit when audiences trust them not to have harmful content in their films and their regulatory system is the best way to achieve this.

Playing a Nutter Game…US lawmakers want to label nearly all video games with a health warning about violent games

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See article from gamezone.com

US lawmakers have proposed a bill that would label most video games with the warning: Exposure to violent video games has been linked to aggressive behavior. Joe Baca and Frank Wolf have introduced the Violence in Video Games Labeling Act citing the supposed negative effects that video games have on people’s health, despite increased findings that suggests otherwise. Baca spouted. The video game industry has a responsibility to parents, families and to consumers, to inform them of the potentially damaging content that is often found in their products,  They have repeatedly failed to live up to this responsibility. If the bill passes, the only games that would be exempt would be those with an ESRB rating of Early Childhood (EC). All others would require the warning on the game box, regardless of whether the game actually featured violent content. Previous attempts to pass the bill occurred in 2009 and 2011. The Entertainment Software Association, which represents video game publishers in the US, called the bill unconstitutional. In a statement made to Game Informer, the trade group said: We would commend Representatives Baca and Wolf to the reams of bourgeoning academic research demonstrating that video games can be innovative learning and assessment tools in engaging and educating America’s youth, especially in core subjects such as science, technology, engineering and math.

World Day Against Cyber-Censorship…Reporters Without Borders announce their Enemies of the Internet for 2012

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See article from en.rsf.org

The 2012 list of the Enemies of the Internet Bahrain [new entry] Belarus [new entry] Burma China Cuba Iran North Korea Saudi Arabia Syria Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Vietnam Two countries, Bahrain and Belarus, have been moved from the under surveillance category to the Enemies of the Internet list, joining the ranks of the countries that restrict Internet freedom the most: Burma, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. They combine often drastic content filtering with access restrictions, tracking of cyber-dissidents and online propaganda. Iran and China, in particular, reinforced their technical capacity in 2011 and China stepped up pressure on privately-owned Internet companies in order to secure their collaboration. Iran has announced the launch of a national Internet. Iran and Vietnam have both launched a new wave of arrests, while the bloody crackdown on protests in Syria is hitting netizens hard and is enabling the regime to perfect its mastery of online surveillance with Iran’s help. Turkmenistan has fought its first battle in the war over Information 2.0 while North Korea, which is developing its online presence for propaganda purposes, is confronted with an increase in smuggling of banned communications equipment across the Chinese border. In Cuba, bloggers supportive of the government and those critical of the regime argue online. Saudi Arabia has continued its relentless censorship and suppressed coverage of a provincialuprising. Uzbekistan took measures to prevent Uznet from becoming a forum for discussing the Arab springs. There is one light of hope: the situation is improving in Burma, where the military have permitted the release of journalists and bloggers and the unblocking of news websites, but the legislative and technical tools for controlling and monitoring the Internet have yet to be dismantled. Bahrain offers an example of an effective news blackout based on a remarkable array of repressive measures: keeping the international media away, harassing human rights activists, arresting bloggers and netizens (one of whom died in detention), smearing and prosecuting free speech activists, and disrupting communications, especially during the major demonstrations. In Belarus, President Lukashenko’s regime has increased his grip on the Web as the country sinks further into political isolation and economic stagnation. The Internet, a space used for circulating information and mobilizing protests, has been hit hard as the authorities have reacted to revolution via the social media. The list of blocked websites has grown longer and the Internet was partially blocked during the silent protests. Some Belarusian Internet users and bloggers have been arrested while others have been invited to preventive conversations with the police in a bid to get them to stop demonstrating or covering demonstrations. The government has used Twitter to send messages that are meant to intimidate demonstrators, and the main ISP has diverted those trying to access the online social network Vkontakte to sites containing malware. And Law No. 317-3, which took effect on 6 January 2012, reinforced Internet surveillance and control measures. The 2012 list of countries under surveillance Australia Egypt Eritrea France India [new entry] Kazakhstan [new entry] Malaysia Russia South Korea Sri Lanka Thailand Tunisia Turkey UAE The countries under surveillance list still includes Australia, whose government clings to a dangerous content filtering system; Egypt, where the new regime has resumed old practices and has directly targeted the most outspoken bloggers; Eritrea, a police state that keeps its citizens away from the Internet and is alarmed by its diaspora’s new-found militancy online and on the streets of foreign cities; France, which continues its three-strikes policy on illegal downloading, with suspension of Internet access, and where administrative filtering is introduced by an internal security law and appears with increasing frequency in decrees implementing laws; and Malaysia, which continues to harass bloggers (who have more credibility that the traditional media) in the run-up to general elections. The under surveillance list also includes Russia, which has used cyber-attacks and has arrested bloggers and netizens to prevent a real online political debate; South Korea, which is stepping up censorship of propaganda from its northern neighbour and keeps an array of repressive laws; Sri Lanka, where online media and journalists continue to be blocked and physically attacked; Thailand, where the new government sends bloggers to prison and is reinforcing content filtering in the name of cracking down on lese-majeste; Tunisia, where freedom of expression is still fragile and content filtering could be reimposed; Turkey, where thousands of websites are still inaccessible, alarming filtering initiatives have been taken and netizens and online journalists continue to be prosecuted; and the United Arab Emirates, where surveillance has been reinforced preventively in response to the Arab Spring. Since the Mumbai bombings of 2008, the Indian authorities have stepped up Internet surveillance and pressure on technical service providers, while publicly rejecting accusations of censorship. The national security policy of the world’s biggest democracy is undermining freedom of expression and the protection of Internet users’ personal data. Kazakhstan, which likes to think of itself as a regional model after holding the rotating presidency of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2010, nonetheless seems to be turning its back on all its fine promises in order to take the road of cyber-censorship. An unprecedented oil workers strike, a major riot, a strange wave of bombings and the president’s ailing health all helped to increase government tension in 2011 and led to greater control of information, especially online information: blocking of news websites, cutting of communications around the city of Zhanaozen during the riot, and new, repressive Internet regulations. Venezuela and Libya are no longer under surveillance. Thailand put on Warning If Thailand continues down the slope of content filtering and jailing netizens on lese-majeste charges, it could soon join the club of the world’s most repressive countries as regards the Internet.

Censors Devalue Freedom…South Africa’s TV censor unilaterally decides that freedom of expression rates below women’s rights to whinge at porn

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See article from xbiz.com

South Afica’s TopTV’s bid to air TV porn channels was banned in part by the country’s TV censor because it deemed women’s rights and dignity outweighed the right to freedom of expression.The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) released the reasons for its ban: On the issue of balancing the rights of women to equality and human dignity with the right of freedom of expression, ICASA is of the view that the right of women to equality and human dignity overrides TopTV’s right to freedom of expression, as well as the rights of viewers to receive pornography on television in the home. ICASA holds this view because it regards the consumption of pornography as one contributing factor, amongst others, to the normalization of violence against women in SA.

Obscene Censorship…Canadian horror filmmaker prosecuted for supposed obscenity

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See article from m.ctv.ca

A Montreal courtroom is booked for April determine whether a local filmmaker’s graphic horror flick is obscene. Remy Couture faces obscenity charges for creating Inner Depravity, a short film series depicting gory scenes of murder and sexual assault. The goal was to reproduce the deviant mind of a serial killer, said Couture, a special effects make-up artist who’s worked on films such as Barney’s Version. The series, which once won most deranged movie of the year at a film festival, was posted online in 2005 and was eventually forwarded to Interpol and police in Montreal. According to a statement on Couture’s website, Interpol was alerted to the film series by a German web surfer who was under the impression that the on-screen murders actually occurred. Police arrested Couture and raided his studio. Couture maintains that he created the series to flex his skills as a make-up artist who got his professional start in the horror genre. The website featuring his project was only available to web surfers above the age of 18, he said in a statement. You can see the same thing in big budget movies so why mine is worse than the others, I don’t understand, he told CTV Montreal. Police charged Couture with production of obscene material, mainly for his depictions of graphic sexual violence. The charges, however, have drawn criticism from fans and some in the artistic community. He pushed some boundaries because it is shocking with what you can see, but it’s in an artistic way, said Alexandre Duguay, a movie critic and horror aficionado. Couture’s lawyer Veronique Robert said this is the first time she’s seen someone face obscenity charges for the content of a horror film. Previous obscenity cases have dealt with pornography. Couture’s trial will begin in front of a jury in late April, three years after his arrest.

Classification: Content Regulation and Convergent Media…Australian law Reform Commission publishes its report on rationalising media censorship

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See article from victorharbortimes.com.au See full report [pdf] from alrc.gov.au See summary report [pdf] from alrc.gov.au

All media in Australia should be classified, and censored, in the same way, according to a landmark report published today. Conducting the first review of Australia’s classification laws in 20 years, the Australian Law Reform Commission found that the rapid rise of new forms of media had overtaken existing classification laws. The review would have far-reaching implications for Australia’s media. Radio and television broadcasters are subject to regulation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority. Television broadcasters are also subject to guidelines under the Commercial Television Code of Practice. The report recommended: One set of laws establishing obligations to classify or restrict access to content across media platforms.Clear scope of what must be classified: feature films and television programs, as well as computer games likely to be MA 15+ or higher, that are both made and distributed on a commercial basis, and likely to have a significant Australian audience. A shift in regulatory focus to restricting access to adult content, by imposing new obligations on content providers to take reasonable steps to restrict access to adult content and to promote cyber-safety. Co-regulation and industry classification, with more industry classification of content and industry development of classification codes, but subject to regulatory oversight. Classification Board benchmarking and community standards, with a clear role for the Classification Board in making independent classification decisions that reflect community standards. An Australian government scheme that replaces the current co-operative scheme with enforcement under Commonwealth law. A single regulator with primary responsibility for regulating the new scheme. Professor Flew of the ALRC said: Classification criteria should also be reviewed periodically, to ensure they reflect community standards, One category that may no longer align with community standards is ‘Refused Classification’ or ‘RC’. The scope of this category should be narrowed, and the ALRC suggests changes for government to consider. [So it is recommended that hardcore porn be legalised for sale across Australia with self classification by the industry. But all this in return for the adult industry taking on board strict conditions to ensure that the material is not sold to under 18s. In fact, any such restrictions will apply equally to softcore and even mainstream R18+ horror films for adults].

Sexy BlackBerry…Age classification guidelines for BlackBerry’s app store seem to include the possibility of hardcore fun

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See article from blogs.cio.com

A couple of months ago, BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion (RIM) told its developer base that it would soon be instituting age ratings in its BlackBerry App World software shop. Those ratings, which have since been rolled out, and are broken down into four categories: General Teen: may not be suitable for children less than 13 years old Mature: may not be suitable for children less than 17 years old Adult. The Teen 13 rating is a rating that correlates with many age ratings around the world. The Mature 17 is pragmatic rating borrowed from the US video game world that allows the most into a rating without it getting banned by those who won’t allow adult only content. And its excellent to see that BlackBerry also have an adults only rating that seems to allow for the full range of sex and violence content. Teen 13 Mature 17 Adult Violence Mild to moderate cartoon, fantasy or realistic violence Frequent, intense or graphic cartoon, fantasy or realistic violence Extreme depictions of graphic violence Sex Infrequent/mild sexual content, situations or themes  Intense/frequent sexual content, situations or themes Graphic sexual content and graphic nudity Strong Language Infrequent/mild profanity or crude humour intense or graphic profanity or crude humour not applicable Drink/Drugs Infrequent/mild Intense/frequent drug/alcohol use or reference Content designed to encourage or promote drug or alcohol abuse This stance is in marked contrast to Apple’s anti-porn in iTunes standpoint, which former CEO Steve Jobs cemented with the following quote from 2010: We…believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy and [sic] Android phone.

Old Time Censors…New Zealand unbans the book Bloody Mama and hopefully apologises for all the police hassle caused to an innocent book seller

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See article from entertainment.msn.co.nz

The book Bloody Mama by Robert Thom was banned in New Zealand in 1971 on grounds of supposed indecency. Apparently it contains references to rape, incest, prostitution, cruelty and violence. A second-hand copy of the book Bloody Mama at Wellington second-hand booksellers Book Haven, was anonymously snitched up to the Department of Internal Affairs in November. The book, which canvasses the true life story of 1930s gang leader Kate Ma Barker and her sons, had been for sale for about a year, despite being banned by the now defunct Indecent Publications Tribunal. This week the modern day book censors at the Office of Film and Literature Classification have reclassified the book as ‘Unrestricted’. The censor commented that the adult content was restricted to one or two pages and readers would be mature enough to handle it. Book Haven owner Don Hollander said the ruling was marvellous. The book would be returned next week and he would frame it to hang in the shop as a talking piece, he told NZ Newswire. The book was made into a low-budget film starring Robert de Niro, that was also ludicrously banned in 1971. However, it was later reclassified R16 in 1981.

Tattoo Ban…Vietnam bans The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

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See article from hollywoodreporter.com

David Fincher’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo features scenes of violence, rape, torture, nudity. All a bit too much for Vietnamese sensibilities.The film now will not be shown in Vietnam, after the film’s distributor withdrew it. This was confirmed by the National Film Board. However there seems a little doubt as to whether the film was banned due to the film censor’s demands, or else just banned in anticipation of the film censor’s demands. Tuoitre news reported that: The film was to be released on March 2, but its international distributor, Sony Pictures, decided not to release it in Vietnam since the National Film Board requires the studio cut sensitive scenes from the movie. However VietNam Net Bridge reported that: The withdrawal has no connection to the Vietnamese censorship because the film had not been submitted to the national film censorship board yet. Either way it is banned due to local film censorship rules.