Serious Censorship Powers…Nominet recommend that police be given wide power to shut down websites used for ‘serious’ crime, a label which covers many minor crimes too

Read more UK News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

See article from theregister.co.uk

UK Police could get new powers to suspend internet domain names without a court order if they’re being used for illegal activity, under rules proposed by .uk registry manager Nominet. A Nominet volunteer policy team has recommended the creation of an expedited process for shutting down addresses when the police say the urgent suspension of the domain name is necessary to prevent serious and immediate consumer harm. The proposed rules, if adopted, would apply to any address ending in .uk. Shutting down a domain name effectively shuts down the associated website and email. In order for a domain to be grabbed under the policy, a law enforcement agency would have to file a declaration with Nominet that a seizure would be proportionate, necessary, and urgent. Police would not need to seek court approval, however, in order to have a site taken down. Domains being used to commit any of an extremely long list of crimes covered by the Serious Crimes Act 2007, eg counterfeiting, fraud, prostitution, money laundering, blackmail and copyright infringement, would be eligible for seizure under the policy. The policy recommendations envision an explicit exception for cases where freedom of expression is at stake. There would also be an appeals process and a periodic policy review. The latest Nominet recommendations are still open for comment. See consultation details at nominet.org.uk

Stoners Stand Down…Councillor escapes prosecution after offending Yasmin Alibhi-Brown with a jokey tweet

Read more UK News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

Based on article from bbc.co.uk

The authorities will take no further action will be taken against a Birmingham Conservative councillor who joked that a journalist to be stoned to death. Councillor Gareth Compton made the remark about Yasmin Alibhai-Brown on his Twitter page in November after he took issue with what she said on a radio debate. Compton, who remains suspended from the Tory party, later apologised. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has dropped the case after Ms Alibhai-Brown refused to make any complaint. The member of the public who initially reported the incident to police also failed to provide a statement, the CPS said. Alibhai-Brown appeared on Radio 5 Live’s breakfast show discussing human rights in China. Afterwards, Compton tweeted: Can someone please stone Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to death? I shan’t tell Amnesty if you don’t. It would be a blessing, really. Speaking at the time, Alibhai-Brown said she had been upset that somebody felt it was OK to say such things: If I, as a Muslim woman, had said about him what he said about me then I would be arrested in these times of the war against terror.

Screwed by Repressive Policing…A Serbian Film allegory extends to Northampton Blockbuster

Read more UK News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

Thanks to Simon Based on article from dogatemywookie.co.uk

On Friday 21st January 2011 the Police raided an unsuspecting Blockbuster in Northampton upon receiving a complaint from a ‘distressed’ viewer and seized copies of the film despite the BBFC rating on the front and the content warning in large letters on the back. The police with their usual, the complainant is always right, attitude didn’t check with the BBFC before raiding the store for a perfectly legal film. Blockbuster has now withdrawn the film from it’s catalogue pending consultation with their lawyers. Northamptonshire police sent dogatemywookie.co.uk the statement: We received information from a member of the public that a copy of The Serbian Film at a branch of Blockbusters in Northampton contained images of child abuse. We have a duty to investigate such claims and in agreement with the manager of the shop took a copy away to view and check that it was the edition that has been approved by the British Board of Film Classification for distribution. It has been established as a legitimate copy of the film that has been approved for distribution by the BBFC and so is being returned to the shop.

FITWatch: We’re Back…Police get website taken down re suggestions for student protestors to avoid prosecution

Read more UK News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

Based on article from fitwatch.org.uk See also controversial FITWatch advice from fitwatch.org.uk

fitwatch.org.uk describes itself as a website: Resisting and monitoring Forward Intelligence Policing. These are the police who video and photograph people at demonstrations and the like with view to databasing and identifying protest leaders etc. The police hit the headlines by getting fitwatch.org.uk ejected by their web hosts. This was over an article advising student protestors to get rid of evidence such as clothing, lest the police come knocking on their door looking for protestors to arrest. The ban was short lived as FITwatch.org.uk rearranged web hosting somewhere else. FITwatch.org.uk explains: We’re Back And with a secure server, massive coverage and a clear message that we’re here to stay. On Monday night we received notification that our site had been suspended due to attempting to pervert the course of justice due to our posting offering advice to the Millbank students. Whilst the email requesting the site be closed on the basis it was being used for criminal activity came from DI Paul Hoare, from the Police Central e-crime Unit, the authorisation to close was given much closer to home, by acting Detective Inspector Will Hodgeson. Hodgeson, who was involved in the first Fitwatch case, and has sat through many of our trials and appeals, evidently finally had enough and decided to shut us down. However, through totally underestimating the power of social media, this pathetic attempt has failed miserably. Within minutes of networking what had happened, people were re-publishing the post anywhere and everywhere. There are now over 100 sites carrying the original post – we haven’t managed to count them all. We have been overwhelmed by the support and solidarity and send massive thanks to everyone who’s offered to help and reposted the information. If we haven’t replied personally, it’s only because we’ve been inundated, and haven’t had time. This was a real attempt to squash dissent and criticism of the police, as well as attempting to stifle common sense advice to protesters subject to a witch hunt by the right wing press. The solidarity given by so many people has ensured this hasn’t happened, and has shown we can fight back. Even if we were to be arrested and prosecuted now, we would still be grateful to CO11 for the amount of publicity they’ve generated for us. We’re back, and we’re stronger than ever.

War Against Fun…Authorities censor GrassRoots Feastival

Read more UK News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

Based on article from schnews.org.uk

Yet another independent festival has been cancelled after a concerted campaign by bureaucrats, nimbys and police. The Grassroots Feastival was a small volunteer-run event due to take place in Cambridgeshire in early September. Organisers had lined up three days of revelry, from poetry to Drum n Bass and culminating in a communal banquet replete with juggling waiters. The Feastival faced determined opposition from the very start. According to one of the organisers, Mooney, when the application process began in January the council and police made it clear they would do all they could to stop the festival taking place. Mooney said, They didn’t want it to happen so they played their games. They couldn’t use legislation so instead they used dirty tactics. The now familiar modus operandi involved heaping ludicrous demand after ludicrous demand on organisers and stalling for time to the point that the festival risked financial ruin if they pressed ahead. After the initial consultation, organisers met monthly with the local authorities and there were six revisions of the festival’s management plan in total. Each time they were presented with ever more unreasonable conditions, ranging from heras-fencing the A11 in case of invasion by wandering partygoers who had strayed three miles over fence and field, to installing security watchtowers. Each time, organisers either met the conditions or managed to argue their case that what they were being asked was beyond the realms of sanity or reason. However the killer blow came with the final application for a licence. When handing in the application, local authorities clearly told organisers that they only needed to submit one paper copy and that the pack of other relevant licensing bodies, such as traffic management and the fire brigade, would be happy with an emailed copy. At the eleventh hour of the last day they had to submit the application, organisers were then told that the licence would be refused unless all the bodies had paper copies. With no time left to do this, organisers would have had to resubmit and wouldn’t have received a decision until just days before the festival. If the licence had been refused at that point it would have spelled financial disaster for all involved and so organisers were left with no choice but to cancel.

Discriminatory Scottish Police…Stereotyping the English as easily offended by lighthearted football banter

Read more UK News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

Based on article from thescotsman.scotsman.com

Retailer HMV has withdrawn anti-English World Cup banners, following complaints to police that they could incite racial hatred. Record chain HMV has removed items with the letters ABE – which stands for Anyone But England – from window displays in its Scottish stores. It follows a number of objections from the public to the company, as well as a complaint to the police from the Campaign for an English Parliament (CEP). A police officer visited an HMV store in Kirkcaldy constituency earlier this week and company bosses quickly agreed to remove the banners from all their stores north of the Border. Now HMV said it was no longer actively promoting the ABE goods, including T-shirts, through banners and displays, and that it would stop selling them once stocks had been sold. [they will hardly have chance to restock, England don't look like lasting long] Stuart Parr, a member of the CEP’s national council whinged: The Campaign for an English Parliament will challenge any company that incites racial hatred towards the English, he said. Racism is unacceptable no matter who it is directed against, including English people. But Tam Ferry, from the Association of Tartan Army Clubs, said: This is just political correctness gone mad again: I have got one of the T-shirts, and I think it’s great that HMV were putting up banners. Football is all about rivalry and having a bit of banter. Have the police got nothing better to do than take away a bit of fun from people? There’s bigger problems in this country that they should be dealing with rather than this. Trevor Phillips, head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, has described the ABE slogan as good-natured banter that was unlikely to cause offence. Aberdeen North SNP MSP Brian Adam said: I would have thought that it’s all light-hearted and not in any way serious. If people take offence, they should remember that we have to put up with a lot of images about Scotland, such as the ones about mean and miserable Scots. Also, people in Scotland might take exception to having goods promoted with images of the English team on and the English flag. The whole thing will be over soon and people should just get a sense of humour. A spokeswoman for Fife Constabulary said: We received a complaint on Monday 14 June, regarding the Anyone But England banners. An officer attended the HMV store in Kirkcaldy and spoke to the manager there to make him aware of the complaint and to give advice. Ultimately, it was HMV’s decision to remove the banners.

1 Day of the Censor…Police ban on 1 Day extends throughout the West Midlands

Read more UK News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

Based on article from dudleynews.co.uk

A Dudley cinema has backed out of showing a Birmingham gangland film. Showcase Cinema at Castlegate, pulled 1 Day as the ramifications of a censorship row between West Midlands Police and the filmakers Vertigo Films rumble on. Odeon in Birmingham were the first to announce they were not showing the movie, which was released last Friday, after taking police advice. And now Showcase have followed suit, by pulling it from Midland cinemas. Karen Fox, general manager of Showcase UK Theatres, said: Showcase has made the decision not to screen the film 1 Day at its cinemas in the West Midlands region. However, we are screening the film in our other UK locations. Despite claiming they were not trying to censor the film the police have admitted a police officer had contacted cinemas criticising the film. The film’s director Penny Woolcock, said: Censoring this film is short sighted, shameful and lets a lot of people down: Even if 1 Day did glamorise gun violence, which it certainly does not, I do not think it is the function of the local police to go round saying what films should be shown and which ones shouldn’t. She added: Let people decide for themselves.

Censor for 1 Day…Birmingham cinemas ban film on police advice

Read more UK News at MelonFarmers.co.uk

Based on article from birminghampost.net

Cinemas in Birmingham have been caught up in a bitter row between police and film makers as they were advised not to screen a controversial new film about city gangs. 1 Day, which is to go on general release next week, tells the story of two rival gangs of black youths who are caught up in the underworld of drugs and guns. The film was shot on the streets of Handsworth with the cast recruited from nearby neighbourhoods. The row between police and filmmakers reached boiling point last night when it’s director, Penny Woolcock, claimed that Odeon, Cineworld and Vue cinemas had all been advised by West Midlands Police not to screen the movie in Birmingham. Woolcock, said: Censoring this film is shortsighted, shameful and lets a lot of people down. Even if 1-Day did glamorise gun violence, which it certainly does not, I do not think it is the function of the local police to go round saying what films should be shown and which ones shouldn’t. Let people decide for themselves. But Assistant Chief Constable Suzette Davenport strongly denied there had been official censorship from West Midlands Police. The assistant chief constable said she had spent all day trying to find out where the message had come from not to show the film: I would like to make it absolutely clear that West Midlands Police don’t have any powers at all to censor. Organisationally, we haven’t sent out a message to cinemas that they shouldn’t screen this film, she said. [...but...] I have always been consistent in saying that I am concerned it glamorises gangs and the impact this will have on the people of Birmingham. Odeon, which has a cinema on New Street, said it was not showing the film after taking advice from West Midlands Police. It declined to comment further. Passed at ’15′ for strong language and violence See article from bbfc.co.uk To get a bit of perspective, the  BBFC have commented about the film: 1 Day is a drama-thriller that follows a frenzied 24 hours in the life of a gang member and drug dealer in Birmingham who must somehow find a large amount of money that he owes to his gang leader who has just been released from prison. The film was passed at 15 for strong language and violence. The film contains numerous uses of strong language that feature in the dialogue and the lyrics of hip-hop songs accompanying the action, certainly too many to meet with the restrictions of the Guidelines at 12A/12 which state that the use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’) must be infrequent. Consequently, the film was placed at the 15 category where the Guidelines allow for frequent use of such language. In a film depicting the lives of characters involved in crime and gang rivalries, there are sequences of moderate threat as well as scenes where tensions break out into open violence that include the use of knives and guns. These represent moments of strong violence with sight of its bloody consequences which required the 15 category, but there is no undue dwelling on the infliction of pain or injury, or on the bloody detail, which might have presented a challenge to the Guidelines at 15. The film contains infrequent soft drug use as well as sight of hard drugs, including a scene which sees a character cooking up crack cocaine but this is portrayed without any significantly instructive detail. The presence of drugs has a contextual justification but the depictions of drug dealing and drug misuse do not carry any elements of overt promotion or encouragement and it is likely that they would have been permitted at 12A. The film also contains moderate language and a moderate suggestion of sexual activity.

Spiritual America and Miserable Britain…Brooke Shields image taken down at Tate Modern exhibition

Read more at MelonFarmers.co.uk

Based on article from guardian.co.uk

A display due to go on show to the public at Tate Modern has been withdrawn after a warning from Scotland Yard that the naked image of actor Brooke Shields aged 10 and heavily made up could break obscenity laws. The work, by American artist Richard Prince and entitled Spiritual America, was due to be part of the London gallery’s new Pop Life exhibition . It has been removed from display after a visit to Tate Modern by officers from the obscene publications unit of the Metropolitan police. The exhibition had been open to members of the Tate today before opening to the public tomorrow. A Tate spokeswoman confirmed that the display had been temporarily closed down and the catalogue for the exhibition withdrawn from sale. The work had been accompanied by a warning, and the Tate had sought legal advice before displaying it. The decision by officers to visit Tate Modern is understood to have been made after police chiefs saw coverage of the exhibition in newspapers, rather than as a result of complaints. Officers met gallery bosses and are also understood to have consulted the Crown Prosecution Service as to whether the image broke obscenity laws. A Scotland Yard source said the actions of its officers were common sense and were taken to pre-empt any breach of the law. The source said the image of Shields was of potential concern because it was of a 10-year-old, and could be viewed as sexually provocative. The work has been shown recently in New York, without attracting major controversy, where it gave the title to the 2007 retrospective of Prince’s work at the Guggenheim Museum. Prince has described the image as resembling a body with two different sexes, maybe more, and a head that looks like it’s got a different birthday.