World News

From Reuters

Turkey's ruling party confirmed recently that it had shelved plans to outlaw adultery that had infuriated women's rights groups and upset the European Union Ankara aspires to join.

But it was not immediately clear whether the AKP, a conservative party with Islamist roots, had entirely abandoned its plans to criminalize adultery or had merely deferred them. Even if a deputy independently presents a proposal on (banning) adultery, it will be ignored , Eyup Fatsa, deputy head of the ruling AKP Party in parliament, told Reuters on the second day of a marathon debate on planned penal code changes.

Several EU foreign ministers had said the proposal to punish cheating spouses as part of the wider penal code amendments might jeopardize Turkey's chances when EU leaders decide in December whether to open entry talks.

After a last-minute meeting Tuesday before parliament reconvened, the AKP and the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) said they would present the penal code package as a joint proposal.

Given the center-left CHP's opposition to the adultery ban, this seemed to indicate that the AKP had dropped its plans. Any proposal which is not supported by both groups will not be submitted, Fatsa said.

The European Commission responded cautiously. We would be satisfied if this provision (on adultery) is taken off the table, spokesman Jean-Christophe Filori told reporters in Brussels.

I think there are a few more obvious reasons for correlation. Watching too much TV suggests that people have got time to spare and have not got other interests that  may monopolise their time. And besides...it seems an excellent pastime to pass the time during 8 minute advert breaks.

From Digital Spy

Researchers have found that youngsters who watch TV shows with sexual content are twice as likely to begin having intercourse themselves.

The study, carried out by the Rand Corp. for American magazine Pediatrics , surveyed 1,792 US adolescents aged between 12 and 17 in 2001 and then again a year later.

Those who watched said programmes were also linked with a higher risk of commencing non-intercourse behaviour, including passionate kissing and oral sex.

The research claims that sex is present in around two-thirds of all TV shows, excluding news and sports, meaning that TV may thus "create the illusion that sex is more central to daily life than it truly is and may promote sexual initiation as a result."

Of those surveyed, the percentage of teens having intercourse rose from 18% to 36% over the year, while those having sexual experiences other than intercourse increased from 62% to 75%.

The report was also critical of programme makers for rarely highlighting the negative aspects of underage sex such as unwanted pregnancy, AIDS and STDs. "It sends kids the message that everybody's having sex and nobody's thinking about responsibility and nothing bad ever happens," said Rebecca Collins, the lead researcher. "You don't see the fade to black, the couple has sex, and the next morning says, 'You gave me an STD.'"

From Ireland Online

A new 16 certificate could soon be introduced for films shown in Irish cinemas, it was revealed today.

Film censor John Kelleher said the the gap between a 15PG and an 18 classification was often too wide. I have reluctantly given an 18 to certain films which are absolute borderline, he said. I’m in talks with the industry they are very supportive because they would hate to see the 15PG certificate go.

The first national survey of parents on issues relating to children’s film viewing revealed that many parents felt the Irish Film Censor Office (IFCO) ratings should be more lenient. Over 40% of parents believe many 12PG films are rated too strictly and 45% consider 15PGs too harshly rated.

Kelleher said the survey offered valuable insight into what parents were thinking and would certainly play a role in future classification decisions. The feedback we get from concerned parents is always from people who feel we are not strict enough but this survey is absolutely clear a significant majority think we are too strict.

The survey highlights widespread confusion as to what PG actually stands for - a PG denotes ‘Parental Guidance’ while a 15PG can be seen by children aged under 15 if ‘Parent or Guardian Accompanied.’ As a result the IFCO is considering renaming it a 15AA so as to clearly portray the ‘adult accompanied’ classification.

The primary concern of parents is drug taking and violence, followed by racial references and underage drinking. Sexual activity and nudity were a distant third. More than 85% of parents believe they should have the final say on what their children can or cannot watch, while 93% of all parents regularly check the classification ratings.

A new website will ensure parents receive optimum advice about every film hitting Irish cinemas, including details of violence, sex and bad language. The site, www.ifco.ie explains the reasons behind each classification and will be updated with information about new releases every Friday.

The survey was carried out for IFCO by Lansdowne Market Research which surveyed over 250 parents of children attending 12 post-primary, randomly selected schools.

In October, the second phase of the research project will report on the adolescents’ perspective on film classification.

From Reuters

Turkey's government wants to make adultery a crime, the justice minister was quoted as saying Monday, a proposal that has outraged the main opposition and women's groups.

Although the legislation would also apply to men, a previous adultery law abolished six years ago was used mainly against women.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which traces its roots to a banned Islamist movement, wants to include the adultery ban in an overhaul of the penal code, promised as part of reforms aimed at meeting European Union criteria.

The main opposition party has threatened to vote against the entire penal code reform if the clause on adultery is included in the bill and brought to parliament. We believe that adultery should be a crime, because society also expects this , Justice Minister Cemil Cicek was quoted as saying by newspapers.

Turkey's top court struck down a law penalizing adultery in 1998 and said in its ruling that the law had been mainly used against women, leading to gender inequality. Although Muslim Turkey has enshrined equality for women, rights groups say discrimination against women remains endemic.

The European Union is expected to criticize the lack of equality for women in Turkey in a progress report on the country's candidacy due in October, diplomats have said.

The penal code's other reforms aim primarily to expand rights to meet the European Union's basic criteria for membership. Turkey is hoping a swath of recent rights reforms will convince Brussels to set a date to begin accession talks next year.

From News.com.au

Pornography is good for people, the academic leading a taxpayer-funded study of the subject said yesterday, as the Coalition and Labor traded jibes about an Opposition push to stop online porn reaching home computers.

Alan McKee, who with academics Catharine Lumby and Kath Albury is conducting the Understanding Pornography in Australia study, said that a survey of more than 1000 porn-users must be taken into account as Labor considers forcing all internet service providers to automatically filter hardcore porn to protect children. The surprising finding was that pornography is actually good for you in many ways," Dr McKee said. When you look at people who are using it in everyday life, over 90 per cent report it has had a very positive effect.

Dr McKee said porn users reported it had taught them "to be more relaxed about their sexuality" and marriages were healthier, while porn made people think about another person's pleasure and made them less judgmental about body shapes. The more we try and turn porn into something that's seen to be bad and has to be kept away from families, the more problems we might be causing for ourselves.

Asked whether such results meant pornography was good for children, Dr McKee said: I think you come there to an issue we can't answer - should children who are 16-years-old be allowed to be sexual?

But the author of the policy before Mark Latham's office - supported by senior Labor figures including ALP national president Carmen Lawrence and communications spokesman Lindsay Tanner - Australia Institute executive director Clive Hamilton said: No man who regularly uses pornography can have a healthy sexual relationship with a woman.

The internet industry is up in arms at the proposals, which it says would be unworkable, and would punish smaller ISPs.

Chief executive of the Internet Industry Association, Peter Coroneos, said there were "technical and economic consequences", such as slowing down internet connections, to the approach recommended by the Australia Institute.

Complaints about internet porn are handled by the Australian Broadcasting Authority agency Netalert.

Communications Minister Helen Coonan accused Labor of "sheer hypocrisy" over the push to crack down on internet porn because its approach had been to "do nothing".

But Opposition IT spokeswoman Kate Lundy said Labor had pushed Canberra into legislating on spam and called for greater spending to educate parents, and increased funding for Netalert.

From the Chicago Sun Times

Actress Chloe Sevigny says a notoriously graphic sex scene in The Brown Bunny , which opens Sept. 3 in Chicago, will make more sense after audiences see it for themselves. It is being shown unrated.

I knew people would not understand it, Sevigny said. It's a shame people write so many things when they haven't seen it. When you see the film, it makes more sense. It's an art film. It should be playing in museums. It's like an Andy Warhol movie.'

The explicit oral-sex scene, which has garnered all sorts of attention since the movie's premiere, occurs between Sevigny and Vincent Gallo, who also wrote, directed and edited the film. Gallo shot the scene using remote cameras while he and Sevigny were alone in the room.

This particular scene is the most complex, it's the most evolved thing that I've ever done in my life, Gallo said at a news conference during the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.

  A Passion for Censorship

From Reuters

It broke box office records in parts of the Middle East, the heart of Islam, and is now screening in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.

But to view Mel Gibson's The Passion of The Christ in Malaysia, viewers must be Christian. No Muslims are allowed to see it.

It might spark off some religious disagreement in this country, Film Censorship Board spokeswoman Kathy Kok said, explaining the board's decision to bar a general release.

Gibson, Hollywood star-cum-producer and devout Catholic, did not even bother to ask Malaysia, home to 25 million people, for approval to screen his film in local cinemas. He and his distributors assumed the mainly Muslim nation would ban it.

But after an appeal to the prime minister by local churches keen to see the graphic movie about Christ's crucifixion, the censors have finally cleared it -- but for Christian eyes only.

Just over half of Malaysia's population follows Islam, which forbids flesh-and-blood portrayal of holy figures and says Jesus, a prophet in the Muslim faith, was neither crucified nor the Son of God. Christians make up about 9% of the population.

Details of how tickets will be sold have yet to be worked out but they will not be available over the counter and the box-office hit will not be advertised. Instead, churches are likely to become ticket outlets, taking bookings for private screenings at commercial cinemas.

But the censor's decision to bar non-Christians from seeing the film has drawn fire from at least one Muslim commentator, writing in the New Straits Times, a newspaper that normally reflects government thinking.

Columnist Rose Ismail suggested Islamic clerics in Malaysia feared The Passion of The Christ could lead some Muslim viewers to convert to Christianity. To her, the viewing restrictions reflected a lack of confidence. The ban implies that Malaysian Muslims' devotion to Islam is tenuous and shallow; that we are easily seduced by religious beliefs, she wrote.

In neighbouring Indonesia, censors took a different approach, authorising its general release but cutting some violent shots.

Even in parts of the Middle East, Gibson's tribute to the suffering of Christ was aired -- largely thanks to a Jewish outcry over the film that appeared to have encouraged Arab governments to break censorship rules.

  Union Blues

From Philly Burbs

Claiming that some hotel workers are being urged by guests to do more than turn down the bedcovers, a Norwegian union wants X-rated pay-per-view programming turned off for good.

The Norwegian Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union, which represents most of Norway's 10,000 workers in the industry, says many of its female members have complained they're being propositioned by amorous guests aroused by what they order on television in their hotel rooms.

Porn must be removed from pay TV because of our members, who regularly work alone, are being harassed, union leader Elin Jjunggren told state radio P4 on Monday.

Though no incidents of assault or rape have been reported, Jjunggren said many of the hotel workers - often immigrants from the Middle East - feared for their safety.

Norwegian law forbids hardcore pornography on video, in theaters and on broadcast television, but it can be shown legally on pay-per-view television.

  Unfair and Unbalanced

From The Guardian Rupert Murdoch's Fox News channel is being taken to the federal trade commission over claims that its boast of being "fair and balanced" is a fraud.

Two pressure groups - the liberal internet-based group MoveOn.org and the historical non-partisan Common Cause say its news reports were "deliberately and consistently distorted and twisted to promote the Republican party of the US and an extreme rightwing viewpoint".

Fox News's Irena Briganti told the Associated Press news agency that the move was "clearly a transparent publicity stunt" by the pressure groups.

In a statement, the commission's chairman, Timothy Muris, indicated that the petition stood little chance of succeeding.

This is not the first time that Fox's motto has met with controversy. When the liberal comedian Al Franken brought out his book Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right, Fox News tried to block publication, claiming the book made unauthorised use of the slogan.

The judge in that case dismissed Fox's case, saying it was "wholly without merit", and that the channel's trademark Fair and Balanced, registered in 1998, was weak.

Since then Fox's request to trademark the phrase has been challenged by the Independent Media Institute, which claims the term is so prevalent as to be generic, and is "entirely misdescriptive" when it comes to the channel.

  Benefit of the Doubt Hijacked

From Wired Browser hijackers are malicious programs that change browser settings, usually altering designated default start and search pages. But some, such as CWS, also produce pop-up ads for pornography, add dozens of bookmarks, some for extreme hard-core pornography websites, to Internet Explorer's Favourites folder.

Traces of browsed sites can remain on computers, and it's difficult to tell from those traces whether a user willingly or mistakenly viewed a website. When those traces connect to borderline-criminal websites, people may have a hard time believing that their employee or significant other hasn't been spending an awful lot of time cruising adult sites.

In response to a recent Wired News story about the CWS browser hijacker, famed for peddling porn, several dozen readers sent e-mails in which they claimed to have lost or almost lost jobs, relationships and their good reputations when their computers were found to harbour traces of pornography that they insist were placed on their computers by a browser hijacker.

In one case a man claims that a browser hijacker sent him to jail after compromising images of children were found on his work computer by an employer, who then reported him to law enforcement authorities.

The police raided my house on Sept. 17, 2002 , said Jack, who came to the United States from the former Soviet Union as a political refugee, and has requested that his name not be published. Nobody gave me a chance to explain. I was told by judge and prosecutor that I will get years in prison if I go to trial. After negotiations through my lawyer I got 180 days in an adult correctional facility. I was imprisoned for 20 days and then released under the Electronic Home Monitoring scheme. I now have a felony sex-criminal record, and the court ordered me to register as a predatory sex offender for 10 years.

Jack originally believed that the images found on his computer were from a previous owner, he'd bought the machine on an eBay auction. But he now thinks a browser hijacker may have been responsible.

When I used search engines, sometimes I got a lot of porn pop-ups, Jack said. Sometimes I was sent to illegal porn sites. When I tried to close one, another five would be opened without my will. They changed my start page, wrote a lot of illegal porn links in favorites. The only way to stop this was turn the (computer's) power off. But when I dialed up to my server again, I started with illegal site, then got the same pop-ups. There were illegal pictures in pop-ups.

Several of the URLs that CWS injects into Internet Explorer's favorites list also appear in the arrest warrant and other materials from Jack's hearing. CWS works as Jack described, changing start pages, adding to favorites, popping up porn. But CWS was first spotted several months after Jack's arrest, so it seems unlikely that this particular hijacker is the cause of his problems.

Security experts who were asked to review Jack's claims said it is possible that a browser hijacker could have been the reason porn images were found on Jack's computer. But they also pointed out some discrepancies in the story.

Some of the images were found in unallocated file space, and would have to have been placed there deliberately since cached images from browsing sessions wouldn't have been stored in unallocated space.

Brian Rothery, a former IBM systems engineer who has been researching Jack's claims, pointed out that a significant portion of the images and URLs cited in the arrest papers are from fairly tame nudist sites, as well as adult sites that do not contain illegal materials.

He said that however the pornography arrived on Jack's computer, the evidence wasn't handled properly, and his lawyer did not do his job.

Jack said he opted not to fight the charge because his lawyer told him he would probably receive a harsher sentence if he went to trial. They are very eager to get conviction, Nobody can fight those powers. I could hardly stay in jail two weeks. The cell is very small, the food is very bad. They let prisoners out only every other day for 3 hours. I do not know how people can stay in prison for years.

If the pornography was placed on Jack's machine by a browser hijacker, he's suffered far more than most victims of malicious software. Others who blame browser hijackers for placing porn on their computers have been luckier.

I was almost fired after some sort of content-monitoring system that my ex-employer used on the network found several dozen dirty photos on my laptop , said Matthew Cortella, a sales representative based in Illinois. I had no idea how that stuff got on my machine; I thought it'd been hacked.

Eventually, thank God, IT found some program on there that they said could have caused the problem. But for eight days I was sure I'd be fired, and I was terrified. I have a family to support. Jobs aren't easy to come by these days."

My wife and I separated for a time because she thought I was looking at porno , said Fred McFarlane, a store owner in Georgia. We are religious people. She just couldn't be with me after she saw the pictures that were in our computer. I don't blame her. Even now, I know it's real hard for her to understand it was the computer that did it, not me.

Telling people that "the computer" is downloading pornography on its own often provokes smirks and disbelief.

I have to say it's like insisting the dog ate your homework , said Jeff Bertram, a systems administrator in New York City. Are you going to admit that you downloaded porn to your pissed-off spouse or employer? Or to a judge? Hell no, your honor, it wasn't me. The browser did it.

Jack said he would like to appeal his conviction, but knows it will be difficult to convince people that he didn't download the pornography found on his machine.

The police found nothing in my house, you know, not even a Playboy magazine, he said. Only in the computer. But most people do not understand that such a thing is possible, that the computer could have made this happen. Plus, with child pornography, people's reaction is only emotions and no thinking.

  Spanked by Ludicrous Law

From Handprints

KD from Handprints Galleries writes:

The reason I have not been available, reachable and unwilling to post any new drawings is simply, the police hit me! The drawings You all have seen is labelled as chi!d porn, not serious such, but.. I have been tried, convicted and fined for the drawings. The court tried to equalize my drawings with real live spankings, and was overruled. Thank You. So... if You are Scandinavian or European beware.

Sweden has an absurd law which criminalizes artistic depictions of minors in certain positions, including being spanked on the grounds that such drawings or paintings might have been copied from a photograph. Although spanking children has been technically illegal in Sweden since 1979, there are no criminal penalties or fines for breaking this law.  But apparently in Sweden drawing a picture of an imaginary juvenile spanking constitutes a more serious offense than forcing the real thing on an unconsenting screaming child, since KD did receive a fine for his artwork.

Handprints originates from the United States and all images on this site fall well within the bounds of legality under U.S. law.  However, if you live in Sweden or another country in which artistic depictions of corporal punishment of minors may be illegal

Handprints has been in existence for five years and KD's troubles in Sweden are the first indication of anyone anywhere being prosecuted for juvenile spanking drawings.   Handprints readers are urged not to overreact to this news with undue paranoia.  If you live in the USA and most other countries you may legally download all images on Handprints with no fear of prosecution.  In the USA all artistic depictions of minors regardless of content are legal provided they do not fit the narrow, hard to prove standard of "obscenity."  An "obscene" image must appeal to prurient interest, be patently offensive to the average person, and possess no redeeming social,  literary, artistic or scientific value.  No images on Handprints come close to meeting the U.S. obscenity standards, which permit materials of a far more obvious prurient nature with far less redeeming artistic value than anything on this site.  Successful obscenity prosecutions are very rare in the USA and the authorities will not waste their time attempting to prosecute materials of the sort found here, since defeat in the courts is a virtual certainty.

If you live outside the USA and have any doubt about the legality in your country of artistic depictions of corporal punishment of minors please speak with an attorney familiar with your domestic statutes and find out exactly what your nation permits. 

In the meantime,  Sweden needs to throw out this ridiculous law forthwith.   Thousands of children daily experience physical and sexual abuse, severe neglect, or forced enlistment as child soldiers. How unconscionable that any country should divert scarce law enforcement resources away from fighting genuine crimes against children in order to harass artists who create harmless pictures of make-believe spankings.

  Irreversible Decision Irreversible

From www.TheAustralianNews.com.au

Australia's film censor has maintained its R18+ rating for the French film Anatomy of Hell, despite calls from federal Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock to ban the movie.

The Office of Film and Literature Classification's Classification Review Board decided against banning the film, but revised its consumer advice to "actual sex, high level sex, high level scenes".

There is high level content in this film, but the Classification Review Board considered that these depictions appear briefly and are justified by context , CRB convenor Maureen Shelley said in a statement. On this basis Anatomy of Hell does not exceed the guidelines for the R18+ classification.

After meeting for more than eight hours today, the CRB panel made the decision with a three to one majority.

The film, directed by Catherine Breillat, which stars French actor Amira Casar and Italian porn film star Rocco Sifredi, has been the subject of a number of complaints after being classified in May with the consumer advice "strong themes, sexual activity, high level sex scenes".

It was referred to the review board by Mr Ruddock on behalf of South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson.

The Australian Family Association also issued a complaint about Anatomy of Hell - the fourth complaint about a film by the organisation in two years.

The complaints are believed to have been about several graphic scenes which include depictions of heterosexual and homosexual sex.

In 2000, the OFLC refused a classification for her film Romance because of concerns about its sexually graphic nature, but the review board later overturned that decision.

Last week, the CRB declined to ban another controversial French film, Irreversible , after a complaint by Mr Ruddock. The CRB maintained its R18+ rating of Irreversible , directed by Gaspar Noe and first released in Australia in February.

  Irreversible Decision Reversible

Thanks to Andrew and story on www.Refused-Classification.com

I have another update from Australia about Irreversible ... what a fuss the censors and politicians are making of this film. It has already done the rounds of the art-house cinemas across Australia with an R18+ certificate. It did very slow business in fact. The Family Association (aka Nutters) appealed the R18+ decision months ago and lost. Now the Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock has complained about the film and it may yet be banned. What is the point? It has finished its season here in Australia, those that wanted to see it have. It is no longer screening anywhere in Australia but NOW the Attorney General decides to complain about it.

A couple of other problems here in Oz. The latest Catherine Breillat ( Romance ) film called Anatomy of Hell has been passed with an R18+rating. This print runs 74minutes apparently. No information yet about the film's completeness.

Quote:

A 74min print was passed R18+ (STRONG THEMES, SEXUAL ACTIVITY, HIGH LEVEL SEX SCENES) on May 5th 2004.

Potential Films intended to give the film a release in July. However the Australian Family Association (AFA) and South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson have made an appeal to have the films rating reviewed.