The tide really does seem to be turning in the UN debate on combating defamation of religion – even to the point where there are hopes among some delegates that the concept will soon be buried, at least in the Human Rights Council.

Following attacks by France and Belgium last week on the notion of defamation of religion, several NGOs joined the attack with several strong statements.

The Cairo Center for Human Rights Studies with Article 19, the European Center for Law and Justice, and Center for Inquiry in a joint statement with IHEU were among those who weighed in.

Gregor Puppinck of the European Centre for Law and Justice stated that they could not support the concept of defamation of religions or phobias when applied to religions or beliefs. They also recalled that the concept of defamation was incompatible with human rights. It endangered the rights of religious minorities and would lead to international approval for blasphemy laws.

Austin Dacey from the Center for Inquiry and International Humanist and Ethical Union said in a speech:

We welcome the new Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, Mr Githu Muigai, and we welcome the call from his predecessor, Mr Doudou Diene, to replace the notion of the defamation of religions with the legal concept of incitement to discrimination, hostility and violence. Not only does the former notion have no legal basis, it is a threat to human rights and to religion itself.

U.N. resolutions combating the defamation of religions are dangerous, as noted by the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ms Asma Jahangir, since they can be used to legitimize blasphemy laws that punish members of religious minorities, dissenting believers and non-theists or atheists.

In Afghanistan, a 23-year-old student named Sayed Pervez Kambaksh sits in prison, convicted of blasphemy for circulating an article critical of women's status under Islam. For this he has been sentenced to death. Religion does not need protection from Pervez Kambaksh. He needs protection from those who act in its name.

Would this Council return Geneva to the era of heresy and blasphemy? Or will it work to guarantee to Pervez Kambaksh and to all people, the freedom of expression enjoyed here today? We urge member states to return focus to the protection of persons and to abandon the dangerous notion of the defamation of religions.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) rejected the pornography bill as it is considered interfering with privacy. We clearly reject it. It is not ethical to generalize a perception of a moral value, said the Commission member Yoseph Adi Prasetyo in Jakarta yesterday.

Yoseph explained the regulation on the pornography issue actually can be covered under the Criminal Code. Special regulations can cause it to overlap with other bills.

Update: Rethink but not stalled

6th October 2008. Based on article from old.thejakartapost.com

Due to increasing pressure, legislators have agreed to revise the controversial anti-pornography bill, scheduled to be introduced to the House of Representatives later this year.

But after a series of public hearings -- held in Jakarta, Ambon, Makassar and Banjarmasin -- and a volley of criticism in which groups pointed to an expansive definition of pornography and vague wording in a draft of the legislation, it's not yet clear if that will be enough to pass the bill.

"We understand that this is a delicate issue," said Bahrul Hayat, secretary-general of the Religious Affairs Ministry. "It is not a one-day process."

Originally, supporters had pledged to pass the bill before the end of Ramadan, but critics pushed for more discussion.

The Ministry welcomes public input into the process, said Bahrul, but he emphasized that the bill still must move forward.

"As a law it is a common agreement. It cannot please everybody," he said. And, although the law would seek to protect cultural diversity in Indonesia, he added, questions of appropriate art would be settled in the courts.

Some artists and educators, however, remain anxious about the bill's potential effects on artistic expression and education.

While many agree with the need to curtail pornographic material -- especially for youth -- they cite the potential for abuse or misunderstanding and a general lack of clarity in exactly how the law would be enforced.

A district governor in the West Africa nation of Cameroon has issued an order banning adult material in the district of Mfoundi.

The order bans reproduction and dissemination of erotic and pornographic writings and images in his jurisdiction, according to a report published on Africa Press Agency’s website.

Joseph Beti Assomo, the prefect of the Mfoundi district where the national capital Yaounde is located, issued the order following a homily by the city’s archbishop denouncing widespread pornography through cable television, and targets motels, hotels and video clubs.

A British artist walked free after being cleared of insulting Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, by portraying him as a dog in a case seen as a test of Turkey's tolerance of free speech.

A Turkish court acquitted Michael Dickinson of criminal charges despite citing some insulting elements in his depiction of Erdogan as a dog attached to a leash in the colours of the US flag. But the court ruled that the artwork was within the limits of criticism.

Dickinson who has lived in Turkey for 20 years, was charged with insulting the prime minister's dignity in September and could have faced up to two years in jail if convicted. He was arrested after unfurling the picture at a court hearing of an art exhibition organiser, who had been charged with insulting behaviour for displaying another of Dickinson's works. The earlier picture depicted Erdogan as a dog being presented with a rosette by George Bush.

Dickinson, a member of the Stuckist art movement, voiced relief at his acquittal but warned that other artists still faced legal pressure for expressing dissenting views. I am lucky to be acquitted. There are still artists in Turkey facing prosecution and being sentenced for their opinions, he told AP.

The Indonesian parliament has postponed endorsing a controversial anti-pornography bill following opposition from social and religious groups, who say the unclear bill threatens to interfere in people's private lives.

The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on Sept. 23, 2003, and has been revised several times in response to criticism from various groups.

Nonetheless, opponents say the bill still does not clearly differentiate between pornography and obscenity on the one hand, and cultural, artistic and creative expressions on the other. They also fear the bill will allow the state to interfere in people's private lives, and especially to target women.

Chapter I Article 1 of the bill says, Pornography is sexual material made by humans in the form of pictures, sketches, illustrations, photos, writing, voice, sound, moving pictures, animation, cartoons, poetry, conversation, body movement or any other form of communication through various media and/or public performance that can arouse sexual desire and/or violate societal values.

This definition is too wide, the Jakarta-based Kompas daily maintained in its Sept. 22 edition, in a special section dedicated to an analysis of the bill. The paper also pointed out this could allow the state to control people's private sex lives.

Originally containing 11 chapters and 93 provisions, the bill's final draft has eight chapters and 44 provisions.

More than a year ago the Swiss State Council voted 25-4 to broaden its porn ban to mobile phones, making the sale of adult material on portable devices illegal.

The decision from the Senate came in light of a series of gang rapes involving minors. The Justice Minister at the time, Christoph Blocher, questioned the need for a blanket ban and the House of Representatives were forced to vote on the issue.

Last week, the House of Representatives finally approved motions banning the distribution of pornographic or violent material on cell phones, according to SwissInfo.ch. The chamber voted in support of the plan despite recommendations from the government to deny the motion.

With the motion on pornography passing the Senate, it is expected they will jump on the House's bandwagon to ban violence as well.

The Russian channel under fire from prosecutors and religious groups for airing South Park and The Simpsons kept its license Wednesday, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

We unanimously recommended the extension of the license of 2x2 channel, Mikhail Seslavinsky, a member of the Federal Competition Commission for Television and Radio Broadcasting.

Fans had staged protests in support of the channel, fearing that the commission would take 2x2 off the air starting next month after a campaign by religious groups against the irreverent US cartoons.

But the channel still faces a criminal investigation on charges of extremism for broadcasting the notoriously foul-mouthed South Park.

Religious activists heading the campaign against the channel say its cartoons are offensive to their faith. I've got no problem with my sense of humour...BUT...any satire has its limits, Konstantin Bendas, a Pentecostal pastor who is heading the campaign and has written a formal complaint to prosecutors, told AFP.

A popular Turkish singer has defended public statements that Turkey's long conflict with Kurdish rebels needs a solution - not more deaths.

Bulent Ersoy made her comments at a court hearing in Istanbul, after being charged with attempting to turn the public against military service.

The transsexual singer also suggested that if she had a son she would not send him to fight.

If found guilty, she faces up to four-and-a-half years in prison.

Ms Ersoy made her comments about Turkey's powerful military on television last February. The Turkish army was conducting a major operation against the rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in northern Iraq at the time.

The prosecutor accuses Bulent Ersoy of making dangerous propaganda for the PKK, describing military service as the sacred duty of every Turk.

But Ms Ersoy told the judge she had committed no crime. The singer said she stood by her words and her right to express her thoughts freely - as a loyal citizen of her country.

It was a defiant stance, but this case has exposed the limits on free speech in Turkey once again - a country whose military remains extremely powerful, its reputation and actions protected from criticism by law, our correspondent says.

Questioning the Turkish military can be a risky business, our correspondent says. Article 318 of the penal code - dissuading people from military service - is frequently used by the military against its critics. Critics say a separate article, making it a crime to insult the Turkish nation and its institutions, is also used to stifle free speech.

Pornographic, extremist and immoral - that's how Russian prosecutors are describing popular US cartoons like The Simpsons, Family Guy and South Park.

The channel that carries them has been forced to suspend broadcasts of the offending programs pending legal action. On Wednesday (local time), a meeting of a government monitoring agency could take channel 2x2 off the air.

Throngs of teenagers have taken to the streets to demand their favourite cartoons back.

Fans of the cartoons say critics just don't get the joke and are engaging in Soviet-style moral censorship, while opponents say the cartoons are poisoning the minds of Russia's young.

Channel 2x2 is also facing a criminal investigation under strict new Russian legislation against extremism for broadcasting the notoriously foul-mouthed South Park.

Judging by a highly critical statement issued by the prosecutor general's office this month, the prospects for the channel and its cartoons appear bleak in a Russia that commentators say is becoming increasingly conservative: The cartoons broadcast by 2x2 propagandise violence, cruelty, pornography and anti-social behaviour.

The Federal Service for Monitoring in the Sphere of Connections and Mass Communications is set to meet on Wednesday (local time) to discuss whether or not to renew the channel's licence, which runs out on October 17.

The movie Children of the Dark has been disqualified from being screened at the Bangkok International Film Festival.

A month ago, film selectors of the film festival working under no influence from the main sponsor, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), selected Children of the Dark for the line-up. The film is Japanese, and tells the story of a journalist and an activist who arrive in Bangkok and try to help young Thai boys and girls from a ring of child prostitution.

Naturally, the movie makes it clear that there are children being forced into the sex trade here, though in the end, it points the accusing finger at foreigners, Japanese and Western, who prey on the weaknesses of a less developed society and help perpetuate this contemptible practice.

In early 2007, the Japanese producer of the film went through the proper channels by applying for permission to shoot in Bangkok. After reading the script, the Thailand Film Office, the agency supervising foreign film shoots, denied the permit on grounds it contained unsavoury scenes that are difficult to stomach. Yet by some sort of Japanese black magic, Children of the Dark was shot in Thailand anyway.

When the Film Office learned the movie they'd denied a permit for would be screening here, they notified the TAT and the Ministry of Culture. After a deliberation, the festival organisers decided to axe the movie from the line-up because it is, according to them, inappropriate.

The Ministry of Communication has issued a memo to all ISPs in Kuwait asking them to block YouTube access. The popular video website came under fire from the ministry due to content considered offensive to Muslims, a source within the industry told Kuwait Times. The Ministry pointed to content including a video of a man signing verses from the Holy Quran while playing the oud and another video showing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad.

Short Lived

Based on article from itp.net

According to reports, the decision to block access to YouTube has been revoked by the Ministry of Communications after a meeting was held to discuss the issue.

Sunday’s surprise announcement by the Ministry to block YouTube over offensive videos generated angry reactions from people in Kuwait.

Update: Long List

30th September 2008. Based on article from itp.net

An insider working for an ISP in Kuwait has revealed to itp.net that the Ministry has issued a new order to block certain specific links within Youtube.com.

The official paper which has been circulated to ISPs, gives a five page list of specific URLs and key words that are to be blocked, mostly concerning sexual content.

ISPs have yet to implement the ban however, in part due to the confusion surrounding the order, and because of technical concerns about how to implement the blocking.

We have not yet applied any blocking mechanism, mainly because we're worried that such a long list of URLs might overload the CPU usage on our caches. And we're not sure what to do honestly. The decision seems to be definitely delayed until after Eid holiday, said the source.

The Working Committee for pornography bill drafting at the Indonesian House of Representatives said the team will work on its final tasks on Tuesday and Wednesday before handing over the draft to a larger team of legislators to be discussed further.

A member with the working committee said the team made up of ten legislators and government officials, will discuss behind closed doors the remaining sticking points of the draft which were, article 1 on the definition of pornography, and article 20 on pornography ban on the internet.

The draft will be handed to a special committee consists of 50 persons which will discuss the draft after Idul Fitri holiday.

The remaining steps for the draft to be passed are reviews from all ten factions at the legislative and the house plenary session. Two parties still opposed to the bill are Indonesia Democratic Party for Struggle and Prosperous Peace Party.

Tzipi Livni is poised to become Israel’s next prime minister - but ultra-orthodox newspapers in the Jewish state are refusing to publish her picture for reasons of religious modesty.

Only about 600,000 of Israel’s 7 million population are haredi, or ultra-orthodox, but they pack a strong political punch and include key officials including cabinet ministers and the mayor of Jerusalem.

No haredi paper will publish Livni’s picture, said Avraham Kroizer, a public relations adviser to the incoming premier: Graphic artists will blur the faces of women that do make their way into pictures that the papers want to use. They will also blur pictures of television sets or other items deemed improper to be seen by the wider haredi public.

One ultra-orthodox paper also said it would not be using Livni’s name Tzipi - short for ‘Tziporah’ which means ‘bird.’

We might write "Mrs. T. Livni" or just "Mrs. Livni," but the name. Tzipi is too familiar. It is not acceptable to address a woman using her first name, especially when she goes by a nickname, said a senior editor at Hamodia, the oldest ultra-orthodox daily.

Michael Dickinson, a British Stuckist artist in Turkey and a frequent contributor to MungBeing Magazine, was arrested and held by police for 10 days for displaying 2 collage pictures of Turkey's Prime Minister as America's pet dog.

Charged with insulting the prime minister under Article 125 of the Turkish Penal Code, he faces a two year jail sentence if found guilty.

We at MungBeing throw our support fully behind an artist's right of free expression. Any laws that stifle an artist's creative and artistic expression must not be allowed to persist.

After several adjournments the trial is now set for September 25th, 2008.

Miniskirts distracting?... Surely not

Uganda's ethics and integrity minister says miniskirts should be banned - because women wearing them distract drivers and cause traffic accidents.

Nsaba Buturo told journalists in Kampala that wearing a miniskirt was like walking naked in the streets: What's wrong with a miniskirt? You can cause an accident because some of our people are weak mentally.

Wearing a miniskirt should be regarded as indecent, which would be punishable under Ugandan law, Buturo said.

The BBC's Joshua Mmali in Kampala, the capital, said journalists found the minister's comments extremely funny.

Reporters Without Borders discovered today that access to its main website has again been blocked within China. The site had been accessible since 1 August, a week before the start of the Olympic Games.

Our website was accessible for just over a month in China, the press freedom organisation said: The freedom allowed to Chinese Internet users for the Beijing Olympic Games, which the authorities had promised, was just an illusion. There is no letup in online censorship in China. We call for the restoration of access to our site and all the other news and information sites that are blocked in China.

The websites of Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the BBC are still accessible although they continue to be “geoblocked” for Internet users in Tibet. The overseas Chinese news and human rights websites are also blocked, as is the site from which the censorship circumvention software TOR can be downloaded.

Indonesia's parliament has postponed plans to table a controversial anti-pornography Bill after growing opposition from critics who say it could damage native cultural traditions.

The Bill aims to shield the young from pornographic material and lewd acts, but also contains provisions that could see people being jailed for kissing in public or wearing bikinis and could criminalise many forms of art and traditional culture that hinge on sensuality.

Parliamentarians have so far stopped short of passing the Bill because of claims it could jeopardise Indonesia's tradition of tolerance and polarise the country.

Some political parties had been hoping for the Bill's approval this month as the final draft was due to be tabled in parliament on September 23rd.

So far at least two parties - the Christian Peace and Welfare Party and the nationalist Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) - have rejected the proposed Bill.

A Turkish court has banned internet users from viewing the official Richard Dawkins website after a Muslim creationist claimed its contents were defamatory and blasphemous.

Adnan Oktar, who writes under the pen name of Harun Yahya, complained that Dawkins, a fierce critic of creationism and intelligent design, had insulted him in comments made on forums and blogs.

According to Oktar's office, Istanbul's second criminal court of peace banned the site earlier this month on the grounds that it "violated" Oktar's personality.

His press assistant, Seda Aral, said: We are not against freedom of speech or expression ...BUT...you cannot insult people. We found the comments hurtful. It was not a scientific discussion. There was a line and the limit has been passed. We have used all the legal means to stop this site. We asked them to remove the comments but they did not.

Oktar, a household name in Turkey, has used hundreds of books, pamphlets and DVDs to contest Darwin's theory of evolution. In 2006 his publishers sent out 10,000 copies of the Atlas of Creation, a lavish book rejecting evolution on every one of its 800 pages.

Dawkins, one of the recipients, described the book as preposterou". On his website the British biologist and popular science writer said he was at a loss to reconcile the expensive and glossy production values of this book with the breathtaking inanity of the content.

The Thai public is never made aware of the extent of Internet censorship because the ICT ministry operates as secret government.

Recently, MICT announced that it had been blocking 1,200 websites.

No article we've seen points out that the further 400 sites recently blocked by court order on application of MICT are in addition to the original 1,200.

If these figures can be called accurate, MICT is responsible for blocking at least 1,600 websites.

The court order was never made public because, of course, MICT would then have to reveal exactly which sites were being blocked and the reasons for so doing.

About 1,000 Balinese dressed in traditional sarongs rallied Wednesday to protest against a controversial anti-pornography bill that critics say could hurt local cultural traditions.

The bill contains provisions that could jail people for kissing in public and criminalize many forms of art or traditional culture that hinge on sensuality.

Lawmakers have so far stopped short of passing the bill which has been in parliament for over three years because of criticism it would threaten Indonesia's tradition of tolerance.

But some political parties are hoping for its approval this month when the final draft is tabled in parliament. One Islamic party's lawmaker has said the bill would be a Ramadan gift.

We in Bali see the body as aesthetic, but the pornography bill sees the body as an object of sin, said Sugilanus, one of the protesters at the rally in Denpasar, capital of the predominantly Hindu island of Bali.

Reject the pornography bill, some protesters shouted as they performed a sensual traditional dance while others carried banners saying, The porn bill is not a gift but humiliation for the nation.

An anti-pornography bill which is before the Indonesian Parliament may hurt tourism on the island of Bali, some officials have claimed.

The bill, currently in draft form in the House of Representatives, defines pornography as acts that incite sexual desire.

The repressive legislation defines pornography as sexual materials in the form of drawings, sketches, illustrations, photographs, text, sound, moving pictures, animation, cartoons, poetry, conversations or any other form of communicative messages.

But some say the legislation could go as far as jailing people for kissing in public.

Experts see the bill as contentious, because traditional dress in Bali and the sparse clothing and swimwear worn by tourists, could be viewed as pornographic under the legislation.

The island's tourism will clearly suffer should the house pass the bill, said Ngurah Wijaya, head of the Bali Tourism Board.

Bagus Sudibya, a tourism expert, acknowledged the moral stance behind the bill's inception, but warned against hidden agendas in the process to pass it into law. Bagus said the bill should focus on defining explicit pornography designed to arouse sexual desire or exploit women, and not condemn artwork depicting nudity: Many of Bali's trademark attractions are in close connection with its arts, which occasionally depicts women in the nude.

Last Friday, an Indonesian Islamic party, the Prosperous Justice Party said the anti-pornography bill could be a Ramadan present" for Muslims.

The draft bill has been before the Parliament for three years and there is speculation that it may be passed in a few weeks.

In its latest pressure tactic against Iranian bloggers and text-messagers, Iran's government has declared blogs, texting, social networking sites and, more generally, the Internet destructive, tools of media warfare and more dangerous to the public than addiction. It also is threatening to charge some bloggers with heresy, which could carry a death sentence.

Under the guise of protecting the Iranian people from supposedly dangerous online material such as pornography, the Majlis (Iranian parliament) has proposed legislation that associates bloggers with violent criminals and proposed a committee to confront bloggers and those who have Internet sites, and control them - if necessary to filter them, or otherwise open a case and turn them over to judicial authorities for arrest.

They in fact want to create a preventive measure within families. And on the other hand, they have brought up the subject of execution for bloggers - under the claim of heresy or publishing material that would lead and encourage corruption and prostitution, said a blogger.

The crime of heresy can be interpreted very broadly by the authorities.

YouTube has moved to ban videos that supposedly incite violence following criticism in the UK and US that it needed to toughen its policies.

Google-owned YouTube has updated its community rules - specifically pointing out that a new addition is to make sure no videos directly incite violence.

We realise it's not always obvious where we draw the line on content that's acceptable to upload, said YouTube in a blog post: We've updated the community guidelines… included in the update are a few new things to steer clear of, like not directly inciting violence.

Within YouTube's community rules section, the updated rules include two points on violent videos. Graphic or gratuitous violence is not allowed, points out one rule: If your video shows someone getting hurt, attacked or humiliated, don't post it.

The second relevant rule relates to hate speech: We do not permit hate speech (speech which attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion, disability, gender, age, veteran status and sexual orientation/gender identity).

Canada Post will continue to ban sexually explicit material from its general delivery admail service, despite a January ruling at least partially upholding the Sex Party's right to freedom of expression.

The Sex Party challenged Canada Post's criteria for Non-Mailable Matter in 2006 after the postal agency refused to deliver one of its political pamphlets. The pamphlet outlined the party's Politics for a Sex-Positive Future and contained a sexual IQ test and images of potentially erotic art, including a photo of a doorknob in the shape of a penis.

Canada Post rejected the pamphlet because, according to its admail policy at the time, it will not knowingly deliver offensive articles that contain sexually explicit material.

Ruling that the corporation's restrictions were impermissibly vague, federal court Justice Michel Beaudry gave Canada Post six months to clarify its regulations and define what counts as sexually explicit.

When the case was heard last October, Canada Post lawyer Steinman offered the following definition: representations of nudity suggestive of sexual activity, representations of sexual intercourse, and written text describing sexual acts in a way that is more than technical all fall under the umbrella of sexually explicit, he said.

Had that definition been included in the corporation's regulations to begin with, Beaudry said he would have dismissed the Sex Party's complaint outright. Imposing certain conditions on the distribution of sexually explicit material is demonstrably justifiable in a free and democratic society, he ruled.

The revised policy states that admail containing images or representations of nudity that are suggestive of sexual activity, images or representations of sexual intercourse, and text that describes sexual acts in a way that is more than purely technical must now be enclosed in an opaque envelope marked adult material. Material considered illegal under Canada's obscenity law is entirely prohibited.

Killing Kenny is apparently against the law, and the popular South Park cartoon series appears set to become the latest victim of Russia’s crackdown on “extremism.”

As the Interfax news agency reports, Moscow city prosecutors have filed a motion with the Basmanny regional court after finding that an episode of the show broadcast in January bore signs of extremist activity. Simultaneously, the channel that broadcasts the American cartoon, 2×2, has been issued a warning for disseminating extremist materials.

An investigation conducted by prosecutors found fault with an episode titled Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Special, which went on air on January 9th. Experts found that the show humiliates the honor and dignity of Christians and Muslims, offends the feeling of believers regardless of their denomination, and can provoke interethnic conflict, up to and including extremist acts.

A panel of experts examined the 12 animated series shown on 2x2, including 118 films. Among them are the Simpsons, Family Guy, Metalocalypse, Drawn Together, Lenore the Cute Little Dead Girl, Angry Kid, and others.

The experts found that the cartoons do not correspond to the legal requirements for protecting children’s moral and mental development and protecting their health. The cartoons promote violence and cruelty, pornography, anti-social behavior, abound with scenes of mayhem, the infliction of physical and ethical suffering, and are aimed at invoking fear, panic and terror in children, the Office said in a statement: Practically all the cartoons exploit the topic of suicide, and characters demonstrate readiness to risk their lives for the sake of deriving extreme sensations.

The atheist website RichardDawkins.net has been blocked in Turkey where viewers encounter a white screen saying: Access to this site has been denied by court order.

However there has been no official explanation of the ban. Suggestions for the ban include hacking and a comment that might have offended the litigation happy muslim creationist, Adnan Oktar, or Harun Yahya.

The block seems to be easily worked around using proxies or open DNS servers outside of Turkey.

Speaking to Edge, games make Bethesda has explained what it calls a “misconception” regarding the classification of Fallout 3 in the Australian region. Edge has also learned that due to concerns and issues raised in the process of international classification, Fallout 3 will not contain real world drug references in any territory.

Fallout 3 was originally refused classification by the Australian Censor Board, citing among other reason the in-game use of Morphine in order to ignore limb pain. According to the censor’s guidelines, material promoting or encouraging proscribed drug use is banned.

In mid-August, the OFLC announced that a revised version of the game had been granted a rating in Australia, thanks to edits that changed the context of the in-game drug use.

While it has been assumed that these changes would only be in place in the Australian release of the game, Edge has been told by Bethesda vice president of PR Peter Hines that there will be no differences between the version that releases in Australia and the versions that will release in other territories, including Europe and the US.

Hines said, An issue was raised concerning references to real world, proscribed drugs in the game, and we subsequently removed those references and replaced them with fictional names. To avoid confusion among people in different territories, we decided to make those substitutions in all versions of the game, in all territories.

MF Husain, India's most renowned living artist, faces years of exile despite a ruling from the country's supreme court.

He will not be able to return to India unless the hundreds of cases claiming he hurt Hindu sentiment are withdrawn, say experts despite a ruling from the country's supreme court clearing him of the charges.

The artist has been in self-imposed exile since January 2006, forced out by threats from Hindu groups enraged by his paintings of nude gods and goddesses. Three supreme court judges considered whether his painting, Bharat Mata (Mother India), which depicts a nude woman on her knees creating the shape of a map of India, was sacrilegious.

The bench rejected the petition seeking prosecution for offending Hindus, saying it was a work of art and citing India's tradition of graphic sexual iconography.

Does the sentiment of the petitioner get scandalized by the large number of photographs of erotic sculptures which are in circulation? the judges asked: It is an art like the sculptures. None get scandalized looking at the sculptures.

Good, but not good enough.

That was the verdict yesterday of a group of bloggers on a list of proposals the Singapore Government-sponsored panel had put up for managing new media.

It has some good, forward-looking options but the approach was overly-cautious, said a group which calls itself The Bloggers 13.

The Advisory Council on the Impact of New Media on Society (Aims) has released its consultation paper and is now seeking public feedback on its proposals.

In fact, for every Aims suggestion that called for a relaxing of restrictions, the bloggers went one-up and asked for the law to be removed completely.

Where the panel gave three ideas for easing the ban on party political films, the bloggers wanted an unconditional repeal of Section 33 of the Films Act.

They also wanted Section 35 of the Films Act to go, a move that would strip the Government of powers to ban films

The panel had also urged that more activities be allowed for online election advertising. But the bloggers asked if such a list is even necessary.

Similarly, they disagreed with Aims' suggestion that political bloggers be exempted from registering under the Class License Scheme. They want it dumped altogether. The scheme requires all who deal with political material or religious issues online to register with the Media Development Authority.

In addition, it treats all websites as automatically licensed, meaning their owners must adhere to a prescribed code of conduct. For instance, the code prohibits the posting of pornographic material. The bloggers argue that existing laws adequately deal with pornography or racial and religious hate-mongering without the need for such a scheme.

The only suggestion they agreed with is the lifting of the ban on 100 websites. Aims believes that once its proposals for the protection of minors are in place, the list becomes unnecessary.

A draft law pushed by the Korean Communication Commission (KCC), the country's telecommunication and broadcasting regulator, that imposes strengthened identification policies for Internet users is sparking widespread protests from the public and media.

The revised bill mandates all Internet sites with more than 100,000 daily visitors to verify the identities of their users.

This is a stronger version of the current telecommunications law that imposes identity verification for sites with more than 300,000 visitors.

The designated sites require subscribers to submit their private information such as I-PIN, an alternative identification system for online users, and also reveal their real name or register nicknames when they post comments.

Internet companies must disclose the identities of the users accused of cyber attacks when victims seek to sue for libel or privacy infringement.

Following a review by the Regulatory Reform Committee (RRC), the KCC is expecting the revised law to be enforced as early as October.

The KCC hired a group of 10 people, including industry experts and scholars, for a project to research the impact of the strengthened identity verification system. However, despite the group having yet to produce a study, regulators are fast-tracking the bill anyway.

The government, which first introduced the identity verification policy last year, claims that the measures are essential to curb cyber attacks and other 'negative online behavior'.

However, critics argue that the revised law is a strong threat to the freedom of speech on the Internet and could be abused as a tool for censorship.

Another controversial provision of the KCC bill is the mandating of portals to suspend the publishing of articles deemed fraudulent or slanderous for a minimum of 30 days while a media arbitration body rules on the legitimacy of the complaints. For example, should a blogger or online journalist write a post criticizing the government, the new rules will have Web sites immediately pull the articles for a month if they receive a complaint.

Due to the unclear definition of cyber bullying and malicious online messages, there is a danger that authorities might use their power arbitrarily, critics said.

The KCC admits that the identity verification system has so far had a limited impact on curbing cyber bullying since its introduction in July last year, saying that the number of 'malicious' messages reduced by only about 2%.