Nutters are furious over a new Apple application which allows teenagers to access softcore pornography via the popular iPhone.

Dubbed 'iPorn' it is the first time the country's one million iPhone users can view such images with an application approved by the computer company.

The Hottest Girls package, which costs £1.19, is a 17-rated version of an older application that used to offer bikini and lingerie shots.

Previously users have been able to download softcore content from the web on to the iPhone but this is the first time such images have been available with Apple's permission.

The application is rated for those aged 17 and over, although this relies on teenage iPhone users telling the truth about their age when they sign up to the App Store.

Parents in the know can set controls on the new iPhone3GS that will stop the app appearing.

Miranda Suit, co-founder of the nutter group MediaMarch told MailOnline she was appalled: We are very concerned about the mainstreaming of pornography. It is being packaged in a tempting way and will be disastrous for youngsters who are not equipped to deal with such content. And what about the growing number of sex addicts? I know of cases where they are trying to avoid certain films and magazines, but now even their phone will be a risk for them. We urge the Government to look at the affect pornography has on children and vulnerable adults.

The application was amongst the first approved for a new 17 rating introduced to the iPhone Store.

However all is not clear as the Hottest Girls app was later removed from the App store sparking off stories that Apple have changed their mind in response to bad press.

Even later it was reported that the developer had asked for the App to be removed due to high demand on servers.

No doubt the situation will become clearer later

Update: Apple, Rotten to the Core

27th June 2009. See article from theregister.co.uk

Apple have now come out as he censorial villain of the piece. By yesterday afternoon Apple was telling CNN:

The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed ... This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store.

But it's not just Hottest Girls that has disappeared from the Application store - other titles from the same publisher have also been exorcised including Hottest Guys and Send Flowers.

Even the developer's web site (now) contains no reference to any of the applications or the accompanying fuss, so Apple has managed to ensure that iPhone users can download applications freely without fear of encountering a rouged female nipple, for another day at least.

The Moral Maze
BBC Radio 4
Wednesday 24 June at 8pm

The co-founder of nutter group Media March, Miranda Suit, will be taking part in The Moral Maze on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday 24 June at 8pm.

The subject is the film Antichrist by Lars von Trier, which has just been passed uncut with an 18 certificate by the BBFC.

This film is said to be the most shocking ever seen at the Cannes Film Festival and provoked disgust and revulsion among seasoned critics, say Miranda and colleague Pippa Smith: It contains gruesome scenes of torture, real sex and a particularly shocking scene of genital self-mutilation. In an act of deep cynicism, the film will be promoted by trailers rated 15.

The pair are inviting their supporters to pray for Miranda who will undoubtedly face a grilling by the panel.

Update: Lost in the Maze

26th June 2009 See article from mediasnoops.wordpress.com
Listen to Moral Maze from bbc.co.uk

Mediamarch self appointed moral guardian Miranda Suit was on the religious biased The Moral Maze on Radio 4 last night debating whether films featuring explicit violence and mutilation should be shown in cinemas.

Ms Suit quoted a lot of subjective evidence which apparently links screen violence to real life violence. But she struggled to convince anyone that watching violence on screen turns normal people into raging psychotic killers. Which neither she or any of her self appointed moral guardian friends can do.

Antichrist, which includes graphic unsimulated sex and a scene of genital self-mutilation, has been authorised for release with no cuts by the BBFC.

John Beyer, the director of Mediawatch-UK predictably condemned the BBFC's decision to give Antichrist a mainstream rating:

Films of this sort, with such extreme content, should not be classified for public exhibition anywhere. The BBFC should have declined classification and rejected this film.

We all know that youngsters get into films that are not age appropriate and with a 15-rated trailer, it is being deliberately marketed at a younger audience who will inevitably see the film.

When people are being entertained by mutilation, that is beyond the pale.

Philip Knatchbull, the chief executive of Artificial Eye, which is distributing the film, said:

There is no doubt that Antichrist is a controversial film but it's our duty as a distributor to present the works of talented directors such as Lars von Trier in their original form, exactly as the director intended.

We fully support the BBFC's decision to allow people to make up their own minds about this film.

Julian Brazier the Conservative MP for Canterbury and Whitstable who has campaigned for more film censorship, said:

From the accounts I have heard of Antichrist, this does seem to be one more example of how the BBFC has given up on trying to regulate material which the majority of the public feel is offensive.

Brazier said that an R18 certificate, where films can only be shown in specially licensed cinemas or sex shops, would be more appropriate for Antichrist.

Gainsbourg, the daughter of the British actress Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, the late French singer, won best actress at Cannes for her role in the film. She has defended von Trier against accusations that the film exploits women. She said:

He is depicting women of course with violence and very hard sex and pain and suffering, but I don't think that he is judging women in a negative way.

Von Trier, who wrote the film while suffering from depression, has said of Antichrist:

The film does not contain any specific moral code and only has what some might call 'the bare necessities' in the way of a plot.

In any case, I can offer no excuse for Antichrist. Other than my absolute belief in the film.

No doubt about it—Sacha Baron Cohen uses every negative gay stereotype you could possibly imagine in his portrayal of Brüno, his Austrian fashion journalist alter ego.

He's a flamboyant limp-wristed queen who has wild sex, dresses in barely-there S&M ensembles and has never met a Swarovski crystal he doesn't like.

Is it any wonder that a big portion of gay Hollywood finds parts of the upcoming Brüno movie more offensive than humorous?

GLAAD, the gay media watchdog group, is so concerned about Cohen's depiction of homosexuality in the flick that it asked Universal Pictures, the studio releasing Brüno, to include a message of support for gay rights and tolerance from Cohen at the end of the movie. The request was denied.

One scene includes Brüno and a sexual partner tied up in chains in a hotel room, wearing nothing but G-strings. Also in the room? A tarp on the wall is dirtied with fecal stains and there are gerbils in a dresser drawer, according to Hollywood blog The Wrap.

Robinson said GLAAD is also concerned about a scene in which Brüno appears on a talk show to discuss his adoption of an African baby. They asked that a photo shown during the bit showing a baby sitting in the same hot tub where two men are having sex be cut.

Universal has promised that GLAAD can see the movie another time before its July 7 debut, Robinson said. A rep for the studio declined to comment about the possibility of a future screening.

Christian Concern for our Nation is urging Christians to pray and act against a Bill passing through Parliament that could lead to the legalisation of assisted suicide and the removal of a free speech protection clause in relation to sexual orientation.

The Coroners and Justice Bill will be debated in the House of Lords on June 23 and may go to vote the following day.

Under current law, Christians have the right to discuss, criticise and urge abstinence from certain forms of sexual conduct.

CCFON has warned that if the Bill is passed, it will: open the door to police investigation of Christians for merely commenting on the Christian viewpoint on sexual conduct and thereby prohibit the preaching of the Gospel.

CCFON is urging Christians to sign its Life & Liberty, which will be delivered to the Queen, Prime Minister and Leader of the House of Lords. The petition asks them to protect the value of human life by opposing proposed amendments authorising state-sanctioned assisted suicide and to protect freedom of speech by retaining the free speech clause within the sexual orientation hatred offence.

CCFON is also inviting Christians to join in a prayer meeting in Westminster on June 22.

12 activist objects and a photographer descended upon the two WH Smiths in London's Liverpool Street station on Friday to celebrate the third national Feminist Friday by covering the entire lads' mags displays with paper bags and slogans objecting to the sexist portrayal of women as objects.

Object said: The reception we received from customers in the two shops was really supportive, with one woman telling us that seeing younger women actively engaged in feminist activism and not passively accepting the sexist messages we see all around us had 'made her day'; a group of 14 year old girls really keen to discuss the impact of lads' mags on how girls and women are viewed and treated and wanting to get involved; and many other women and men signing our petition against lads' mags being sold as part of the mainstream media.

It was good fun and empowering - a great opportunity to take a stand against the pornification of culture and to say - women are human, stop treating us like objects!

Catholics are urging the Polish government and organizers to ban pop star Madonna's concert scheduled for Aug. 15, the Assumption of Mary feast.

Marian Brudzynski, member of the Mazowiecki regional assembly, said Madonna cannot sing on the religious feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary and announced a protest committee is being organized to stop the concert.

Brudzynski, a former member of the conservative League of Polish Families party, said Catholics will do all in their power to prevent the concert from taking place. The protest committee plans to ask Interior Minister Grzegorz Schetyna to cancel the concert, he said.

Brudzynski said if they fail to stop Madonna's concert they will stage a massive picket outside and added: We want to stifle Madonna.

Krzysztof Zagozda, of the Catholic Society organization, said the concert would hurt Poles' religious sentiment as Madonna's performances are anti-Christian.

Stanislaw Malkowski, former Warsaw Solidarity union's chaplain, said the Catholic church and the Polish nation should protest loudly against the Madonna concert.

After fighting for the removal of the book Baby Be-Bop from a Wisconsin, library, the Christian Civil Liberties Union and three other plaintiffs have sued over the book, seeking the right to publicly burn or destroy by another means the book and asking for $120,000 in damages because they were exposed to it in a library display.

Accusing the board of submitting to the will of the American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union, plaintiff Ginny Maziarka declared, We vehemently reject their standards and their principles, and characterized the debate as a propaganda battle to maintain access to inappropriate material. She cautioned that her group would let people know that the library was not a safe place unless it segregated and labeled young adult titles with explicit content.

For the immediate future, West Bend officials will be dealing with the CCLU's legal claim. Describing the novel by celebrated author Francesca Lia Block as explicitly vulgar, racial, and anti-Christian, the complaint by Braun, Joseph Kogelmann, Rev. Cleveland Eden, and Robert Brough explains that the plaintiffs, all of whom are elderly, claim their mental and emotional well-being was damaged by this book at the library, specifically because Baby Be-Bop contains the word 'nigger' and derogatory sexual and political epithets that can incite violence and put one's life in possible jeopardy, adults and children alike.

Composer Benny Andersson of Abba fame has contributed one million kronor ($128,000) to ensure that Swedish voters have a chance to vote for Gudrun Schyman’s Feminist Initiative (Feministiskt initiative - FI) political party in Sunday's EU parliamentary elections.

Schyman has previously taken offence at the fact that ballots for FI were not available at all polling stations. And she claims that Andersson wants to spend his money to bring attention to the technical issues related to voting: This is not a contribution to an electoral campaign. It is the question of democracy that is important here.

Anderson confirmed the news in a statement: Because I sympathize with Gudrun Schyman’s persistent struggle for equal treatment, I offered to try and help by providing financial support for an advertisement that explains what to do when the pre-printed ballots are missing.

On Friday, Schyman published full-spread advertisements in several Swedish newspapers. But Andersson also supports Schyman's politics and would like to see her gain a seat in the EU Parliament.

The Catholic Church in Malaysia has lost its latest bid to use 'Allah' as a translation for 'God' in its newspaper pending a further court case now set for 7th July 2009.

High Court judge Lau Bee Lan made the decision after hearing submissions from two counsels for the applicant, Archbishop Datuk Murphy Nicholas Xavier Pakiam, and two counsels for the respondent, the Home Ministry, according to Bernama, Malaysian National News Agency.

A spokesmand for the Home Ministry told reporters outside the chambers that if the High Court allowed the church to use ‘Allah’ in a non-Muslim context, it would be helping the church to commit an offense under state laws. This means that the church’s weekly news publication, The Herald, cannot use the word until the court decides.

The Rev Father Lawrence Andrew, who edits the Catholic weekly, was disappointed with the outcome: We had asked them to lift the ban so that we can use the word until the court decides. We are innocent until proven guilty, so why shouldn’t we use it, Father Andrew told AFP:The court is going to hear our case on July 7 so that’s an opening in the dark tunnel.

Under the Control and Restriction of the Propagation of non-Islamic Religious Enactment passed into law by 10 states in 1988, it is an offence for non-Muslims to use the word ‘Allah’ to refer to any God other than the Muslim God.