Ofcom Discussion

I agree with alot of what you said scottish bloke, although itv did get one complaint on a suicide scene in a film that they have shown in the afternoon for 30 years, and they cut it cuz of ofcom!!!.
For me the only way we are gonna win this fight against ofcom, is for a straight male getting the top job, and relaxing the rules once in power.

if anyone has evidence to prove that porn dont cause harm to the physical or mental well being of a minor, then your best option would be taking ofcom to court, supposedly a petition got enough signatures the likelihood that any ofcom rules would change would be very unlikely due to the fact that *we have to protect the minors*, as long as porn is conceived to be harmful to minors you can expect ofcom, and its bloody rules regarding programs appropriate to broadcast, to hang around

It's 3:15pm and I've just been watching a bit of CSI. In the ten minutes I was watching there was an autopsy, the discovery of a decomposing body on a rubbish tip and severed limbs, all shown in fairly graphic detail.

Do you think my single complaint to Ofcom would lead to the channel being found in breach?

(14-09-2012 14:19 )StanTheMan Wrote:  It's 3:15pm and I've just been watching a bit of CSI. In the ten minutes I was watching there was an autopsy, the discovery of a decomposing body on a rubbish tip and severed limbs, all shown in fairly graphic detail.

Do you think my single complaint to Ofcom would lead to the channel being found in breach?

I don't think so.
The whole rationale behind their policy is to stop explicit sex being shown on UK TV.
Anything else is totally superflous to the argument.
They are terrified of the British people being sexually excited (read this as they are terrified of themselves getting sexually excited).

They will tell lies to stop adults enjoying erotic entertainment.

Well I don't no about anyone else but I'm totally confused about this while Dutch license it seems when i come on this forum there seems to be differing opinions on whether the Dutch licence is really worth having? Now I no that ofcom complained to the Dutch regulator not so long ago about them allowing nudity after 10pm on the freeview EPG, and basically they told ofcom to piss off.
Now if I've got this right in my mind, because babestation HQ is in holland technically ofcom can't touch them because they're under the Dutch regulator, so my question is really? is that it? I no they have Babestation extreme which you have to pay for, however say if Babestation extreme never exististed, would babestation be allowed to show full frontal nudity say after 10pm? I'm not sure. To be honest with you all I'm just a bit confused about the whole Dutch licence thing

This has been debated for months with no clear outcome. Some people say they are immune, others come back and contradict. In particular they ask why they don't go further if they are immune.

For what it's worth, all free to view European babe channels massively toned down a few years ago. Encrypted stuff might be h/c but the free stuff is tame. Have a look at clips on another (Euro) forum if unsure. Posters there get excited about the odd topless segment. There might be a judgement that a minor transgression like starting 2 hours early will be tolerated, particularly when the rule is inconsistent compared to another format (satellite) but a blatant fullon breach might demand escalating action until resolved.

We know Ofcom are selective. They actually licence R18 on demand streaming hardcore as part of the Video On Demand regulator. They ignore foreign hardcore porn satellite services targetted on the UK with decoders openly sold in the UK, even where those channels feature content banned in R18 such as fisting and pissing. Their view is probably that viewer numbers are small and the viewers are making informed choices.

(15-09-2012 22:40 )eccles Wrote:  This has been debated for months with no clear outcome. Some people say they are immune, others come back and contradict. In particular they ask why they don't go further if they are immune.

For what it's worth, all free to view European babe channels massively toned down a few years ago. Encrypted stuff might be h/c but the free stuff is tame. Have a look at clips on another (Euro) forum if unsure. Posters there get excited about the odd topless segment. There might be a judgement that a minor transgression like starting 2 hours early will be tolerated, particularly when the rule is inconsistent compared to another format (satellite) but a blatant fullon breach might demand escalating action until resolved.

The thing is Cellcast/BS are not transgressing UK laws either in a minor or full on way and are operating with the blessing of the Dutch regulator and adhering to NICAM's regulations, even if they did transgress in some major way NICAM are the ones that are legaly bound to deal with it and not Ofcom . BS are presently not doing anything that cannot be shown lawfully on UK tv, you cannot be found in breach for breaking any rules of a freeview teleshopping licence that you do not have, Cellcast are not breaking any laws for what can be shown on "editorial" programs in the UK when they start before 12am . They have to abide by UK and European directives but not Ofcom's stupid freeview Teleshopping licence regulations .
Apparently in the Netherland these types of programs are categorised as "General entertainment" not adult telleshopping .
We know Ofcom have been complaining to the Dutch regulator and been told to fuck off , the Dutch regulator and Cellcast and Ofcom all know that what BS broadcasts on tv is not breaking any UK or European laws , the only thing they are doing is ignoring Ofcom's freeview Telleshopping licence regulations a licence BS does not have so cannot be found in breach of its regulations , Like i said BS is regulated by NICAM and Nicam is the one responsible for regulating BS on freeview and also Sky Ch 906 .
Ofcom have said they do not regulate BS and are powerless to prevent them from not abiding to Teleshoppng rules .

Check out this link below and scroll down to the bottom of page 48 and the top of 49 and point number 4.3.9 , it concerns a freeview channel respondent stating their objection to the channels being in a adult genre section, the channel respondent states that in the Netherlands they are classed as general entertainment and not adult , BS perhaps ?

http://www.dmol.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_..._Final.pdf

The more i post in this thread and read questions asked and answers given the more confused i get concerning channels when regulated on UK TV by a oversees regulatory body, so i thought i would post a few things that are facts, other things i mention are my own understanding on how things work .

Firstly, we know from reading Ofcom's own statements that they do not regulate channels that broadcast on UK TV that don't have a Ofcom licence, they cannot Block these channels , they cannot fine them , hand out sanctions or revoke their licence . In Cellcasts case NICAM the Dutch regulator is the organisation empowered with the responsibility to regulate what BS does on UK TV . Any complaints Ofcom get concerning the Cellcast channel that NICAM regulates is handed over to NICAM by Ofcom , NICAM then address these complaints not Ofcom . All this is fact as Ofcom have said so in their own statements .

Secondary, BS/Cellcast are not breaking UK or European rules by starting before the 12am freeview babe channel watershed, i made a post a few weeks ago were i said BS were breaking Rules by starting before 12 on freeview , i was then sent a pm by a forum member pointing out they they were infact not breaking any laws for editorial programs that are shown on UK tv before 12am , they are just not working to Ofcom's adult freeview teleshoppng rules licence because they do not have one .

Thirdly , questions have been asked why BS if they are not regulated by Ofcom don't show harder content , a few reasons have been given , loss of revenue for BS Xtreme, pic/vid downloads etc as been given as one possible reason , the Dutch channels showing the same feed as the Ofcom channels has also been given , both could possibly have a bearing on how explicit a show is broadcast .
But lets remember the Dutch regulator is responsible for what is broadcast by BS on UK TV , Nicam are the ones with the responsibility of making sure BS don't transmit anything that breaks UK laws or causes harm or offence to the UK public , from what i can understand European guidelines, directives, laws or whatever you call them concerning the remit of a regulatory body that regulates what is shown on tv in another country is to regulate them in a manner that does not breach generally excepted standards of that country that it broadcast to , Nicam's duty is to ensure that BS doesn't go further than what they deem to be generally accepted standards of the UK viewers and not what is allowed on Dutch tv .
Nicam have listened to Ofcom's complaint about the freeview start time and thrown out the complaint , so i assume Nicam think that showing topless girls on freeview before 12am is not exceeding generally excepted standard of the UK population of what is likely to be shown on UK tv after 10pm in a clearly marked adult section .
This is decision is different from what Ofcom think, but Nicam are the ones that make the desisions about channels they regulate and not Ofcom
.Both Ofcom and Nicam have to stick to the guidelines drawn up for regulation of channels that broadcast to another European country , neither from my understanding are totally free to regulate how they want when they regulate channels broadcasting to another country .
Nicam when regulating channels that broadcast to the UK must take into account the UK laws and the perceived expectation of the UK viewer, how they regulate UK channels compared to Dutch channels could well be different if generally expected standards are thought to be different .

^^^ Superb post mr mystery. I suggest it's made sticky at the top of this thread because it answers a lot of the regularly-repeated questions about this issue.

Yes, the best post on the subject so far! It explains pretty much all the questions I've been asking regarding BS's content. Thanks, mr mystery.