03-08-2007, 07:29 PM
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♦*♥Moderatrix♥*♦
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: on top of it all
Posts: 50,568
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Australia's porn industry challenges film ratings
(gg)
By Rob Taylor
CANBERRA (Reuters) - Australia's porn industry began a
court challenge to the country's film ratings on
Thursday in a test case which family groups said could
lead to explicit sex movies being sold openly in shops
and petrol stations.
Pornographic movies can only be sold legally in two
Australian territories, including the capital
Canberra, and generated an estimated A$500 million
($393 million) last year, mainly through mail orders.
While it is legal to own or watch sexually-explicit
movies at home anywhere in Australia, sales are banned
in the country's six states.
Australia's censors rate films from G, which are open
to anyone, to R for violent or disturbing films
suitable only for adults, and X for sexually-explicit
films with heavily restricted distribution.
Now pornography company AdultShop.com Limited has
asked the Federal Court to overturn the X category
used by censors, arguing community tastes had changed
since standards were drafted in 1984.
"The Office of Film and Literature Classification is
required to take into account current community
standards in relation to explicit erotic films,"
AdultShop Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Day told
Reuters.
AdultShop operates 28 retail stores throughout
Australia and New Zealand and is valued at around A$9
million. The company sold A$42 million worth of adult
products last year.
Day denied the court action was aimed at boosting
business, although he described the company's current
worth as "dismal," blaming state restrictions.
A survey for the company last September by ACNielsen
found 70 percent of Australian adults were not
offended by explicit erotic films and 76 percent
thought they should be available on a restricted
basis.
SOFT PORN, HARD SELL
"At the end of the day we're in business, but we're
not the only company selling adult films. As a result
of the restrictions 95 per cent of films are sold
uncontrolled on the black market," Day said.
The company decided on court action after censors gave
an X rating to the comedy "Viva Erotica" about a
failed Hong Kong director who decides to make a
softcore film starring his girlfriend Miss Mango to
pay his bills.
"The OFLC's decision to classify 'Viva Erotica' X18+
was based upon the film containing depictions of
actual sexual activity between consenting adults and
did not address whether or not the content within the
film was likely to cause offence," Day said.
As the case opened, the classification board said it
would begin public forums over the next six months to
gauge whether people agreed with current ratings.
Anti-porn activists said any move to weaken standards
could see porn become more easily available in video
stores and shops.
"There is a demand for pornography. We would be of the
view that that's regrettable, but that's a different
debate. People can access X-rated material in
Australia very easily at the moment," the Australian
Family Association's Angela Conway told Australian
Broadcasting Corp. radio.
But Day won support from respected prime-time film
reviewer Margaret Pomerantz, who said non-violent
pornography should not be solely singled out for
draconian restrictions.
"It can make people happy. It can improve people's sex
lives," she told a community forum in Sydney.
($1=A$1.27)
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