egafd.com

according to this

Money making scheme it is.... listen how many times the work 'marketing' or 'marketing a brand' is used.

and anyway the BBFC have no legal power as such...... as clearly stated on their website.

"They just provide evidence in support of Trading Standards and other enforcement agencies such as Police and Customs" if they believe an offence has been committed.

Yes, with the decline in porn video releases, the BBFC are panicking that maybe their cash-cow is about to drop down dead. So they want to get their greedy mits in some other area, to raise revenue.

The culture in this country now is for the authorities to raise revenue in every possible way, motorists, workers, us and in fact everyone who plays in the system is a target. If you're out of the system you can get away with murder.

Eventually, when CCTV cameras can identify your face electronically, you will be charged for merely walking the streets!

Joe

Where did it ever say the government appointed the BBFC to regulate anything? If thats the case why is there inconsistencies between BBFC and OFCOM?

What difference does it make anyway? I'm sure if it was government appointed then why not make the online scheme compulsory form the bat.

..And Jim, they did admit to that in the interview about future proofing in line with current trend of online business. Without porn its going to be huge anyway. However they did not confirm because dvd sales were going down.

There seems to be evidence (porn aside) that sales on dvd were up last year. Either way, the BBFC are still doing a tidy sum on dvd.

Lots will watch what benefits if any the BBFC Online scheme will bring before commiting to it, to try to regulate or want more revenue from British porn will bring unrest in most producers whilst our foreign friends are allowed to flood the web free of charge. What do Europeon Ministers think of this policy & do they agree, also will it become the norm for all porn sites to be certified in all European countries (under their own cert rules).

Kim & John

All those questions were answered in the interview Kim.

Honestly I dont think its a bad thing. I wont be part of it (well not at this point in time anyway)

The scheme was set up for those with more commercial interests wanting bigger market penetration.

For the most part of the porn producing community it will be business as usual.

Copied and pasted from the about section on

The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body, which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912, and videos since the passing of the Video Recordings Act in 1984.

'Parliament passed the Video Recordings Act in 1984. This Act required that all video works (including laserdiscs and, later, DVDs) must be classified - and, if necessary, cut or rejected - by an authority designated by the Home Secretary (it is now the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport - the DCMS)'

independent/authority designated by the Home Secretary

Is that supposed to mean something? If it is 'independent' do you think being appointed by the government makes it 'independent'?
The government can sack the BBFC. They can designate a different authority.
I think in the interview the solicitor/bbfc reviewer said the producers could get their own classification scheme. But if the government appoints only 1 body to do the classification then the point is mute. It is slightly misleading.

your turn.

I think they are more privatised but I think for them to become official their policies had to be ratified by the government who let them get on with it.

I believe if the government still had a say so they would outlaw porn in an instant which makes me believe they are independent of the government. Especially on more controversial movies ie Natural Born Killers and The Last Temptation Of Christ. If anything, their devolvement might be a compromise. Remeber Jack Straws visit to Soho a few years ago? If he had his way he would have shut them down by outlawing the local councils from issuing licenses to all those sex shops which is one of several reasons I believe that they are not controlled by th egovernment per se.

I believe what Andy Cooke was saying is that we can have our own classification system but to make it official and legal it would have to get the government seal of approval otherwise it wouldnt mean as much.

Anyway the scheme is here to stay and not much we can do about it now. Actually theres nothing we can do about it now. I just hoped the interview cleared up any misunderstandings so that we can all get back to business knowing more about what it is rather than what it isnt.

Reading that link the BBFC was set up much earlier than that. The BBFC Online scheme is reminiscent of a time when video was nerw and they had to rush in regualtion because of video nasties.

Like everything the BBFC is just evolving in sync with new technology and platforms. Therefore the new scheme should come as no surprise whatsoever.