Pop star Nazril “Ariel” Irham has been charged under Indonesia’s controversial anti-pornography law.

The 29-year-old could face 12 years in jail for the two home-made films, which are said to feature him and two female companions.

The scandal has attracted huge attention in Indonesia.

Some say it highlights the stringent nature of Indonesia’s anti-pornography law, enacted in 2008 after considerable debate.

via BBC News.

Tell that to the patrons of the Pussycat Lounge, a strip club where a photo of a nearly naked woman marks its location just two blocks from where the World Trade Center stood.

Or the Thunder Lingerie and peep show next door, where the marquee sports an American flag above a window display of sex toys and something called a “power pump.”

Many come to the scene of the worst terrorist attack on American soil to pay tribute to pain and unspeakable tragedy. They’re welcomed by solemn memorials and a visitors center amid the noise of reconstruction.

If they’re so inclined, they can also buy porn, play the ponies and take care of all manner of personal business within steps of the former World Trade Center.

In a walk of the streets within three blocks of Ground Zero, the Daily News counted 17 pizza shops, 18 bank branches, 11 bars, 10 shoe stores and 17 separate salons where a girl can get her lady parts groomed.

“There is something for everyone downtown, from mom-and-pop establishments to luxury retailers such as Tiffany’s and Hermes,” said Jeff Simmons of the Alliance for Downtown New York.

There are at least 10 churches in lower Manhattan south of Canal St., three synagogues, one Buddhist community center and a Hare Krishna facility. There’s also a Muslim prayerhouse that, on its website, denies any connection to “any other organization trying to build anything new in the area of downtown Manhattan.”

It may be sacred ground, but the streets surrounding Ground Zero are also a place where New Yorkers work, eat and buy shampoo.

“Ground Zero is pizza, cafes and apartments,” said Nick Champa, 21, a lower Manhattan student who says he opposes the proposed mosque, but would like to see better bars and restaurants in his neighborhood.

It’s one thing to see liquor stores in a neighborhood trying to return to normalcy – there are at least three – but critics say it’s entirely another to talk about a mega-mosque.

“A 13-story, $100 million structure stands out as something that can be opposed,” said Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.).

He says the mosque planners should sit down with the families of 9/11 victims to find a more appropriate location and suggested that conversation could kick-start a larger discussion about what belongs in the area and what doesn’t.

King says zoning laws could be used to clean up lower Manhattan the way they were once used to attack smut in Times Square.

“There are limits to what you can be opposing just as a practical matter,” King said, but he added, “Tomorrow, if some guy were to build some eight-story strip club a block away, we would do what we’d have to do.”

Critics have been reluctant to draw a line in the sand around the sacred area, but some say that’s not the point.

“I don’t have an interest in policing every square inch of lower Manhattan to purify it,” said Debra Burlingame, spokeswoman for some Sept. 11 victims’ families and the sister of one of the pilots killed in the attacks. “We’re trying to prevent an imam from appropriating 9/11 to push [Islamic law] in America, an ideology at the heart of why our loved ones were ripped to pieces.”

via NY Daily News.

Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Malusi Gigaba has approached the country´s Law Reform Commission to ask whether a change in the law is possible.

He has also had talks with the Justice Alliance for South Africa (JASA), a respected group which has written its own draft bill on the issue.

Internet security experts have dismissed the idea as “madness”.

“Cars are already provided with brakes and seatbelts… There is no reason why the internet should be provided without the necessary restrictive mechanisms built into it,” said Mr Gigaba.

JASA proposes that the ban, covering TV but also mobile phones and the web, could be implemented in the form of filters set by internet service providers.

Countries such as Australia and China have already developed filters to block access to certain websites.

Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos said previous attempts by other nations to ban pornography had not been successful.

“One wonders how on earth a democracy like South Africa would be able to introduce such a system, as it´s not as though the state has 100% control over telecommunications,” he told BBC News.

“Although their intentions may be honourable, it´s barking mad to think you will be able to completely outlaw pornography from the web which, is after all, the modern equivalent of the wild west.”

Pornography is a subject of ongoing debate in South Africa. A terrestrial television channel called ETV caused a storm of controversy when it began broadcasting adult material after midnight in 2002.

In 2010 a propoosal by satellite broadcaster Multichoice to offer a 24 hour pornography channel was abandoned after a deluge of complaints.

via BBC News.

New questions have been added to the Incoming Passenger Cards for business travellers and holidaymakers visiting Australia including a question related to the possession of pornographic material.

The new additions have received very little media coverage in Australia and appear to have slipped under the radar of public consultation according to Colin Jacobs, chairman of the Electronic Frontiers Australia. Speaking to the Brisbane Times, Mr Jacobs said: “It’s hard to fathom what the pressing concern could be that requires Australia to quiz every entrant to the country on their pornography habits”.

Campaigners have argued that the searches are extremely intrusive into the private lives of travellers. President of the Australian Sex Party, Fiona Patten said in a press release: “If you and your partner have filmed or photographed yourselves making love in an exotic destination or even taking a bath, you will have to answer ‘Yes’ to the question or you will be breaking the law.”

The critics of the new scheme have said that the term “pornography” is too general and vague. The law should apply to illegal pornography especially in relation to child pornography, but “normal porn” should be exempt.

Authorities are keen to reassure travellers that tact and discretion will be used by officers who search through personal computers and mobile phones. “Including an express reference to pornography is intended to enhance the interception of prohibited pornography at the border, by making passengers aware that some forms of pornography may be a prohibited import,” a spokesman commented.

via GNews.