Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

BabeNation (featuring Babestation) has launched on channel 981.

With Studio66 and xxpanded TV said to be joining shortly, it looks like VM are increasing their range of porn content.

Apparently, Babestation is licensed in Holland and Ofcom can't do anything about what they show; other than trying to put pressure on the Dutch regulator.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/20...n-ofcom-action

As the law currently stands, Broadcasters only need to be licensed by one EU country and can then broadcast to any other EU country.

Eurosport is another example, it is licensed in France and for many years had 7 hours of teleshopping overnight even though, at the time, Ofcom only allowed three hours in the UK. The French licence also exempts them from Ofcom imposed subtitle requirements.

I find it surprising and a little worrying that non regulated pornography can be easily picked up by satellite, Freeview and now VM customers.

I know that VM (and I assume satellite) have controls to stop children tuning in, but I believe that on Freeview there's nothing to stop minors tuning in!

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Just because the regulators in other EU contries have different standards does not mean it is not regulated.

What's the problem anyway?

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Yes, there is, but it's device dependent.

https://www.freeview.co.uk/support/b...-facility.html
https://www.freeview.co.uk/support/m...t-content.html

But that shouldn't be an issue as any parent with children should be aware of appropriate technology needs to ensure that they can control what their children access.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

True, but they may fall below our standards as a country and there is absolutely nothing that our regulator can do about it.

AIUI the Freeview channels are even available to children as so many have a television in their bedroom these days.

---------- Post added at 17:20 ---------- Previous post was at 17:19 ----------

Thanks Ben, that's good to know :)

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Given what you can see without restriction on the internet, I really don't understand what the fuss is about.

Are you exercising your right to be offended, Richard? Try hard not to tune into these channels.... ;)

:Yikes:

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Ahhh, this must be why parents have complained about toddlers tuning in.

Ofcom can do no other than refer them to the relevant foreign regulator; who are free to take as much or as little notice as they like!

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

That's a bit of a puritanical stance to take.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

I don't bother with such channels, but I would object to something deeemed unacceptable by Ofcom being beamed into UK homes that nobody, not even the regulator, has any power to control or stop.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

It is a basic requirement of a Freesat box that adult channels can be hidden from the EPG. Does Freeview not have something similar?

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Some types of porn are acceptable abroad that we do not find acceptable here in the UK.

It cannot be right that they can beam this into UK homes without anything to stop them; this is particularly worrying if children get to see it.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

As far as I can see, the same applies on Freeview to those adult channels that are OFCOM regulated - it's dependent on the appropriate device and adult choice as to what is accessible.

So I don't think it's got anything to do with who regulates the channel.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Thanks Chris, I would assume that it's the same on Sky (it's 16 years since I was with them!)

---------- Post added at 17:36 ---------- Previous post was at 17:32 ----------

Interesting, if this is the case, I would have thought that Ofcom would have insisted on Pin Protection as a condition of their DTT licence.

Obviously, toddlers shouldn't be viewing any material of this type, but if any non regulated porn is viewed, I would be even more concerned as it may be more explicit or extreme.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

You are not really talking of "Abroad" but other EU member states.

If children get to see it then it is the parents that are at fault unless of course you agree with a nanny state controlling everything you can and cannot do...

Don't include me in your "we do not find acceptable" not that I would watch porn channels (I have better things to do with my time). I have a mind of my own and an on/off switch!

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

I'm surprised that you have such an indifference to children being exposed to such material.

Many parents may not know about this, or have the technical intelligence/knowledge to prevent access.

IMO Pin Protection should be a minimum requirement for all these channels as a condition of being able to transmit to the UK.

If we do end up leaving the EU, maybe things will change.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Youview does however the freeview built into my samsung tv doesn't this may be because i bought my tv from Germany though so it's not official freeview.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

I understand what you're saying, but there's a difference between an adult choosing something like this on the internet and a toddler waking up and going through the channels looking for a cartoon and stumbling across one of these type of channels instead!

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

I do not have an indifference to children being exposed to such material. I do object to parents not taking parental duties seriously though.

IMHO devices should by default not have these services accessable unless the parent /owner activates them.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Now that would be a good idea.

I have just tried to view channel 981 and VM have an opt-in system as you describe; the channel wouldn't clear until I entered my PIN.

Yes, there are parents who don't take their parental responsibilities seriously enough- too many these days in fact- but some may just not be as educated or intelligent as us. Where technology is concerned, children often know more than their parents!

On my old V+ I could block these type of channels from the EPG, does anyone know if this is also possible on the TiVo?

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

You forgot the internet, which is where most are actually likely to come across it.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

But much worse is on the internet, including from other parts of the EU and abroad.

At least, so I am told :erm:

---------- Post added at 18:30 ---------- Previous post was at 18:26 ----------

I don't think that is likely in any responsible household. Anyway, why aren't you more concerned with the far worse internet sites which are all too easily accessible?

---------- Post added at 18:43 ---------- Previous post was at 18:30 ----------

I wondered how long it would take you... ;)

:Yikes: :fit: :naughty: :blush:

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Exactly and that is where most harm can come to "children of impressionable age" That's where parents must take responsibility!

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

I thought these type of channels didn't start broadcasting until after 10 pm

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

I see what you did there

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

No ISP blocking can substitute for parental responsibility here. ISP blocks are completely ineffective anyway.

For example the pirate bay is subject to a court injunction on ISPs for the last 3 years not to provide access in the UK yet in under 5 seconds I can bypass those blocks and those on all the common torrent sites. Child's play, and indeed your children will, and I don't even need to resort to a VPN.

Those that think you can regulate the internet to "protect" the innocent are utterly naive.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

IDK you'd better ask Riichard.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Complaints have come from the parents of children too young to use the internet, but who know how to turn on their bedroom TV and go through the channels.

If the child gets up particularly early ie pre 6am, they can stumble across these channels when they are showing more inappropriate content than during the daytime.

When I looked at channel 981 yesterday afternoon, it was on. Granted, during the day the titillating and pouting from these women wasn't as exaggerated as it is in the evening, but toddlers can wake up very early.

The broadcasting day starts at 6am, so if they wake up 'during the night' pre 6am, they can stumble upon simulated sex etc.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

But they couldn't if the responsible parent had blocked those channels using appropriate controls available on their Freeview device.

Whatever the argument is around whether they should be blocked by default, the end responsibility is still that of the parent.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Quite, Ben. This is all much ado about nothing.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

As far as I am aware, Ofcom regulate everything that is broadcast over hardware in the UK or using tv providers based in the UK. As such, any foreign channel broadcasting on Cable, Freeview, Sky or Freesat is subject to that regulation. That's not to say that they regulate any of the hundreds of satellite channels that are not intended for viewing in the UK. They don't.

However, regardless of regulation, the parents of children need to take SOME responsibility for what their children watch. That includes, if necessary, removing any devices that might be used to watch TV at bedtime. After all, whatever they watch, they aren't going to go to sleep if they are watching TV and it is actually important that children get enough sleep.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Its perfectly easy to prevent access to TV if you spend a bit of effort.
If parents cannot be bothered to do that, then they have nothing to complain about.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

It is a "Richard" thread after all.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Yes, I think that the issue appears to surround Freeview only. VM, Freesat (and I assume Sky) require a PIN to be entered.

The problem is that some parents simply aren't responsible, educated, intelligent etc.

AIUI, if channels originate from another EU country, they are governed by the regulations of that country and not Ofcom on any UK platform.

I agree with your sentiments, in fact I would question the decision to let children have unfettered access to television unsupervised in the first place.

Unfortunately, some parents aren't as sensible as us and it's these that we have to worry about.

It is, but it's the parents that don't (for whatever reason) that's leading to toddlers accessing this material. Also, not all Freeview devices appear to have controls to stop this material appearing.

Just when I had started to think that you had at last begun to grasp the art of discussing things without the uneccesary rude/snide comments.

Feel free to link to any noteworthy threads started started by yourself or put me onto ignore so you don't have to 'suffer' another 'Richard' thread ever again.

---------- Post added at 19:28 ---------- Previous post was at 19:17 ----------

Edit: I wondered if there was anything to prevent these text n tits type channels relocating to a country with much more lax standards to pornography and beaming them into British homes and have found this on the internet:

This section of the communications act appears to cover this possibility:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/...radio-services

If a foreign licensed service is persistently broadcasting output which is offensive, incites hatred/violence, or breaches general taste and decency expectations, they can be proscribed by Ofcom and removed from DTT/Cable (and the Sky/Freesat EPG, but the actual satellite broadcast appears to be not included).

Any channel attempting to broadcast hardcore pornography to the UK is likely to be affected, even if it was allowed in the country of origin.

So, it appears that if they did this, they could force VM, Sky, Freesat, Freeview etc to remove the channel from their EPG's- but not the broadcast itself.

I don't imagine that toddlers would have the capability to manually tune them in!

I think that the best thing would be for Freeview porn channels to be required to ensure that a PIN is entered on every device they are receivable on to prevent young prying eyes from gaining access to them.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

I can't see Richard - as ignored :D but I get the gist from quoted posts.

Just start a petition, get your 100k votes and let the MPs debate it.

After all. Won't somebody please think of the children!

While you're at it, start another, asking for mandatory IQ testing for prospective parents, so all these unfortunate parents who seem unable to get basic parenting don't get the chance to breed and further dumb down the population.

Good luck.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

I have no plans to start an epetition, I just wanted to discuss the situation with other members.

Your last comment actually has legs. As it stands, anyone can have children regardless of their abilities and I don't think that this is a good thing.

At the moment we have children (in mind or in body) giving birth to children. Often, they expect others to pay for them whilst having scant regard to raising them properly through ignorance or otherwise.

Yet, those who wish to adopt have to (quite rightly) pass various checks before they are able to do so.

I don't think that it is a person's right to have children (it's a privilege) and, in the most extreme cases, would support mandatory sterilisation of some males and females.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Wow. Followed by forced terminations and/or imprisonment for anyone unsuitable who slips through the net. I suppose next you'd be all for mandatory genetic screaning of every fetus so we dont run the risk of ending up with a drain on society?

Cheers

Grim

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

This issue with Adult channels has been going on since the "Red Hot Dutch" fiasco in the early 80s. The EU ruling is that no country can block receprion of another countries channels. When the aforesaid channel launched, reception equipment was analogue & sat receivers were simple. All you had to do was aim your Sky dish at the relevant satellite, order a smartcard from Holland & away you go. The OFCOM of the time tried everything from wanting Sky to change their encryption system to intercepting the cards coming through the post.
Things are different now. All channels on UK platform EPG's must have a UK licence, so must obey the UK's rules on content. In short the content is still out there, but you now need specialised equipment to get it.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

My God, I can't believe that this thread has actually taken a turn for the worst!

Abandon it, Richard, you have now entered dangerous territory!

We already have these types of channels on Virgin, Sky, Freeview, etc, and while they continue to make money, I dare say they will always be there. Why you have made such a fuss about these two new ones is beyond me. As long as they are PIN protected, I do not see the problem at all.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

This.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

38 posts in and I now understand what Richards gripe is

He resents having to pay £9.99 a month and wait till late night for them to start broadcasting

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

LOL too funny, my epetitions were intended as deep sarcasm

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Seconded. Protecting my childrens' innocence is my responsibility.

That said I don't see many campaigning to protect children's eyes and ears from the ravages of the porn industry also making the same arguments about the evening news. You watch tonight and tell me with complete honesty that all the material is suitable for children.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

A simple solution would be not to give toddlers or young children the remote control- or would that be too simplistic?

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Turns out i'm not on ignore after all am I ;)

---------- Post added at 14:26 ---------- Previous post was at 14:13 ----------

AIUI, channels can be licensed from any EU country and put onto the EPG.

We have already established that Freesat and Virgin Media and possibly Sky do PIN protect these channels, it's Freeview that appears to be the problem.

Good point Hugh, many modern TV's are designed to be used mainly via remote control these days and this would certainly be a help. I think that most TV's can still be used without the remote control though.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

What the devices can do is irrelevant, its perfectly simple to control the power to those devices. They tend not to work without electricity. :dozey:

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Yep, this would be a solution (providing the children haven't got the knowledge or access to the power socket). It wouldn't be a good idea to do anything that might encourage toddlers to go near the socket though!

A lot of modern properties have the power sockets at waist height now, as it's safer for children and easier for those with disabilities or dexterity problems.

I wonder why power sockets were traditionally put at floor level :confused:

Again though, you or I would take steps to prevent little ones from gaining access to this material, but it's the ones who don't that are the problem.

Something that doesn't require parental intervention (like being PIN protected) is probably better as it protects children with less responsible parent/s.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Richard is actually correct in this case. A broadcaster does not need to hold a UK licence if it is already licensed elsewhere in the EU/EEA. For example a couple of channels including Eurosport and Euronews are licensed in France and do not hold an Ofcom licence.

This is also why Ofcom can not directly act on complaints about certain Dutch-registered adult services on Freeview and instead passes complaints to the Dutch regulator (https://www.theguardian.com/media/20...n-ofcom-action). The issue here appears to be about how easily accessible the channel is and not specifically the content which is very soft and nothing that isn't already allowed on UK TV.

Ofcom reserve the right to intervene in extreme cases and can force a foreign licensed channel off air in the UK.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

As OFCOM is a toothless organisation, I don't see the issue on channels being regulated elsewhere in the EU.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

The issue seems be one of PIN protection on some older Freeview devices, not OFCOM.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

The issue seems to be of some parents not supervising their children appropriately, considering these channels are on late at night....

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Yes it is their right ,it is absolutely their right,it's even written into the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and for you to even suggest mandatory sterilisation suggests to me that you need removing from society for the good of everyone

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

This is turning into a very prickly situation

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Lol, good point.

Some of these channels broadcast all day Hugh, also, some toddlers who wake up very early looking for cartoons can catch some of the more explicit material broadcast prior to the start of the broadcasting day at 6am.

It doesn't surprise me that you are in favour of maintaining the worst elements of society.

An interesting topic though, why don't you start a thread about it?

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

This thread kind of sums up the whole "moral panic" about adult channels.

Kids these days don't even bother with broadcast porn....

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Maybe it might be time to close it. It's not moving forward.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

I think it's a bit too easy to say that stuff should be blocked by default. Personally, I object to it. Parents need to take responsibility. Regardless of whether a kid can watch porn or not, they should probably be asleep (and therefore not watching *anything* when the porn channels broadcast).

Paul has suggested turning the power off. Fair enough that it's not ideal to get toddlers playing around sockets (although it's worth pointing out that the UK 3 Pin design is arguably the safest in the world, and I've seen experts argue that it's perfectly safe even for kids), but it's perfectly possible to disable a freeview box or TV without touching the mains. Just remove the aerial or the box itself. This also works for any other devices, such as tablets or phones.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

It doesn't surprise me that in order to deflect peoples attention away from your disgraceful and hideous comments on sterilisation you try to paint others as supporters of the dreggs of humanity .There are many ways to treat bad parents but forced sterilisation is most definitely not one of them

No it's not

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

How about putting the remote out of the reach of the toddler - problem solved... ;)

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Really Hugh using logic is really underhand of you..you should stick to emotive, hand wringing and ridiculous hyperbole to prove your point..

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

We are not all like Richard thankfully!

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Found the relevant piece from the Brodcasting regs, & it seems that OFCOM still have some say if the programme is directed at the UK from another member state:

"Under the AVMS Directive, audiovisual media services transmitted by a media-service provider under the jurisdiction of a particular EU member state have to comply only with the laws applicable to audiovisual media services in that member state (Article 2(1), AVMS Directive). The AVMS Directive provides mechanisms aimed at preventing service providers establishing themselves in a member state where the regulatory regime is more relaxed than the regime in the country in which they wish to broadcast. A member state who considers that a broadcaster under the jurisdiction of another member state provides a television broadcast which is wholly or mostly directed towards its territory can take action to seek to get the broadcaster to comply with the stricter rules (Article 4, AVMS Directive).

An audiovisual programme made outside the EU after 19 December 2009 will still have to comply with the basic UK standards in order to be broadcast in the UK. A programme made for reception outside the EU does not have to comply with the AVMS Directive (Article 2(6), AVMS Directive) or UK legislation, but may be subject to non-EU regulatory regimes."

http://uk.practicallaw.com/4-504-3931#a916810

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

If the subject matter is of no interest to you, don't hang around.

Because many TV's (most?) can be used without the remote control.

Nor you, thankfully. We're still waiting for you to link to a much more interesting thread started by yourself.

Feel free to join Marty and go and do something else instead then and leave others who wish to discuss the topic to do so without your inane interruptions.

What do you believe to be hyperbole?

Thank you :)

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Just a shame we didn't get to your parents in time..............

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Ouch!!!:shocked:

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Now now, play nice.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

What a dark and disturbing view of the world to have.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Well, I fail to see how this is a Virgin Media thread. Richard's complaint seems to be with Freeview, and so I think we should end this now.

Porn, of a more disturbing nature, is already freely available on the net, and so this whole thread is irrelevant anyway. Let's move on.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

The fact that heavier porn is available on the net isn't really pertinent to the problem in hand.

Part of the problem is Freeview broadcasting FTA without PIN protection, but I also object to other channels in the EU being able to broadcast to the UK without having to be licensed by our regulator.

I wonder how this will be affected following Mays announcement on Brexit??

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

The issue of non Ofcom regulated porn applies to all UK TV platforms (including VM).

The issue of soft porn being transmitted without encryption and/or PIN protection appears to be a Freeview problem only.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

It's only a problem for irresponsible parents and i don't see why the rest of the responsible people should have to jump through hoops to keep relinquishing the numpties of their responsibilities.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Indeed.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2016/10/7.gif

Sorry, been watching repeats of SG1 all week. :D

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

I think you'll be alright fella, no need to cancel the Andrex standing order yet.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

l need to enlarge my vocabulary a bit more methinks.:)

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Exactly, but children of irresponsible parents need to be protected too.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

Round and round and round it goes and where it stops nobody knows.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

I'm still waiting for him to defend his compulsory sterilisation remarks ,that he denies ever saying

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

I'm surprised you all keep feeding him, guys a troll, all these threads end up the same.

I only see quoted stuff and that's more than enough.

Re: Non Ofcom regulated porn on VM.
 

To be clear, no one actually has to defend their views, they are entitled to them just as you are.


This thread however seems to have run its course, so closed.