Govt issues decrees allowing circulation of laser discs<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Director General of Radio, Television and Film
\nAlex Leo Zulkarnaen announced yesterday three decrees on films
\nwhich will allow the circulation of laser discs in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Alex was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying that the
\nthree decrees, signed by Minister of Information Harmoko on Oct.
\n28, deal with Government Regulation No.6 on the Film Business,
\nRegulation No. 7 on the Film Censorship Institute (Lembaga Sensor
\nFilm: LSF) and Regulation No. 8 on the National Film Advisory
\nBoard.<\/p>\n
"The issuance of the decrees was initially expected in August,
\nbut due to the many articles whose wording had to be improved,
\nthe signing was delayed until the end of last month," he said.<\/p>\n
The issuance of the decrees is intended to end the decade old
\ncontroversy over the legality of the circulation of laser discs
\nin Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Laser discs were previously banned under Ministry of
\nInformation Regulation No. 20\/1983, which was issued following
\nreports of illegal door-to-door distribution of smuggled laser
\ndiscs. This regulation was not fully enforced, thereby enabling
\nthe open sale and distribution of discs.<\/p>\n
"Even though the distribution of laser disks is legalized now,
\npeople will have to abide by a number of rules, including the
\nobligation that all discs to be distributed pass through the Film
\nCensorship Institute, which was formerly called the Film
\nCensorship Board (Badan Sensor Film: BSF).<\/p>\n
Alex said there are three categories in the screening of discs
\nfor circulation in the country: "fully accepted", which means the
\ndisc is passed without any censorship; "accepted but subject to
\ncensorship" and "rejected".<\/p>\n
"Laser discs which have not yet been checked by the censorship
\nboard are considered illegal. Therefore, I have ordered the
\nRegional Film Control Agency to launch operations to confiscate
\nany uncensored discs," he said.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the change of the name and status of the
\ncensorship board, the director general said that even though a
\ndecree for this had been issued, it would take time to implement
\nit.<\/p>\n
"We need time to adjust to the new regulation," he said,
\nadding that the change is intended mainly to make the censorship
\ninstitute a non-structural institution whose chairman will no
\nlonger be a civil servant.<\/p>\n
"The chairman of the new censorship institute is expected to
\ncome from among noted public figures, not from governmental
\ncircles any longer," he said.<\/p>\n
The function of the Film Censorship Institute is expected to
\nprotect the public from any negative impacts which may arise from
\nfilms, or discs, which are not in line with the guidelines and
\nobjectives of the country's film industry, he said.<\/p>\n
Alex said the institute is also expected to maintain the
\ncultural values of the nation, as well as to monitor the
\ncommunity's appreciation of films being circulated.<\/p>\n
Parabolic antennae<\/p>\n
In a related development, Alex said that the state-run
\ntelevision company TVRI is currently collecting data on the
\nnumber of owners of parabolic antennae.<\/p>\n
The data collection, done free of charge, is required to
\ndetermine the exact number of antennae owners in Indonesia, he
\nsaid. Under existing regulations owners of parabolic antennae are
\nrequired to register with TVRI.<\/p>\n
Alex acknowledged that signals from a number of foreign TV
\nbroadcasters have been scrambled so that only those having
\ndecoders can tune in to their programs.<\/p>\n
"Signals from the CNN will also be scrambled as of Dec. 1.
\nTherefore, only customers will be eligible for the broadcasting,"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
The company in charge of scrambling the foreign TV signals is
\nPT Malicak, a private firm chosen by the government to handle
\nsubscription to foreign TV channels.<\/p>\n
Owners of the parabolic antennae can view foreign TV
\nbroadcasts, including HBO, ESPN, CNN and Discovery, as long as
\nthey become subscribers through PT Malicak. (hhr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-issues-decrees-allowing-circulation-of-laser-discs-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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