Govt issues decrees allowing circulation of laser discs
JAKARTA (JP): Director General of Radio, Television and Film Alex Leo Zulkarnaen announced yesterday three decrees on films which will allow the circulation of laser discs in Indonesia.
Alex was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying that the three decrees, signed by Minister of Information Harmoko on Oct. 28, deal with Government Regulation No.6 on the Film Business, Regulation No. 7 on the Film Censorship Institute (Lembaga Sensor Film: LSF) and Regulation No. 8 on the National Film Advisory Board.
"The issuance of the decrees was initially expected in August, but due to the many articles whose wording had to be improved, the signing was delayed until the end of last month," he said.
The issuance of the decrees is intended to end the decade old controversy over the legality of the circulation of laser discs in Indonesia.
Laser discs were previously banned under Ministry of Information Regulation No. 20/1983, which was issued following reports of illegal door-to-door distribution of smuggled laser discs. This regulation was not fully enforced, thereby enabling the open sale and distribution of discs.
"Even though the distribution of laser disks is legalized now, people will have to abide by a number of rules, including the obligation that all discs to be distributed pass through the Film Censorship Institute, which was formerly called the Film Censorship Board (Badan Sensor Film: BSF).
Alex said there are three categories in the screening of discs for circulation in the country: "fully accepted", which means the disc is passed without any censorship; "accepted but subject to censorship" and "rejected".
"Laser discs which have not yet been checked by the censorship board are considered illegal. Therefore, I have ordered the Regional Film Control Agency to launch operations to confiscate any uncensored discs," he said.
Commenting on the change of the name and status of the censorship board, the director general said that even though a decree for this had been issued, it would take time to implement it.
"We need time to adjust to the new regulation," he said, adding that the change is intended mainly to make the censorship institute a non-structural institution whose chairman will no longer be a civil servant.
"The chairman of the new censorship institute is expected to come from among noted public figures, not from governmental circles any longer," he said.
The function of the Film Censorship Institute is expected to protect the public from any negative impacts which may arise from films, or discs, which are not in line with the guidelines and objectives of the country's film industry, he said.
Alex said the institute is also expected to maintain the cultural values of the nation, as well as to monitor the community's appreciation of films being circulated.
Parabolic antennae
In a related development, Alex said that the state-run television company TVRI is currently collecting data on the number of owners of parabolic antennae.
The data collection, done free of charge, is required to determine the exact number of antennae owners in Indonesia, he said. Under existing regulations owners of parabolic antennae are required to register with TVRI.
Alex acknowledged that signals from a number of foreign TV broadcasters have been scrambled so that only those having decoders can tune in to their programs.
"Signals from the CNN will also be scrambled as of Dec. 1. Therefore, only customers will be eligible for the broadcasting," he said.
The company in charge of scrambling the foreign TV signals is PT Malicak, a private firm chosen by the government to handle subscription to foreign TV channels.
Owners of the parabolic antennae can view foreign TV broadcasts, including HBO, ESPN, CNN and Discovery, as long as they become subscribers through PT Malicak. (hhr)