Max Mosley interview in todays FT (22)

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/8af2ef8a-2e70-11e0-873...

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An excellent article.

I penned this response to their readers' letters section:

***

Max Moseley is doing a brilliant job on behalf of ordinary people who want to maintain their right to privacy, especially members of the UK BDSM community.

As a former journalist and as the SM Pride chairperson who took up two privacy complaints from members of the UK BDSM community against the same newspaper in the late 1990s, I was appalled by the complacency shown by the Press Complaints Commission. In the case of one of our complaints the newspaper was forced to hand over its clandestine surveillance tape to us. That tape proved that many of the newspaper's claims were false as it failed to confirm its more salacious claims. When we pointed out the obvious discrepancies we were told by the PCC this was 'journalistic licence'. Anyone else would call it lying. For the first time I was ashamed of my profession.

If journalists are really worried about losing some of their hard-won 'freedoms' then it might help if the same journalists were more responsible in their reporting or if the PCC was not such a toothless watchdog. Allowing the press to police the press will never work. The only way the PCC will ever gain respect is if the membership is replaced with fair-minded tribunal of non-journalists who can judge a press complaint on its merits and issues. Such a system could also replace the ruinous and out-of-date libel laws.

I would also like to thank the FT for using the correct modern term BDSM - it is a compound acronym introduced after SM Pride was set up to accommodate the very 'broad church' of the UK fetish scene. It is refreshing to see a newspaper use the correct terminology.

Barry Sl*mmings SM Pride chair 1998-2000

Flogher - I cane, I whip, I cuddle

Edited 4 Feb 11, 9:31 PM by Flogher

"Yeah I like Kinky stuff,dirty dark pervy stuff,weird sex.... An' Yerself ?"
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"A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not."

Edited 4 Feb 11, 10:09 PM by RichardNewbury

http://empressm7.uboot.com/ Vampire pro/lifestyle ts dom and switch. Age play mummy/aunty/AB ,medical play,domestic, energy and outdoor specialist. "Beyond the government,above the police ."

*waves at Max*

Good on you fella

"If no sexual offence is being committed it seems very odd indeed that there should be an offence for having an image of something which was not an offence," Lord Wallace of Tankerness

Lucy K always was quite objective too although finding it hard to understand deriving pleasure from pain.

She wrote a book or novel about office affairs I think last year.

* * * * *

Bravo for Max Moseley for having the courage to stand up to the Tabloid Gutter Press whose idea of "morality" is "everything we agree with is ok, everything we don't like is sick/ perverted/ evil..."

There are countless thousands of people in the UK alone who enjoy safe, sane and consensual BDSM activities (I should know, I run a business making Affordable Leather Products, many of them are my customers!) Max Moseley has struck a blow for everyone who has been (or is worried about being) "exposed" by the media for doing something which is nobody else's business.

There are those in the media who claim that "the public interest" is what is of interest to the public, hence they fill their papers with salacious gossip and tittle-tattle, failing (or not caring) to note that the phrase actually means "of benefit to the public".

Knowing that our elected representatives are engaged in possible malfeasance in office is of benefit to the public, the Moseley story and many others are of no benefit to anyone except the publishers since it enables them to sell more papers.

I hope that our media will learn from the ruling from the Courts that this sort of unwarranted and unjustified intrusion into people's personal lives is no longer be acceptable in a tolerant society.

* * * * *

Max Mosley has also put the boot into our old chum Neville Thurlbeck of the NotW again, he who has done over several IC members over the years.

That volley surfaced this week when the Home Affairs Select Committee published submissions. Max is at the end. (pdf)

If you are not enamoured of the tabloids, most of that is worth a scan. Some of it is even quite funny, depending on your sense of humour.

The Met police have some very cunning document drafters. And why do Assistant Commissioners insist on bonking conflict of interest partners.