France Investigates Terrorist Threat Against... Porn

Cable station Canal-Plus shows hardcore porn past midnight. The usual folks are threatening the usual explosions.

Anti-terrorism investigators in Paris are probing threats against a leading French cable TV channel over pornographic films it airs that can be viewed in North Africa, a judicial official said Tuesday.

Canal-Plus, France's first pay-TV channel, received letters from one or more people claiming to be Muslim and threatening to blow up its headquarters if it continues to broadcast once-a-month pornographic films, the official said. The official was not authorized to be named publicly about such matters.

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Canal-Plus and its sister channels show a range of programming, much of it family-friendly. It can be viewed via satellite in largely Muslim North Africa, where French is widely spoken but where social standards are vastly more conservative than in France.

As a new broadcaster in 1984, Canal-Plus introduced X-rated films on the first Saturday of the month to build its image as a more exciting alternative to France's traditional channels. Since then, Canal-Plus has become a mainstay of French television and provides financial support to French filmmakers.

posted by Ace at 05:22 PM

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