Porn on Public TV OK, Says Dutch Minister

THE HAGUE — Dutch culture minister Ronald Plasterk (pictured) plans to take no action against public TV channel Nederland 3 to prevent it from broadcasting 13 X-rated movies this summer, reports the NIS News Bulletin.

The scheduled series, titled Cinema Erotica, follows a broadcast by the channel last February of adult classic Deep Throat, and is being protested as that broadcast was by Christian party leaders.

"These films are characterized by connoisseurs as artistic," Plasterk said in a letter to parliament. He maintained that there is no reason to stop the broadcasts, nor does the government have the means to do so.

This development further exemplifies the unusual tolerance level Dutch citizens have historically displayed toward adult content. Aside from the public airing of Deep Throat and being the first country where a naked woman was shown on prime time television in the 1960s, plans were announced in March by a retired Dutch couple to launch a free, 24-hour porn channel in Malta.