technology, the House of Assembly was told yesterday.

Finance Minister the Hon. David Saul, speaking for Management and Technology Minister the Hon. Grant Gibbons, said an amendment to the Obscene Publications Act 1973 would be introduced.

United Bermuda Party backbencher the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto has railed against a hard-core pornographic satellite service called Exxxtasy which is available to Bermuda subscribers.

Speaking in the House on two occasions, Mrs. Cartwright Decouto has noted the service is banned in Canada, where it originates. She asked why it was not also banned in Bermuda, and suggested the attention Government was paying to Independence had kept it from addressing pornography.

Dr. Saul said that upon reviewing the matter, Government found that more than just satellite pornography had to be addressed.

"We have become aware of yet another medium for the distribution of pornography that is emerging rapidly, and that is computer software,'' the Minister said. "With recent advances in computer technology and high-resolution graphics, hard-core computer pornography is now a reality.

'' The amendment to the Obscene Publications Act would prohibit not only "the advertising and sales of subscriptions to pornographic satellite services in Bermuda,'' but "computer software of a pornographic nature,'' Dr. Saul said.

He noted the hard-core Exxxtasy programming could only be received by someone who owned a satellite dish equipped with a descrambler who had purchased a subscription.

"Although the Exxxtasy programming has never been available to the public at large -- or children -- simply by turning on a television, Government was deeply concerned by this attempt to distribute hard-core pornography in Bermuda by means of a new technology,'' he said.

The present act only prohibited the import or publication of pornographic material. "The Attorney General has advised that the offering of subscriptions to the Exxxtasy service does not, in his opinion, constitute an offence under the current Obscene Publications Act.'' FIGHTING TALK -- BIU president Mr. Ottiwell Simmons and the union's general secretary Ms Mollie Burgess exchange words at the Southampton Princess yesterday.