from avn.com:

"LONDON - The British Parliament is reviewing a new Criminal Justice and Immigration Bill that, once passed, will make it a crime to possess pornographic material deemed violent or extreme.

It already is illegal in Britain to publish or sell such material under its Obscene Publications Act, but this may mark the first time a Western nation has made it punishable to view or possess it.

Falling under the outlined parameters of the new law will be any materials containing realistic visual depictions of necrophilia, bestiality or "violence that is life threatening or likely to result in serious injury to the anus, breasts or genitals," according to a statement from the UK's Ministry of Justice. In other words, any such image, whether an actual photograph or not, will be treated the same as child pornography. Possession will carry a punishment of up to three years in prison.

The law is intended to stem the flow of these materials into the UK via the internet, and does allow for consideration of an image's context.

"Where an image forms an integral part of a narrative constituted by a series of images," the bill reads, "and it appears that the series of images as a whole was not produced solely or principally for the purpose of sexual arousal, the image may, by virtue of being part of that narrative, be found not to be pornographic, even though it might have been found to be pornographic if taken by itself."

Added the Ministry of Justice's statement, "The new law is not intended to target those who accidentally come into contact with obscene pornography; nor would it target the mainstream entertainment industry which works within current obscenity laws or those who sell bondage material legally available in the UK.""

"violence that is life threatening or likely to result in serious injury to the anus, breasts or genitals"