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{{short description|Online body modification magazine}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{more citations needed|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox website
| name             = BMEzine
| logo             = BMEzine logo.png
| screenshot       =
| caption          =
| url              = {{url|http://bmezine.com}}
| commercial       = Yes
| type             = [[Online magazine]]
| language         = [[English language|English]]
| registration     = Not Required
| owner            = BMEzine.com, LLC
| author           = Group
| launch_date      = 1994
| current_status   = Active
| revenue          =
}}
'''''Body Modification Ezine''''' (''BME'') is an [[online magazine]] devoted to [[body modification]], noted for its coverage of the extreme and fringes of body modification and erotic body play.
== History and content ==
''BME'' was started as a web site hosted at [[Internex Online]] on December 6, 1994, by [[Shannon Larratt]] and was the first body modification website.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}
BME was expanded in 2000 by the addition of ''IAM.BMEzine'', an [[online community]], which hosts [[blog]]s specifically for members of the body-modification community.
In late 2005, BME added both a video sister site, ''BMEvideo'' and a body modification blog, ''Modblog.BMEzine.com''.
The site often publishes hoax articles each year on [[April Fools' Day]].
Both Shannon and Rachel Larratt have cameo appearances in the [[Kevin Smith]] feature ''[[Clerks II]]''.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}
On May 14, 2008, Shannon Larratt posted onto ModBlog that he would no longer be an employee of BME.
On March 15, 2013, it was announced that Shannon Larratt had died.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bme.com/2013/03/15/rip-shannon-larratt-1973-2013/ |title=RIP Shannon Larratt 1973-2013 |publisher=News.bme.com |date=March 15, 2013 |access-date=May 4, 2013}}</ref>
==BME BBQs==
Patrons of the BME website and its IAM community have often gathered for [[barbecue]]s where they can meet with one another.  Historically, the largest of these BBQs, known as BMEFest,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/BMEfest |title=BMEFest at BME Encyclopedia |publisher=Wiki.bmezine.com |access-date=May 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628111623/http://wiki.bmezine.com/index.php/BMEfest |archive-date=June 28, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> were held in or around [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]] and generally on [[Canada Day]] with hundreds of participants.  The festivities of BMEFest almost always include suspensions, fireworks, grilled food both [[Veganism|vegan]] and otherwise, and there is usually a commemorative [[T-shirt]] for each event.  It is generally free to attend but it is encouraged to sign up ahead of time and may be exclusive to a private group.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://iam.bmezine.com/events.exe |title=BME Events Calendar |publisher=Iam.bmezine.com |access-date=May 4, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807120857/http://iam.bmezine.com/events.exe |archive-date=August 7, 2011 |df=mdy }}</ref>
== Censorship ==
The BME site is blocked by many Internet filtering services intended to protect children (and workplaces), for reasons such as [[nudity]], [[torture]], and other adult content. It was banned by Germany's [[Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien]] in 1999 as a "danger to the youth" because BME did not include age verification or an entrance page warning users of potential adult content.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.bmezine.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/pubring/edit/A00107/germany.html |title=Germany Hates BME? |publisher=News.bmezine.com |access-date=May 4, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302235851/http://news.bmezine.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/pubring/edit/A00107/germany.html |archive-date=March 2, 2012 |df=mdy }}</ref> In December 2005, the German agency forced [[Google]] to remove the site from search results returned by www.google.de.<ref name=Z>[http://www.zentastic.com/entries/200512181123.html Zentastic.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509023342/http://www.zentastic.com/entries/200512181123.html |date=May 9, 2006 }}</ref>
Shannon Larratt writes in Zentastic.com:<ref name=Z/>
: When Germany came after BME for "endangering the youth" and demanded that I make changes to the site to comply with German law, my response was to simply not visit Germany again (and I'm a German citizen). When the US started to pressure us, we moved all of our servers and presence out of the country and backed off on plans to live in the US. No changes were ever made to the site, and no images were ever removed — if anything, the pressure made me push those areas even more.
==References==
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Body modification]]
[[Category:Online magazines published in Canada]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1994]]
[[Category:MediaWiki websites]]
[[Category:Obscenity controversies in literature]]