• BusinessWeek, Friday, April 7, 2006 11:30 AM

Playboy's first issue in Indonesia, published this week, has sparked protests around the country, mostly by Muslim groups who fear the U.S.-based magazine will offend and possibly affect the country's longstanding way of life.  Playboy already has 17 international editions and points out that the Indonesia edition, like others that appear in largely Muslim countries, does not feature nude women. Instead, the women are shown in their underwear. The Islalmic Defenders Front, a hardline group, threatened to remove issues from newsstands. "The first edition might be tame, but it will get more vulgar," said group spokesman Tubagus Muhamad Sidik. "Even if it had no pictures of women in it, we would still protest it because of the name." Muslim leader Yusuf Hasyim said the magazine posed more of a threat to Indonesia than terrorism. "This is a kind of moral terrorism that destroys the way of the life of the nation in a systematic and long-term way," state news agency Antara quoted Yusuf Hasyim as saying. Playboy's reaction to the protests was swift: "Let the people look at it and see what they think; hopefully they will accept it," said promotion manager Avianto Nugroho. "If there are demonstrations, we will try to meet their demands."

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