Porn in China: Death by success takes on a new meaning
Francis Till
The phenomenon of "death by success" -- in which a website is brought down by strong user interest -- is well known online but has taken a new twist in China.
Starting next Monday, official news agency Xinhua reports, Chinese internet porn websites that attract too much traffic could land their owners in jail for life, along with hosting service owners and others "who knowingly aid the production and dissemination of pornographic materials."
The threshold for prosecution under the proclamations, issued jointly by the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate, will be 250,000 user sessions.
"If a pornographic website has been clicked for more than 250,000 times, the case would be considered 'very severe' and relevant people would be applicable with sentences of life imprisonment, according to the interpretations," Xinhua reported.
While targeted at commercial porn sites, the edict will also sweep up casual providers in "grave cases."
China's criminal law already outlaws the production and dissemination of pornographic materials.
Porn providers who run mobile phone and "phone sex" operations will also be covered by the edict.
7-Sep-2004
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