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Prosecutors have declared war on Korea¡¯s Internet porn market. They have judged that the distribution of lewd materials on the Internet has reached a serious stage. The crackdown will target the entirety of the Internet porn market, including famous portal sites, mobile service companies providing videos to mobile phone users, adult product sites and obscene comics and video service sites.
The Seoul Central Prosecutors¡¯ Office booked 26 individuals Sunday on charges of distributing images of men and women having sex, including three web administrators who ran the adult-use sections of three major domestic portal sites. The three portal sites and 12 adult site administrators were fined between W7 million and W10 million (about US$7,000 and US$10,000), while 50 adult web site companies were ordered to hand over materials to regional prosecutors for investigation. With 100 more individuals -- including the administrator of a certain adult page of another portal site and a famous adult video producer -- under investigation, it would seem that more people will face the legal music.
An official from the prosecutors¡¯ office said that over the last 10 years, crime has increased 30 percent, but sexual crimes have skyrocketed 91.2 percent, and this was connected with the indiscriminate distribution of obscene materials on the Internet.
Prosecutors said the adult materials distributed by leading portal sites for ¡°views over 18¡± also crossed the line. They said that most of the videos allowed users to see men and women topless with their private parts obscured by pixelation, but poor adult verification made it possible for adolescents to view them. These sites make up to W150 million a month through their trade in obscene materials.
Some are asking, however, if the prosecutors¡¯ crackdown, which will target even adult materials screened by the nation¡¯s video ratings committee, might be a misuse of state authority.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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