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Yes, China employs censors to watch nothing but porn
For the first five minutes, we imagine getting paid to watch adult material would be rather interesting. After that point, however, we'd probably spend the bulk of our day quietly updating our resume. If we didn't, then we'd probably wind up as broken and sickened as Chinese civil servant Chunqi Liu. Since all media is censored in the nation, China employs people to watch anything up to 330 clips of grumble per day. Liu, a former policeman, is also on-call a lot of the time, just in case the local authorities plan a midnight raid on a back-room DVD store selling prohibited materials and he needs to check the discs over. The 59-year-old has said that the job has left him physically ill, unable to eat for days and thrust his marriage into jeopardy. So what's the lesson here? That you should always be careful what you wish for, and that the mechanics of censorship can be weirder than anything you imagine.
Vine bans pornographic material, says artistic nudity is okay
Consider it an unspoken, but universally true rule: if it can be used for porn, it will be. Texting, Snapchat, Skype and video streaming technology have all fallen to mankind's more base desires, and now, Vine has too. According to a post on the Vine blog, the company has determined that a small percentage of its users are posting videos that "are not a good fit" for its community. In response, Twitter has changed its terms of service to ban sexually explicit Vines, specifically prohibiting videos of sexually provocative nudity, obviously aroused genitalia, sexually graphic art or animation and clips of sex toys being used erm.. as intended. That said, the company doesn't want you to think it prudish -- nudity in natural, artistic or documentary context (such as unclothed models in an art class or nude protesters) are A-OK, as are the swaying hips of any fully clothed erotic dancer. "We don't have a problem with explicit sexual content on the internet," the company wrote. "We just prefer not to be the source of it." Fair enough, but if we were to guess, we'd say the move has more to do with upsetting App Store policies than maintaining a squeaky clean community.
UK porn filter blocks League of Legends update for 'sex' in file name
The anti-pornography firewall run by the UK's four top internet providers has blocked the latest League of Legends update because it happens to contain the letters "s," "e" and "x" in a row in two of its file names, The Guardian reports. The filter dings the following two files, forcing the update to fail with a "file not found" error (emphasis added): XerathMageChainsExtended.luaobj VarusExpirationTimer.luaobj Reddit user LoLBoompje first reported the file error, and The Guardian says that the only recourse for those affected is to contact their internet providers and switch off the filter. The firewall is a new program and this problem should be contained to anyone who has signed up for a new ISP this month only.
Potential League of Legends patching problems due to porn filters
Will the UK's anti-sex law cause issues with patching League of Legends? According to LoL's subreddit, some members are seeing an effect from the filters UK Internet service providers have in place by default to block pornographic content for new customers; specific update files that happen to have "sex" in the wording -- VarusExpirationTimer.luaobj and XerathMageChainsExtended.luaobj -- have been blocked. Riot Games informed Eurogamer that there are no reported incidents of this law interfering with the game, but the studio is monitoring the situation. If players run into a problem, they should contact LoL support for help.
Huawei runs David Cameron's preferred porn-filtering system, just FYI (updated)
Authorities in the UK have never had quite the same level of anxiety over Huawei that we've witnessed in the US, and they've so far been happy to let the Chinese firm get involved with numerous parts of the country's data infrastructure. As it turns out, the company's control even extends to the "Homesafe" filter used by internet service provider TalkTalk, which David Cameron recently praised during his push for tighter controls on adult content. The BBC discovered that UK-based Huawei employees are able to decide which sites are blocked on TalkTalk's service, and that even users who opt out of Homesafe have their internet usage data routed through Huawei's system. Whether or not this is an issue depends entirely on how much you trust reports of close ties between Huawei and the Chinese government, versus Huawei's claim that these concerns are based on anti-Chinese prejudice rather than evidence. From a purely practical point of view, however, if the mission is to block off huge swathes of the internet, why wouldn't you hire an expert? Update: A representative of Huawei has been in touch to provide the company's side of the story. He said that Huawei doesn't "run" the Homesafe system, but that the system is "supported by Huawei" without Huawei having control over it. He added that Huawei does not decide which sites are blocked, and that the final decision as to what filters are implemented rests with TalkTalk. Meanwhile, the BBC is apparently standing by its story, since it has issued no retraction.
Apple under fire in China over pornography
After recently apologizing for its warranty practices, Apple is again facing criticism in China, says a WSJ report. This latest mention of Apple in state media focuses on pornography and is part of a larger crack down on porn in the Asia nation. According to the WSJ's China Real Time Report, Apple has been included in a list of app stores and companies that are disseminating pornography in the country. The list was published in Wednesday's edition of the People's Daily. Apple is not singled out by the government newspaper, and the article is not front page news, but many believe this is the start of another government campaign against the Cupertino company. Apple doesn't allow pornographic content in its App Store, but its interpretation of what constitutes objectionable content may differ from that of the Chinese government. Apple may be following down the same path as Google, which faced similar criticism over porn in 2009. Google eventually left mainland China for Hong Kong after a high-profile 2010 hack attack against the company.
League of Legends developer wins another porn domain case
Riot Games has finished up another legal dispute regarding a website domain name related to its popular League of Legends title. LeagueofLegends.co was previously awarded to the company by the World Intellectual Property Organization from the clutches of a domain squatter, and now LeagueofLegendsPorn.com has been reclaimed by Riot for its own use. The case actually closed in late September, but the ruling came online earlier this week.Those looking for some racy pics of Miss Fortune or Akali getting it on, however, will be disappointed: The site never actually hosted any adult material, and now that Riot owns it, probably never will. But Riot is slowly securing its various domain name holdings online, making it easier for the company to connect players up to big company events like the recent World Championships in LA.
UK Gov wants opt-in system for adult material, imagine a boot stamping on a trackpad, forever
Looks like Prime Minister David Cameron's not content with just shuttering the internet during social unrest (whilst condemning others who do the same). He's declared that four of the UK's biggest ISPs have entered into an opt-in system for adult material. The move is backed by the Mothers Union but has been flatly denied by the ISPs, who insist they're offering McAfee parental controls with new signups rather than Government-level web filtering. (Probably a massive let down to those eagerly waiting to delegate their parental responsibilities.) Of course, given the flaky nature of web filtering, any sanguine word that contained an expletive (the word "arsenal", for example) could be impossible to access until you had an awkward conversation with someone over the phone.
Dead or Alive: Dimensions yanked in Sweden, Norway and Denmark
Dead or Alive: Dimensions won't be available in Sweden, because it potentially violates the country's child pornography laws. The title will also skip Norway and Denmark as a result -- all three territories are covered by the same distributor, Bergsala. Eurogamer Sweden has a joint statement from Nintendo and Bergsala in which they claim to "have decided not to release the game in Sweden, for various reasons." However, neither company wished to list the reasons. Allegedly, the genesis of the drama involves a forum poster noting that three of the DoA characters are under 18 years of age, which could violate Swedish law when placed in risque situations within the game's "Figure Mode." Animated images have been subject to child pornography laws in Sweden since 1980.
ICANN has .xxx domain names? Yes!
The controversial step to approve .xxx domain names has today been taken by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, paving the way for a whole slew of new addresses suffixed by the famous triplicate x. Funnily enough, before the decision was made today, opposition to it was proffered by both conservative groups opposed to pornography and adult entertainment companies fearing they'd be more easily compartmentalized and potentially blocked by overzealous governments. Moreover, every popular adult website at present will pretty much be forced to buy its .xxx version, which, for an industry famous for its frugality, will be an understandably tough pill to swallow. We are surprised not to see the people of Amsterdam consulted, however -- their city's emblem features three Xs too, shouldn't they have a say in this? A further meeting is scheduled by ICANN for June 20th to discuss opening up all possible domain name suffixes to registration, pending the validation of a set of guidelines for approval. That's looking quite likely to be passed too, as the AFP sagely notes that there's a celebratory party scheduled for two days after the event. URLs are about to get a lot more varied, it seems; they're certainly going to feature a lot more of the (English) alphabet's 24th letter, whatever the case.
Penthouse 3D channel to fill European screens with three-dimensional smut, starting today
Penthouse already promised its US audience a 3D channel in the second quarter of this year, but, for whatever reason, it's dishing the goods to Europeans even sooner -- as in, right now. March 1st marks the pan-European launch for Penthouse 3D, an all-new channel that will be composed of "100% Full 3D Native HD" content, which, judging by the preview videos available online, looks like a classic case of passive-glasses 3D. Still, Penthouse says it's been shooting in 3D since last summer in preparation for this launch, so we don't expect there to be a content shortage for those who prefer a little more depth to their adult entertainment. Full press release after the break.
Playboy Magazine coming to iPad in its uncensored form in March, including full back catalog
From its very first issue in 1953 to its latest incarnation, the full catalog of Playboy Magazine is coming to the iPad this March. And not only that, it'll be faithful to its original form by arriving to your Apple slate uncensored. Such is the word direct from the man responsible for that first copy, one Mr. Hugh Hefner. Anyone who's followed Apple's App Store rulings and Steve Jobs' forthright comments on the subject of keeping adult material off mobile devices will surely find this a bemusing, if not entirely inconsistent, decision. The details of how this slice of software will be delivered to the iPad (and what restrictions it may come with) will be most intriguing indeed. Update: Turns out Hugh forgot to mention a pretty important detail: Playboy's iPad version won't actually be encased within an app. It will be a web-based subscription service, which will serve up the uncensored content through a tailor-made website, thereby entirely bypassing the App Store censors.
British government wants all porn filtered out of the web, all fun sucked out of life
You can't be surprised at developments like these when you elect a political party whose very name is Conservative, but it's still rather sad to hear that the current UK government is putting pressure on ISPs to "protect children" by universally blocking access to porn websites. It's not outright censorship, you'll be able to "opt in" and restore your freedom to explore adult content (or anything else that's been inadvertently blocked), though it's all a rather misguided effort in our eyes. Claire Perry, one of the leading voices behind this push, cites stats noting that 60 percent of nine- to 19-year olds have found pornography online, yet she fails to elaborate on what's been so traumatizing or debilitating about the experience -- or why violent content is getting a free pass. We still think good parenting -- say, by using the local controls built into your OS or search engine -- is a much cheaper option than some complex censorship wall, but that won't prevent the Conservatives from pursuing legislation over the next couple of years if broadband providers don't figure out blocking mechanisms of their own. For shame, Britain.
Playboy releases not-so-discreet 250GB 'cover to cover' hard drive
Well, you can finally throw out that trunk in your grandfather's garage. Hugh Heffner's legacy has taken a cue from National Geographic -- in an arguably non-horrifying way -- and partnered with publisher Bondi Digital to release a (presumably Seagate-branded) 250GB external hard drive packed with every issue of Playboy released since 1953. Its $300 asking price is roughly four times what you'd pay for a fresh G-rated 250GB drive today, but compared to a 57-year subscription, the digital vault is certainly a bargain. In contrast to their trail blazin' efforts with the iBod though, thanks to the prominent placement of the brand's iconic bow tie-wearing bunny and name, there's no chance of using this device for practical tasks such as backing up TPS reports at the office. Like the decision to phase out DVDs in favor of VOD however, the move does prove the magazine isn't afraid of staying abreast of today's content consumption trends. Next stop, Nook Color?
Sex industry embraces FaceTime, world feigns surprise
When I first saw the iPhone 4 FaceTime demo, I knew it wouldn't take much time before rule 34 took effect. It was inevitable that Apple's video chat tech would be used by the sex industry as a new way to deliver live adult content to customers. Despite Steve Jobs' best efforts to keep the iOS platform porn-free, the sex industry continues to find ways to work around the edges. While the iOS platform may be carefully guarded in terms of adult-oriented applications, there's little Apple can do to make sure your phone calls, chats, videos and Safari browsing stay clean. Truthfully, for iPhone users who are consenting adults, it's not really Apple's business. Joel Schectman of the Associated Press reports that the 3 million+ device iPhone 4 ecosystem is already an attractive target for the porn industry. Porn companies are advertising for model positions specific to FaceTime in at least five different cities on Craigslist. Meanwhile, adult production studios like Pink Visual -- not coincidentally one of the first adult production companies to create an iPad optimized service -- says it will let customers video chat with some of the same models in their videos. Pink Visual's service will be released in the next few weeks and will probably cost around $5 to $6 a minute.
Internet content filters are human too, funnily enough
Algorithms can only take you so far when you want to minimize obscene content on your social networking site. As the amount of user-uploaded content has exploded in recent times, so has the need for web content screeners, whose job it is to peruse the millions of images we throw up to online hubs like Facebook and MySpace every day, and filter out the illicit and undesirable muck. Is it censorship or just keeping the internet from being overrun with distasteful content? Probably a little bit of both, but apparently what we haven't appreciated until now is just how taxing a job this is. One outsourcing company already offers counseling as a standard part of its benefits package, and an industry group set up by Congress has advised that all should be providing therapy to their image moderators. You heard that right, people, mods need love too! Hit the source for more.
Ron Jeremy: games 'far worse' for kids than porn
We should warn you guys: The subject of this story is ... well, he's a man named Ron Jeremy. We know you guys probably haven't heard of this man before, but ... well, he's an actor. You definitely haven't seen him in anything, because ... he does adult films. Yes, pornography. We're sorry we had to take this post in such a blue direction, but we felt it important for you to be informed. Mr. Jeremy, the pornographic actor, recently appeared on a CES panel which debated the effects of adult entertainment in the Internet era. As a riposte to an attack on his industry, Mr. Jeremy said, "we don't want kids to watch porn, though if they do, there are far worse influences out there - like video games. Studies have found that violent video games are much bigger a negative influence on kids." Oh, yeah? Then why is it acceptable to enjoy video games in public venues? Game, set and match, sir.
Vivid Entertainment wants more porn on your PS3
We were just as shocked as you are -- people will pay to watch what now?! Copulation, you say? Apparently it's a booming business! As well as one that could be expanded with streaming access via the PlayStation 3, Vivid Entertainment head honcho Steven Hirsch told MCV recently. He believes companies like Japan's DMM are paving the way for streaming adult content on the PS3.Though his company has yet to formally request its content be available on Sony's console, DMM has already proven such a thing is possible through the console's web browser. Unfortunately, this is one of those awkward moments where we have to inform the idea men behind this that so is ... the rest of the Internet. Let's hope enough people are ready to shell out their dough for the sheer convenience of it all.
Silicon Valley company creating AO-only 'SexBox' console
It's been a while since we'd last heard the term "SexBox." Too long, in fact. Thankfully, Silicon Xtal Corporation is bringing it back, recently registering a trademark for the word first brought up surrounding the great Mass Effect sex debacle of 2008. According to the filing, SXC intends on making a video game system "which plays interactive Adult Only rated (AO) video game software titles." Considering only around 20 AO-rated titles even exist and no major game publisher currently publishes them, we were left wondering what exactly the business model here will be -- that is, until we read the rest of the description. In addition to specializing in AO games, the SexBox will also give users access to "AO content and entertainment in all other digital forms," which in this case means a ton of delivery methods. "Audio, video, HDTV, DVD, online, gaming, social networking, webcams, video on-demand, downloading, movie rentals, purchases ..." and the list goes on. Finally, somewhere to go for all the mature content we can get! Unfortunately, it appears that someone beat them to it.[Via Siliconera]
Connecticut man consults Apple Genius and gets arrested
Editor's Note: Some comments to this post suggest that TUAW is "giving advice to pedophiles" by reminding readers that sensitive information could be read or copied by service technicians when you bring your Mac in for repair. While one assumes (present example to the contrary) that people who keep illegal content, such as child pornography or evidence of other crimes, on their computers would already be alert to the possibility of discovery, in this case we are addressing the innocent Mac users who would prefer to keep their personal, legal information private rather than inadvertently sharing it with the Geniuses. Another commenter objected to our publishing of the accused man's name; this information was revealed in the source article in the Stamford Advocate and we repeated it. The post has been edited to clarify the source of the name. A Fairfield, Connecticut man took his Apple G5 desktop to the Genius Bar at the Stamford Town Center store complaining about some issues with his image file thumbnails. It seemed some thumbnails were overwriting thumbnails on other images and they didn't match up. digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Connecticut_man_consults_Apple_Genius_and_gets_arrested'; As reported in the Stamford Advocate, according to court documents, the Genius started examining the files, and allegedly found pictures of naked juvenile girls in suggestive poses. The tech called a policeman who was stationed at the mall, and the customer Raymond Miller was promptly arrested and charged with possession of child pornography. If convicted, Miller faces a minimum of 5 years in jail. Police also searched Miller's home, but found nothing illegal. Remember, when you bring your Mac into a store for service the technicians will likely see whatever is on your machine in the course of repairing it. The tech could have ignored the alleged porn, but that could likely make him an accessory under some state laws. Apple warns people to always have a good backup of their data when they bring something in for repair. It's also a good idea to remove anything you don't want anyone else to see -- financial data or home inventories, for example. This incident is reminiscent of 2 cases in Florida where the Best Buy Geek Squad techs found illegal porn on computers brought in for repair. The employees reported the porn, and both men were arrested. Then in an ironic turnabout, a three-month investigation by the Consumerist blog caught Geek Squad employees taking porn off a computer and sharing it with others. It was also alleged that some employees routinely stole music, pictures and other data from computers that were in for repair by copying the data off to personal thumb drives. Via The Stamford Advocate and thanks to Doug for the tip.
