A Taipei City councilor was surprised to learn than men and women are using the Web for prostitution and held a press conference yesterday to share his findings with reporters.
Using a PC and Internet connection yesterday, PFP City Councilor Pang Chien-kuo (龐建國) typed in the Chinese characters for "one night stand" (一夜情) into a search engine at Yahoo Kimo and found nearly 400 related sites.
Yahoo Kimo, one of Taiwan's largest and most popular Internet portals, has roughly 6 million registered users.
"If you type in `assisted relationships' in the search engine, 165 related Web sites will pop up," Pang said, adding that 133 of them were actually just porn sites.
"Assisted relationships," or enjokosai (
Pang said that the Internet has made it easier to find information about "assisted relationships" and "one night stands."
The city councilor said that most Web sites are just a mouse click a way and are easily accessible by minors.
"Huge profits are the main reason why more and more people are registering pornographic Web sites on the Internet," Pang said.
"Once you register, you have free e-mail and free space for your own Web site."
Over the summer, the Taipei City Police Department has made several arrests related to cyber-prostitution.
Many of the suspects were college or high school students trying to earn money from "assisted relationships" by posting messages on pornographic Web sites or bulletin boards.
Authorization for registration as a member of Yahoo Kimo is virtually automatic upon completion of an online application form.
Members can set up a Web site under the Yahoo Kimo domain name for free, and there are few restrictions limiting content.
According to a statement from Yahoo Kimo, the company plans to introduce new restrictions in the coming months.
"Not all pornographic Web sites we found on Yahoo Kimo [were set up by] registered members," said Chang Ming-che (
Lynn Kuo (
"We are working with judicial authorities and investigators all the time to avoid any potential cyber crime," Kuo said.
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