Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Wei-cher (
Current 3G mobile phones provide a range of high-tech functions and services, including pornographic clips and pictures of nude women for a mere NT$30 to NT$40 a month -- to which under-age teens can easily gain access.
In response to questions concerning what regulations exist to restrict the distribution of pornographic material on telecommunications services, a government official gave a simple response.
PHOTO: CHEN TSE-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
"If service providers go against telecommunications regulations, then their actions can be terminated immediately," said Tsai Ping-huang (
Tsai said that next week a meeting would be held with service providers of 3G mobile phones to let them know that material of a sexual nature would be monitored, and that "illegal actions" would be dealt with strictly, with penalties including fines of NT$300,000 to NT$1.5 million.
"In serious cases, the service provider's license may be taken away," Tsai said.
One police official described specific actions the government could take to monitor the distribution of porn.
"We can ask service providers to make sure that the pornographic material provided by the contracted party does not go against regulations," said Kung Ling-kuo (
Kung however stressed that the development of modern technology reflected online and on 3G mobile phones, posed bigger problems in monitoring the actions of minors, compared to other professional contexts.
Huang was concerned that despite restrictions, virtually anyone could still gain access to pornographic material.
"There should be some kind of password that is needed to access this material," Huang said, adding that he hoped measures would be taken to make this happen before 3G mobiles became more popular.
Liou Li-chen (劉麗貞), head of the Student Affairs Committee under the Ministry of Education (MOE), said that the MOE would incorporate education about sex in the communications industry as part of the personal social health curriculum, while trying to educate students about what constituted a healthy attitude toward relationships between the two sexes.
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