back to article Chinese student's smut obsession lands 2,000 in JAIL

Chinese police have smashed a major internet porn site and arrested more than 2,000 suspected users after being alerted to its existence by a mother who spied on her son after she noticed his school grades were slipping. Pornography is banned in China and local Public Security Bureau initiatives are often launched to “clean up …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    A 'different' wrong...

    Not too sure how to react to the whole pr0n thing. I can't imagine a pr0n ban nor even imagine what positive affect it would have, guess this is proof that "if you ban something common it'll go underground".

    Instead I wonder if the kids parents aren't fighting symptoms here. It appears that instead of reprimanding the kid for not putting enough time into his studies they're simply in the process of taking away the distracting factor. Now, assuming he doesn't have to go to jail I can't help wonder: What will those parents do when the next major distraction turns up?

    Say the guy meets a cute girlfriend and his study efforts drop again? Are they going to force him not to see her then or something?

    Why not, instead of reporting this whole thing to the police, reprimand the kid not to slack off his studies and actually teach him that no matter what the distraction: you got to set priorities for yourself (this is of course assuming they didn't, the article wasn't quite clear on that but this appears to be the case) ?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Used to be called a healthy obsession for teenagers, a rite of passage into the adult world.

      Now experts tell us porn is perverted, now governments want to ban it, and Church leaders preach that it will make you blind.

      There is nothing wrong with good old porn.

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

        1. James Cooke

          Re: legality.

          "The fact that us Westerners don't see porn with the same illegality is irrelevant"

          That would be because apart from some types it isn't illegal.

          Thats not to say that a kid who is watching so much porn they aren't doing their school work isn't having problems but that probably falls under the title of being a teenager

        2. Crisp

          Re: legality.

          "and then finding it is the reason for his slipping grades"

          Correlation =/= causation

          or something like that.

        3. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

          @SuperTim Re: legality.

          "Porn is unhealthy for a kid to have unfettered access to as it will lead to a skewed perspective on sexual relations."

          I don't believe you will ever be able to substantiate that statement, Tim.

          1. This post has been deleted by its author

            1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

              Re: @Vladimir Plouzhnikov

              I suggest that watching something will not make you want to do something if you are not already predisposed to it.

              Watching porn will not make a teenager want to beat up his GF all of a sudden. However, it is likely that if he is of a type of personality who gets pleasure from beating his GF, he will seek out porn of that special kind. An there is *nothing* anyone can do about it. Cutting off his porn supply will not make him a nice person, sorry.

              So, watching gay porn will not make him gay unless he is gay. Watching zoophile porn will not make him zoophile unless he is one. Watching violent porn will not make him violent unless he is a violent person.

              Equally, watching violent videos will not make him violent, playing violent computer game will not make him violent, watching kittens playing pianos on Yutube will not make him a cat or a pianist.

              1. Barney Carroll
                Stop

                Re: @Vladimir Plouzhnikov

                The same wonderful logic behind the truism that guns don't kill people – rappers do.

                Nah, sorry. Kids are incredibly susceptible to suggestion and need to be protected to some extent.

                1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

                  @Barney Carroll

                  "The same wonderful logic behind the truism that guns don't kill people"

                  No. You misunderstood my post. If you insist on a guns analogy, then my proposition is that owning a gun by itself would not make you want to shoot people but if you do want to shoot people you will try to obtain a gun.

                  1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

                    Re: @Barney Carroll x2

                    "Kids are incredibly susceptible to suggestion"

                    That is actually an interesting point. If we take the base case of "normal" porn without too many kinky or unusual elements, what could be the suggestions offered by it?

                    - People have sex

                    - People sometimes have sex for pleasure

                    - People can take pleasure from having sex

                    - There may be more than 1 position to have sex in

                    - There may be more or fewer than 2 people in a sex act

                    - Men have penises

                    - Women have vaginas and breasts

                    - Penises fit into vaginas really well

                    - Men like to hold women's breasts, sometimes women do too...

                    Which of the above we need to protect our teenagers from and which of them they would not find out without having been exposed to porn first?

                    1. Andus McCoatover
                      Pint

                      @ Vladimir...

                      "Penises fit into vaginas really well"

                      Regrettably, I agree. However, I can still touch both sides. Nowadays unfortunately, not at the same time...

                  2. Anonymous Coward
                    Anonymous Coward

                    Re: @Vladimir Plouzhnikov

                    "my proposition is that owning a gun by itself would not make you want to shoot people but if you do want to shoot people you will try to obtain a gun."

                    Could be worse. What if the facility to make comments on a website actually made people stupid?

              2. Anonymous Coward
                Angel

                Re: @Vladimir Plouzhnikov

                Had a similar debate on another forum with a middle aged lady who insisted that violent video games should be banned following the Aurora massacre. My point was that video games don't make people violent, but violent people may gravitate towards violent video games.

                Curiously though, she seemed far less enthusiastic when I suggested that books should be subject to the same censorship - including the bible, which contains incest, torture, rape, murder, genocide and all manner of other unsavoury acts - many of which are done on the command of the main protagonist that the book is supposed to glorify.

                Let him who is without sin pull the first hand shandy.

                1. Anonymous Coward
                  Anonymous Coward

                  Re: @Vladimir Plouzhnikov @cap'n

                  >My point was that video games don't make people violent, but violent people may gravitate towards violent video games

                  Myabe you should be careful with your smart arse arguments. Violent video games are extremely popular hence according to you there are loads of violent people about.

                  1. Anonymous Coward
                    Anonymous Coward

                    Re: @Vladimir Plouzhnikov @cap'n

                    "Myabe [sic] you should be careful with your smart arse arguments"

                    See that faint spot far away in the distance? That's the point you have missed.

                    1. Anonymous Coward
                      Anonymous Coward

                      Re: @Vladimir Plouzhnikov @cap'n @AC23:04

                      >"Myabe [sic] you should be careful with your smart arse arguments"

                      Ooohh, biting, pointing out a fat fingered spelling mistake, still if it makes you feel clever. Pity your comprehension isn't so good.

                  2. SoulReaper

                    Re: @Vladimir Plouzhnikov @cap'n

                    " Myabe you should be careful with your smart arse arguments. Violent video games are extremely popular hence according to you there are loads of violent people about."

                    Just because violent people are more likely to play violent video games, doesn't mean that a large percentage of said gamers are violent. Even if they are that says nothing about the games themselves, other than they could be a useful tool to estimate the number of violent people in the general population.

              3. Richard Cartledge

                Re: @Vladimir Plouzhnikov

                There is very little original thought in humans. If they don't know something exists, they don't think about it. It only takes a maggot to be placed i the mind and it nibbles away over time.

                1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

                  Re: @Vladimir Plouzhnikov

                  "If they don't know something exists, they don't think about it."

                  1) You cannot hide the existence of the opposite sex by banning some pics on the internets. Adam and Eve did not even have a dial-up connection yet they went at it so successfully that 100s of thousands of years since, there are 7 bn of their offspring roaming around on Earth. And if you are talking about wanking then how can the obsession of some Mr Kellogg with it be explained at the time when there were no PCs at all.

                  2) Ignorance is not a solution to anything. However tempting it might seem at the time, in the end it invariably proves more expensive than the problem it was supposed to solve.

              4. This post has been deleted by its author

              5. asdf
                Joke

                Re: @Vladimir Plouzhnikov

                >So, watching gay porn will not make him gay unless he is gay

                Its only gay if their balls touch right?

            2. Graham Marsden
              Boffin

              @SuperTim - Re: @Vladimir Plouzhnikov

              "t has already been studied and the findings were fairly clear."

              No, it has been repeatedly studied and the findings have been incredibly equivocal at best with those who have a desire to ban pornography (or violent video games etc etc) skewing statistics and cherry-picking results which fit their personal biases.

              And playing the "won't someone think of the children" card doesn't give any more credibility to your position.

            3. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: @Vladimir Plouzhnikov

              Citation needed.

              I'm not aware of any controlled, longitudinal study where someone provided porn to a group of kids and somehow prevented the control group getting access. In fact, I would have a great deal of trouble imagining such a study getting past any university ethics committee - even if someone could somehow find a way to implement the study.

              As far as I can tell very little research on this subject has been done by somebody that didn't have an agenda to begin with.

        4. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: legality.

          "Porn is unhealthy for a kid to have unfettered access to as it will lead to a skewed perspective on sexual relations."

          Just as a thought experiment, ponder this statement:

          "Religion is unhealthy for a kid to have unfettered exposure to as it will lead to a skewed perspective on sexual relations."

          And speaking of sexual relations and skews, what's the gender ratio looking like for adolescents in China these days?

        5. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: legality. @Super Tim

          >The fact that us Westerners don't see porn with the same illegality is irrelevant

          I doubt Asiana see porn with the same illegality as their governments who passed the law in the first place.

          You are confusing what people may chose if allowed with what restrictions have been forced on them.

          However if you feel that the Chinese government is better at looking after the moral well being of it's citizens then you know what you can do. Hell, once there you might make it onto the committee.

        6. DanceMan

          Re: skewed perspective

          If the influence of porn were that strong, I should by now be very turned on by stockings, garter belts, and lingerie. I'm not.

          Undoubtedly there must be some early influences that skew our preferences, but in my case it wasn't porn, and not for lack of it.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        > There is nothing wrong with good old porn

        I'd agree, but there is very, very serious hardcore stuff available to anyone with an unfiltered 'net connection. It's no longer a few jazz mags hidden in the woods by a horny teenager; it's hardcore, it's video and it's practically anywhere you want at the click of a button.

      3. lurker

        "There is nothing wrong with good old porn."

        Some of the moustaches are pretty dodgy.

        1. Thorne
          Headmaster

          "Some of the moustaches are pretty dodgy."

          I am here... to clean.... the pool....

      4. ColonelClaw
        Coat

        Absolutely

        "There is nothing wrong with good old porn."

        More to the point it can be highly benificial. Back in my teenage days I believe I used to suffer from the serious medical condition we termed DSB (Dangerous Sperm Buildup),and porn was the very medicine that would regularly ease the suffering. And I was not alone - every single one of my male friends were also sufferers of this potentially catastrophic condition.

        It is to porn that we owe our safe passage to later life.

      5. Magister

        definition

        Tickling her fancy with a feather is just a little bit of fore play

        Using the whole chicken is perverted.

        8-)

        1. Arctic fox
          Happy

          @Magister "Using the whole chicken is perverted" What is more it is............

          ...........very unfair on the chicken and can lead to confusion over who or what is supposed to be stuffed.

        2. Andus McCoatover
          Windows

          Re: definition

          100%!!!

          You had me laughing so much, I interrupted the pub's Karaoke!!

      6. Graham Wilson
        Thumb Up

        @A.C. -- Right, but....

        "There is nothing wrong with good old porn."

        Right, but in hindsight I'm damn glad that both the internet and internet porn weren't around when I was a kid at school. My grades were already marginal enough and they'd have probably sunk without a trace with such distractions.

        Back then, perving on girls across the classroom was unduly distracting. Mind you, having only ever gone to a coed school, I pity the poor bastards who only ever had single-sex schooling.

        1. Andus McCoatover

          I pity the poor bastards who only ever had single-sex schooling

          I believe I have the birthright to raise an exeption here.

          Actually, spot on. I was a bastard, raised by a very poor family (pensioners). Garden chickens gave us eggs, we couldn't afford to buy them-

          Nothing wrong with single-sex schooling. I was Heducated at Leamington college for Boys (although I was an occasional nocturnal visitor at Leamington College for Girls)

          I was told by a friend that his father made him a homosexual. I asked my mother if I gave her the wool, could she make me one?

    2. Ty Cobb
      Facepalm

      Re: A 'different' wrong...

      The problem wasn't really the p0rn or that it was taking up too much of his time. The problem was Junior was unable to do his homework because his hand cramped and wouldn't fit around a pen or pencil.

  2. LinkOfHyrule
    Joke

    police downloaded over 1TB of porn

    and also in the same week...

    Police station tissue supplies ran dry, cases of officer repetitive strain injury quadrupled, and at least one senior investigator is reported to have gone blind!

    1. TeeCee Gold badge
      Joke

      Re: police downloaded over 1TB of porn

      A police spokesman said: "Yes we do have a huge number of dicks and cunts in the station, but that's nothing new."

    2. philbo
      Joke

      Re: police downloaded over 1TB of porn

      ..and the article does say:

      "the police actually coming good on their promises to clean up the web."

      I hope they cleaned up their promises afterwards, too

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Boffin

    Pron is readily available in China, hawkers are selling it on street corners, pre-downloaded onto DVD for those people who do not have PC based internet access.

    There have also been reports that the Chinese government has softened its stance on pron after it was shown that pron was stopping the proles from getting too restive (and so not rioting as often).

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    caught in the act of having a J Arthur Rank by your mum.

    maximum embarrasment.

    1. Anonymous Coward 101
      Headmaster

      aught in the act of having a J Arthur Rank by your mum...

      ...and 30 different police forces around China, his school, etc, etc. Bet he wished he'd stuck to his sums.

      1. Thorne

        Re: aught in the act of having a J Arthur Rank by your mum...

        I'm sure he'll have plenty of time to study in jail

  5. Shane8
    FAIL

    News Flash!

    L2 encrypt your pr0n! "xxx_porn.avi.something" isn't encrypting either!!!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: News Flash!

      But you have to be careful with this encryption method. Naming your files "ITIL train video session 1-x.avi" have a detrimental impact on your viewing pleasure...

  6. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

    The mom is in for a surprise

    Because not being able to see pron will not stop her son from taking time off his studies and risking an RSI in his arm(s).

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    New pron site launched

    Police action girls - over 1 TB of pics!

  8. Alan Brown Silver badge

    porn on the net

    Isn't like the jazz mags we used to sneakily look at 20 years ago.

    There's a lot of extreme hardcore, denigration etc. The jury is out on how this affects juvenile minds.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: porn on the net

      - How do you know that this particular issue involved "extreme hardcore"?

      - How have you calibrated your standards for "extreme"?

  9. Andus McCoatover
    Windows

    To (mis)quote Shakespeare..

    To see through a chink in the (fire)wall...

  10. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

    It strikes me...

    ...that if many people didn't have the repressive and mediaeval attitude towards pornography, then that in itself would help 'celan up' the internet, as pornographers could get more legitimate advertising on their sites, and a major vector for malware (dodgy advertising that directs to infection sites) would be throttled.

    You could probably make a similar argument for prostitution, and how properly legalising and regulating it would result in less of the nasty organised crime and sex slavery that goes on.

    Sadly, we will probably remain in thrall to the moralising idiots who promote the thought that this sort of thing is hameful for a while yet.

  11. Bill Neal
    Thumb Up

    Dr. Cox

    I'm pretty sure if they got rid of all the porn on the internet, there would only be one site left, and it'd called "bring back the porn"

  12. Toxcity

    Parents should take more responsibility when it comes to their kids on the internet. You wouldn't let them walk down the red light district... so don't let them go down the digital one.

    China have it wrong in my opinion, banning porn sends it underground which brings up a whole load of new issues. Also, some great education and ideas can come from porn.. certainly enriches my relationship. :P

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @Toxcity

      >certainly enriches my relationships

      Mine too, I just hope the wife doesn't find out.

  13. zanto
    WTF?

    the problem with porn

    And violent video games is that if unchecked, it does tend to desensitize the viewer to what is being shown. Especially when the viewer is impressionable. Sometimes, good ol fashioned common sense needs to take precedence over being politically correct.

    If it's ok for kids to view porn, why not experiment with what they see. And if they're doing it, why not with an adult? At what point does being a pc liberal prick in such matters start to feel plain wrong?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: the problem with porn

      " it does tend to desensitize the viewer to what is being shown."

      Says who on the basis of what, please?

    2. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

      Re: the problem with porn

      Firstly, you contradict yourself - if you are desensitised, then, surely, you are *less* likely to experiment with what you see.

      Secondly, you appear to think that desensitisation is a bad thing. How can that be? Look at any "sensitised" society. It's sometimes enough for a woman to show a bit of skin or a leg, let alone her face, to provoke an uncontrolled stoning frenzy. Of course, desensitisation is absolutely required for normal functioning of human society.

      Thirdly, you seem to think that "kids" will only want sex if they are shown the pictures. I presume you were born fully matured, at 50 year old biological age equivalent, so you missed all that "puberty" and "adolescence" thing. But let me tell you on good authority, that teenagers do not need any porn to want to have sex. They have all the porn you can think of right inside their minds (and probably some that you cannot even think of), created by their own imagination.

      1. zanto
        FAIL

        Re: the problem with porn

        Firstly, what i meant was that if all some kids do is shoot / slash people in video games, they'd be less averse to do it in real life.

        Secondly, you're confused between religious fanaticism and moral development. Were you aware that Osama Bin Laden had a stash of porn in the compound he was killed in? So much for that line of reasoning.

        Thirdly, no i went through puberty like most other people. And it was tough at the time, but i did get to view porn, so no, i'm not a prude. Today though, kids are exposed to sex even before they hit puberty. i read of school kids indulging in oral sex and filming it on their cell phones, teenagers still in school getting pregnant and abortions. And i think that something is not right. From where do they get these ideas? Why is this so normal for them? is it because they see so much of it so easily? Porn isn't the only cause, but it is a major factor.

        but then some know-it-all schmuck tells me that this is not true. kids do not get any ideas from porn. I'll believe you just as soon as you introduce me to the tooth fairy.

        1. Vladimir Plouzhnikov

          Re: the problem with porn

          Your #1 - it is pure fiction. We are maybe what we eat but we are not what we see. You don't automatically do anything you see on a screen, neither do other people, kids included. Conversely, not seeing something is not going to stop somebody who have certain fantasies in their head from trying to do them in real life.

          In fact, I firmly believe that if you have an unbalanced individual with such fantasies and let him vent off his steam in front of a simulation, you will prevent, or at least defer him from doing it for real.

          Your #2 - the underlying cause of sensitisation is irrelevant here. So, my point still stands - if your society is too sensitive about certain things it leads to chronic overreaction, whether it's caused by religion or by Daily Mail. Desensitisation is a good thing, without which your society will be failure.

          Your #3 - children were always exposed to sex. There was no age of consent in the caves. Teenagers still at school have sex - how is that a new thing? The most famous love story in the world is about underage lovers - Romeo & Juliet, they'd be both on sex offenders register these days.

          I see no indication that there is more teenage sex today than there always was in the past. There is a lot more hysteria about it for a number of reasons but I don't see the actual problem.

          The nature has to have its ways - it makes teenagers interested in sex, whether you show them porn or put them in burkas. It also makes sure that not too many of them will have it - porn or no porn, a pimply-faced shy youth is not going to get laid until he matures enough to attract interest from the opposite sex.

          1. zanto
            Thumb Up

            Re: the problem with porn

            Ok, i actually googled the topic of violent video games and it's effects on behaviour. The jury is still out on this, however:

            "In fact, I firmly believe that if you have an unbalanced individual with such fantasies and let him vent off his steam in front of a simulation, you will prevent, or at least defer him from doing it for real."

            you do make a very good point which i have overlooked and surprisingly, my google research actually seems to back you up on this. so good point.

            Having said that, I still do not agree that unfettered access to porn/violence is healthy for children. yes teenage sex was around for ages. To take your example, what if that pimple faced teenager was watching porn alone with a girl he would otherwise never have had a chance with?

  14. Bill Neal
    Facepalm

    @zanto

    I'm sure many people like myself grew up with mostly unfettered internet & games. I'm now a stable, happily married man, not the least bit deviant or zelous. I have to blame my parents for doing such a fine job teaching by example how to function in society. It is really common sense to me. The more you oppress, the more they want it. There has to be a level-headed moderation approach to these things.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That wee lad

    He was a wanker.

    (sorry, sorry)

    1. Bill Neal
      Devil

      Re: That wee lad

      If it was me you're typing about, Being a wanker has not had any negative effect on my life. That was the point. the "pc liberal prick" line just inspired me to stand up to such closed-minded zealotry. Ironically my wife was raised in an oppressively christian family. Guess whose family is full of sexual deviants. Not mine : )

  16. get off
    Paris Hilton

    Let me get this straight,.

    Paris because she has to be involved in this story somehow.

    So this is China, we all know it's hideously oppressive, you can't do anything online at all and yet....

    Am I reading this bit right?

    "Investigators complained that the several-months long crackdown could have been made easier if operators were forced to retain internet logs for longer than the current 60 days"

    God forbid they employ Theresa May as a consultant on 'nothing to fear, nothing to hide' legislation.

    Thumbs up to a bit of Chinese style, freedom to surf...rather than a social dossier, May style 'time line'

  17. J.G.Harston Silver badge

    Won't somebody think....

    All children need to know about porn is that porn is porn, it is not real sex, and real sex does not involve ejaculating over your girlfriend's face, is not a race, and and involves gentleness, holding and cuddling.

    1. DanceMan

      Re: Won't somebody think....

      Amen to those thoughts.

      However, view enough Japanese porn and you'll learn how to incorporate a vibrator into sex. Not all porn is crap, though much of it is.

  18. Handle This
    Holmes

    "Sir, we have 650 GB of porn now, we're ready to shut it down!" "Well, I think we could use a little more, just to be sure. I'll just di it muself; be sure to close the door on your way out . . ."

  19. mhenriday
    Boffin

    «Usually, initiatives to crack down on pornography, malware

    and fraudulent web sites are nothing more than a cover for something far more important to Party bosses – shutting down online political dissent.» You do have evidence for that statement, do you not, Phil - given your long and initmate association with «Party bosses» ? Or are you suggesting that when the police shut down this network (which, unless more serious issues were uncovered (pardon the pun !) than pornography, I suggest is an egregious waste of police resources, which even in China are not unlimited), it was all a mistake, and they actually intended to so something else (and twice as nefarous - after all, they're Chinese) entirely ? The article would have been greatly improved by editing out that last superciliously ignorant little paragraph....

    Henri

  20. Simon B
    Devil

    I'm sure the kid will get fantastic grades now she's sent him to prison

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