Online dating bill

[thomas]

Good move. Difficult to control.

Dating site bill seeks heavy fines for child prostitution

A new bill on online dating services proposes fines of up to 1 million yen for people who use matchmaking sites to seek sexual services from minors under 18, details learned Thursday reveal. Under the proposed Dating Site Control Bill, those who post messages on Internet bulletin boards seeking minors under the age of 18 as partners will face a fine of up to 1 million yen. The bill applies not just to people who connect to dating sites using cellular phones, but also to those who access the sites on personal computers. It also clamps down on the operators of matchmaking services who fail to verify whether their users are aged below 18. Operators who do not properly confirm the ages of their users will face up to six months imprisonment or a fine of up to 1 million yen if they do not comply with prefectural orders to improve their services.

Minors under 18 who solicit services on the sites will also be subject to punishment. This, however, has drawn criticism from within the Liberal Democratic Party, with party members saying that punishment of children who are the victims of child prostitution is inappropriate. The government hopes to reach a Cabinet decision on the new bill on March 14, after it has been discussed with the relevant government ministries.

=> http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/news/20030227p2a00m0fp016001c.html

Related:

Net-based child prostitution grew almost 130% in 2002

=> http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20030221b6.htm

Japanese police to regulate dating sites

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