An unidentified German Adult Web site has been hit with a fine of more than $2,000 for a lack of stronger controls to keep children and teens under 18 from accessing the site, authorities said this week.
German news reports October 26 indicated the decision was actually made in September but not disclosed until now, with the court requiring tougher entrance checks for Web surfers.
The reports indicated one police officer said he saw the site using the identification number of an unnamed celebrity who had German citizenship papers shown in a glossy magazine.
Germany has not shied from trying to regulate Internet presence in that country, but their usual targets have tended to be neo-Nazi sites and Internet forums. As a rule, there are all but no legal limits on Adult Web material, but Germany does have protection-of-minors regulations that mandate movie theaters, bookstores, and webmasters to take strong steps to keep out those under 18 years of age.
