Singapore ready to prosecute overseas porn sites


	JANUARY 6, 2001 Associated Press in Singapore RELATED: Sex clinic positions couples for new outlook In-vitro hope for barren couples A REPORT from a Singapore-based online news site says that the Singapore government is prepared to prosecute its citizens who operate pornographic sites, even if those sites are located on servers outside the country. According to an article posted on news site Project Eyeball, the Computer Crimes Division of Singapore's Criminal Investigation Department said that "the police will trace the location of the site and ask the overseas hosting company to help with investigations." The CID also confirmed that they were on the lookout for offenders, the report said. Under current Singaporean law, operators of pornographic Web sites inside Singapore faced prosecution under the Undesirable Publications Act or the penal Code for the circulation or sale of obscene or objectionable materials or publications. Offenders face a S$10,000 fine and up to three years in jail. The warning seems to be working. A random search for the words, "sex" and "porn" using a Singaporean-based search engine, Lycos Asia Singapore - a subsidiary of government-owned Singapore Telecom - returned a total of three Web sites; one under the category of computers and Internet; another under the category Home and Family; and rubberandsilicone.com, which sells exotic condoms and accessories.