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Japan continues futile crackdown on sex videos streamed online

An adult channel on FC2 Live
An image showing an adult channel on FC2 Live (Twitter)

On September 30, a total of 60 investigators from five administrative districts across Japan, including Tokyo and Kyoto, raided the offices of Homepage System in Osaka on suspicion that its operations assisted in the distribution of obscene material on the Internet.

Investigators claim that the company serves as the management of FC2 Live, a file-sharing site hosted overseas that has served as the platform for the streaming of uncensored pornographic content from Japan.

With FC2 being a large site offering a number of Internet services in addition to the streaming of pornography, a source in the industry tells Tokyo Sports (Oct. 2) that the move is futile.

“I don’t think the police can crush the company itself,” says IT journalist Toshiyuki Inoue, “because if they do they’ll drive this cat-and-mouse game underground.”

FC2 has had its share of trouble this year in Japan, whose laws require films available domestically to have genitalia properly censored.

On June 6, officers from the Kyoto Prefectural Police barged into an apartment in Osaka’s Kita Ward and discovered a young man and woman engaged in sex acts atop a bed as a camera streamed the action (uncensored) on FC2.

Three months before, Saitama police arrested Kunimitsu Umebayashi on charges of public obscenity. Since November of last year, Umebayashi had sex with approximately 150 amateur actresses live on FC2.

As of now, no arrests have been announced for Homepage System. Tokyo Sports notes that in addition to obscenity violations police are seeking to apply charges related to the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses since the distribution of content on FC2 is likely not in compliance with the standards set out by prefectural public safety commissions.

A weakening of FC2 may also spur interest in sites overseas. The aforementioned journalist says that the top international locations for uploading content are likely to be Russia, China and parts of Southeast Asia, such as Vietnam and Thailand.

“There’s a site in China where users can download erotic content from Japan at no charge,” says Inoue. “Eroticism is indestructible.”

Source: “’FC2′ ni sosa no mesu tomado riyosha ‘ashita kara dosureba…,’” Tokyo Sports (Oct. 2)