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Germany Says You Can't Sell Adult Ebooks Until After 10 PM

posted by janrinok on Wednesday June 24 2015, @05:18AM   Printer-friendly
from the you-can't-make-this-up dept.

AnonTechie writes:

Techdirt reports that the German government, armed with a law that has its origin in more captive content (movies -- the kind shown in theatres) and attempting to apply it to the internet (ebook sales).

Heise.de (German) and Boersenblatt (German) reported on Friday and Thursday that the Jugendschutzbehörde (Youth Protection Authority) has handed down a new ruling which extended Germany's Youth Media Protection Law to include ebooks.

As a result of a lawsuit (legal complaint?) over the German erotica ebook Schlauchgelüste (Pantyhose Cravings), the regulators have decided that ebook retailers in Germany can now only sell adult ebooks between 10 pm and 6 am local time (4 pm and midnight, eastern US).

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2015, @06:56AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2015, @06:56AM (#200265)

    Indeed. Are libraries required to hide naughty volumes during daylight hours?

  • (Score: 1) by epl on Wednesday June 24 2015, @11:51AM

    by epl (1801) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @11:51AM (#200337)

    No, but (hardcopy) books have different rules to abide by that eBooks since even though the actual content is the same, the laws aren't because eBooks are now considered "telemedia".

    German law differentiates between media on an "index", which is mainly hardcore porn, excessive violence and ultra-right material; this media is considered not suitable for children. As books are less interactive and graphic of nature than movies etc. they can be real/borrowed/bought by children unless they're on this index.
    "Telemedia", he afformentioned movies, videogames and now eBooks, are handled differently and may only be sold to people who have reached the according age (categories 6, 12, 16 and 18).

    As it's a digital medium ebooks are classed as Telemedia, although there is no difference in content to hardcopies.