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

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: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 24 2015, @01:32PM

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @01:32PM (#200374) Journal

    Germany has an interesting relationship with sexuality. In medieval times the Catholic church there ran the brothels in some places, because it was believed giving the men an outlet for their passions prevented other social ills (sorry, guys, I don't have a link handy or time to google my way to one now). It's also true you can see nudity on regular television and in magazines and newspapers. The Reeperbahn in Hamburg is a well-known red light district that rivals Amsterdam in Europe.

    And yet, you occasionally see moves like this.

    For my money, though, the Japanese leave the Germans in the dust for complicated sexuality. You could write volumes. Actually, volumes have been written. And manga. And anime.

    --
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2015, @03:24PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 24 2015, @03:24PM (#200417)

    I don't think there is any base of fact in the church running brothels.

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by janrinok on Wednesday June 24 2015, @06:50PM

      by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday June 24 2015, @06:50PM (#200525) Journal

      Try this link: http://www.badnewsaboutchristianity.com/gfg_prostitution.htm [badnewsaboutchristianity.com]

      In England the Bishop of Winchester was so well known for his brothels (called "stews") in Southwark that prostitutes in his 22 licensed stews came to be known as Winchester Geese. To have been bitten by a Winchester Goose was to have contracted the great pox (i.e. syphilis).

      and from here [wikipedia.org]:

      During the Middle Ages, prostitution was commonly found in urban contexts. Although all forms of sexual activity outside of marriage were regarded as sinful by the Roman Catholic Church, prostitution was tolerated because it was held to prevent the greater evils of rape, sodomy, and masturbation (McCall, 1979). Augustine of Hippo held that: "If you expel prostitution from society, you will unsettle everything on account of lusts". The general tolerance of prostitution was for the most part reluctant, and many canonists urged prostitutes to reform.

      Or you could try this. [thecrimson.com]

      In London the brothels of Southwark were owned by the Bishop of Winchester. (MCCall)

      There are, of course, sites denying that the church actually 'ran' the brothels, but that they permitted them to be operated and supported them by financial assistance, 'ministering' to prostitutes, and providing protection from those who wished them to be closed down. It's hard to find anyone with any unequivocal evidence either way, but I certainly wouldn't discount it out of hand. The more recent disclosures regarding sexual abuse by priests indicates that they are as fallible as everyone else. Furthermore, the fact that many such abusers were known to the church but provided with 'protection' suggests that the church is entirely able to do things that are criminal when it suits its purpose.

      • (Score: 1) by slothroplives on Wednesday June 24 2015, @09:11PM

        by slothroplives (5487) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @09:11PM (#200604)

        A bishop running some brothels is not the same as the church running them.

        • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday June 25 2015, @07:21AM

          by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Thursday June 25 2015, @07:21AM (#200832) Journal

          Did you bother to read the links?

          Rome as well as Avignon housed brothels. The following is an extract about Rome under Pope Alexander VI, written by the Pope's own master of ceremonies in 1501:

          There is no longer any crime or shameful act that does not take place in public in Rome and in the house of the pontiff. [...] Who could fail to be horrified by the account of the terrible, monstrous acts of lechery that are committed openly in his house, with no respect for God or man? Rapes and acts of incest are countless, his sons and daughters are utterly depraved, great throngs of courtesans frequent Saint Peter’s Palace, pimps, brothels and whorehouses are to be found everywhere, a most shameful situation!

          Now I suppose those 'great throngs of courtesans' frequenting Saint Peter's Palace could have been tourists but, in 1501, I don't think so.

          The reference to Avignon [wikipedia.org] is because there were several people claiming to be the true Pope - but both catholic centers had similar problems with sexual activity, and each supported and protected 'courtesans' inside the church grounds. Now where I live, that is enough to result in a charge of either causing or inciting prostitution for gain, or controlling prostitution for gain [...] .

  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday June 24 2015, @03:37PM

    by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday June 24 2015, @03:37PM (#200425)

    Catholic church there ran the brothels in some places

    We also have those in the supposedly Puritan USA, but its only for priests and altar boys.

  • (Score: 1) by Type44Q on Wednesday June 24 2015, @04:18PM

    by Type44Q (4347) on Wednesday June 24 2015, @04:18PM (#200451)

    For my money, though, the Japanese leave the Germans in the dust for complicated sexuality. You could write volumes. Actually, volumes have been written. And manga. And anime.

    Having grown up there in the mid 70's to early 80's, boy could I tell you stories...!