Porn for profit common in smartphone apps   

手機軟件色情換利潤盛行 碎一地節操引系列犯罪

隨著智能手機的普及，包括手機游戲在內的第三方應用程序(又稱APP)市場也越來越火爆，APP儼然成為當前信息產業鏈條中最為熱門的領域。然而，《法制日報》記者采訪了解到，在激烈的APP市場競爭中，色情營銷竟成為一項被廣泛采用的策略。[查看全文]

(ECNS) – As the app market surges with the popularization of smartphones, the marketing of porn content has been widely adopted by numerous app developers eyeing profits in a competitive market, the Legal Daily reported.

Cao Yu, an app investor in Beijing, said porn is one of the most eye-catching elements in the industry and can draw large amounts of traffic by attracting clicks, which the apps profit from.

An unnamed Internet analyst has said that porn apps are searched and downloaded frequently. Most smartphone users in their early 20s have downloaded at least three porn apps to their phones, he said.

"App developers can apply for pornographic material if they want to profit from the industry," he added.

Porn is common in SNS apps as well, according to Cao. "Some SNS apps are in fact platforms that provide erotic services," he said.

An investor who declined to be named said many apps have inserted social functions that convey sexually suggestive information.

A developer of a class schedule app said that one of the app's functions is to help users hook up with girls, Cao revealed.

Zhao Zhanling, an intellectual property researcher at China University of Political Science and Law, said apps abusing porn content can be penalized according to laws and regulations, but whether laws are being broken is often hard to clearly define.

Cao also said it's hard to totally ban porn content from apps. But he believed those using porn as advertising would finally be eliminated from the market.