José M. Rodríguez Silva Madrid
Madrid
Updated Monday, March 25, 2024-01:47
Society The anti-porn project for minors obliges all users to verify their age with their DNI
Society Porn websites will be sanctioned if they do not verify the age of users to prevent access to minors
The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has opened a file against the Asturian company
TechPump,
owner of several pornographic websites, among other businesses, for not implementing age verification mechanisms to prevent minors from entering content portals. for adults that it manages.
At first glance, the website of this company based in Gijón looks very similar to that of any
startup
that has grown inspired by the success of Silicon Valley. Among photos
showing a dog in the office, arcade machines and a summary of their employee benefits
, two great slogans stand out in English: "Our strategy is called 'getting things done'" and a quote from Michael Jordan: "I can accept failure, everyone makes mistakes, but I don't accept not trying."
What is almost hidden is that one of the company's businesses is "adult content", which is barely mentioned in passing and
there is no mention of the porn websites that the company manages either
.
The CNMC already sued TechPump in July for the implementation of age verification solutions to the company by six portals under its control:
Porn300, Superporn, Cumlouder, Serviporno, Heureporno and Folieporno
. Techpump then assured that it was implementing these solutions and requested a three-month extension to execute it, which was granted.
However, more than half a year later,
this tool has still not been implemented
, which has led to the opening of the file that could even
order a cessation of activity on the websites
.
The company has not responded to this newspaper's questions at press time, while the CNMC has declined to comment on an ongoing process.
Techpump has already received a fine of more than half a million euros from the Spanish Data Protection Agency
for the lack of transparency in the use they gave to the data collected by their websites. The institution led by Mar España also sanctioned two other entities.
YEAR AND A HALF OF 'PERSECUTION'
The regulator is responsible for supervising the audiovisual sector and, since the reform of this law two years ago, this includes video sharing platforms on the Internet, such as these websites. The
law requires that these companies include mechanisms that effectively verify the age of users
and not simply an initial message in which the user states that they are of legal age or enters their year of birth.
TechPump's actions have not gone unnoticed in Europe, since the CNMC received
requests for action from the audiovisual regulators of Poland, France
, where providing pornographic content to a minor carries a prison sentence, and
Germany
, as well as the Audiovisual Council of Andalusia. to require the company to implement age verification.
During the dialogue process, the company conveyed that it is testing technical solutions that fit its websites and requested the aforementioned extension. After not applying the required measures, the file was opened.
TechPump, however, assured that
it has strong controls against pedophilia
, since it has
three employees who manually verify the videos that users upload to the website
, and that they represent 40% of the content on the website, and it actively collaborates with the security forces. In fact, it defines itself as "the most restrictive company in the sector in this regard."
HOT DEBATE
The file against this company comes at a critical moment in the debate on the use of the Internet by minors. Among the Government's plans is to
force users to verify their age with their DNI
through a mechanism of the Mint and Stamp Factory to guarantee the privacy of users. The Spanish Data Protection Agency also introduced its own age verification tool at the end of the year.
Last Friday, DigitalEs, the association that brings together telecommunications companies,
presented the sector's proposals
. including new navigation tools to regulate screen use as well as seeking agreements to include pre-installed age verification applications on mobile phones.