Now Ofcom have yet quite established themselves
as worldwide internet censors and any attempt to fine foreign companies is at risk of being ignored and setting this as a precedent for the way to deal with Ofcom international overreach. The first international fine issued by Ofcom is currently being
ignored by the US website 4Chan.
So for a British linked company makes for a far easier target for Ofcom. One of the two directors of Itai Tech Ltd which owns undress.cc is registered at Companies House with a UK address. It is reported that
company is now in the processing of removing this British connection and has self blocked its website from viewing from UK users.
Ofcom has today issued a £50,000 fine
against the provider of a nudification site for failing to use age-checks to protect children from online pornography.
Robust age checks are a cornerstone of the Online Safety Act and must be highly effective at correctly
determining whether a particular user is a child. Regulated services are also required, by law, to respond to Ofcom's requests for information in an accurate, complete and timely way, which is fundamental to our job as a regulator.
Earlier this year, we opened an enforcement programme to determine industry compliance with their age-check duties and, as part of this, issued statutory information requests to a range of companies.
An Ofcom
investigation has today concluded that Itai Tech Ltd -- which runs the nudification site Undress.cc -- has failed to use highly effective age assurance to protect children from encountering pornographic content.
As a result, Ofcom
has imposed a fine of £50,000 on Itai Tech Ltd, which takes into account the provider's decision to make the site unavailable to users with UK IP addresses shortly after we opened our investigation. An additional £5,000 penalty has been levied on the
company on account of its failure to comply with a statutory information request.
