Ofcom to Playboy: You’ve been naughty

Playboy has found itself in hot water in the UK, and no, that’s not a kinky new sex position.

The magazine publisher has been fined 100,000 pounds by the British communications regulator Ofcom, which says the Playboy-owned web sites Playboy TV and Demand Adult didn’t have enough controls to check if visitors were at least 18 years old.

The Demand Adult site took visitors to a page featuring explicit material when they clicked a button that said “Enter I am over 18,” with more content available by simply using a debit card.

The Playboy TV site wasn’t as explicit after users clicked the “I am 18″ button, but it also offered more material with the use of a debit card.

Ofcom determined that neither methods could be considered an effective system for age verification and fined Playboy 65,000 pounds for Demand Adult and 35,000 pounds for Playboy TV.

According to Ofcom, asking for credit card information is much more effective than asking for debit cards, because credit cards aren’t available to those under 18.

Tags: Demand Adult, magazines, ofcom, playboy, playboy sites minors, playboy sites under 18, playboy web sites, UK, web