Hong Kong - The operators of a Hong Kong website that advertised sex services were facing jail terms Friday after being convicted of living off the earnings of prostitutes. In the first case of its kind in the former British colony, five people including the website's owner were convicted of the offence after running prostitute advertisements from 2003 to 2006.
In return for a 600-Hong-Kong dollar (77-US-dollar) monthly fee, the website would carry the advertisements and take pictures of brothels to include with the advertisements.
The website carried details including the prostitutes' names, ages, addresses and pictures and price lists of how much they charged for sex services.
Hundreds of prostitutes advertised on the site which made profits of up to 13,000 US dollars a month, Hong Kong's District Court was told.
The five men, aged 31 to 48, were convicted Thursday of conspiracy to live off the earnings of prostitutes and will be sentenced on May 14. They face fines, community service or jail.
A legislator quoted by Friday's South China Morning Post expressed concern at the case, saying it set a precedent by which a builder who works on a prostitute's flat could be prosecuted.
"If he knew his client was a prostitute, could we say he was relying on the earnings of the prostitute?" the legislator, James To, told the newspaper.
