Municipal officers target computer- and phone-to-phone transmission.

THE government and municipal police are ramping up efforts to curtail the distribution of pornographic videos by cracking down on computer-to-phone and phone-to-phone transmission, officials said Thursday.

Municipal Police Chief Touch Naruth said Thursday that officers had confiscated 30 computers in the past four months after finding that their owners were allowing people to upload pornographic videos from them onto their mobile phones.

He added that police had been focusing in particular on "places that allow for the copying and transferring of data onto cell phones".

Khim Sarith, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, appeared on CTN Wednesday to warn viewers that the penalties for transferring pornographic videos could include one month in jail and a fine.

Touch Naruth said fines would vary in amount depending on "the severity of the offence".

Khim Sarith argued that pornographic videos can cause viewers to commit sex crimes.

"We would like to call for all parents, students and civil servants to be active in preventing the transferring of pornographic movies and pictures onto cell phones," he said.

Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association, said Thursday that he hopes the crackdown is successful.

"If it is not effective, the youth will be spoiled," he said. "They will abandon their studies, and the whole of society will suffer from disorder."