A jobless woman in her 30s became China's first person to be jailed for operating a fee-based online nude chat service, the Legal Daily reported yesterday.

The woman, who was identified as Fang, was jailed for six months with a year's suspension after she was caught raking in profits by performing nude in front of a camera during Internet chat sessions, said the newspaper, which is the organ of the Committee of Political and Legislative Affairs of Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The Longyou County People's Court in east China's Zhejiang Province found Fang, a Zhejiang native, earned 24,000 yuan (US$3,430) in six months from her online nude chat business she operated from her home.

Fang's business, which attracted hundreds of clients on the Web, attracted clients from 22 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities from November 2006 to May 2007. Police found the chatting records of more than 300 clients in her computer.

A Netizen called police after watching her performance online.

Bank records showed that Fang's account received money transferred thousands of times during her business.

China's criminal law said offenders who produce, duplicate, publish, sell or disseminate pornographic material for the purpose of profit, may face a fix term imprisonment of no more than three years. But the heaviest punishment for the most serious violators is life imprisonment.

(Shanghai Daily April 4, 2008)