Yahoo! quietly gets into the porn business

<br>SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) _ Internet company Yahoo! Inc. has begun selling pornographic videos online, company officials have confirmed. <br><br>Yahoo!, whose Web pages are viewed by about 185 million

Wednesday, April 11th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) _ Internet company Yahoo! Inc. has begun selling pornographic videos online, company officials have confirmed.

Yahoo!, whose Web pages are viewed by about 185 million people a month, has opened an online store selling thousands of hard-core video tapes and DVDs. The company earns a share of the sales.

Yahoo! officials declined to talk to the Los Angeles Times about the pornography sales. In a written statement Tuesday, they said that ``under stringent control, adult products have been available through Yahoo! Shopping for more than two years.''

The company has expanded efforts to block underage shoppers, requiring buyers to register an e-mail address and enter a credit card number. The card is checked to verify shoppers' ages.

Analysts told the Times that the sale of porn may alienate companies that advertise with the company. Yahoo! is expected to report its second consecutive quarterly loss today.

Other major Internet companies, including America Online and the Microsoft Network, have stayed away from pornography sales.