Germany makes it illegal to buy erotic e-books before 10 p.m.

Maybe German lawmakers don't quite understand how the internet works, because a new law in the nation has banned sales of erotic e-books between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. — with a nasty $560,000 fine to follow if retailers don't comply. The law is intended as an extension of the 2002 Youth Media Protection Act, which bans sales of adult material during the day, and has now been ruled as applicable to internet purchases as well. (Apparently the transgender memoir Schlauchgelüste, or "Pantyhose Cravings," was being purchased during daylight hours, which was what stirred up the complaint).

Of course, the internet doesn't have a time zone. Or rather, it has lots. "Germany is one hour ahead of the U.K., so if you have a penchant for erotic literature from Germany and decide to purchase it in the form of an e-book between 5 a.m. and 9 p.m., you are technically breaking the law," Metro UK suggests. "For a nation that created some of the greatest machines on the planet, they sure don't understand how the internet works, do they?"

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