A woman who made a video of herself performing sex acts and then uploaded it to the Internet has been detained, the public security bureau in Shanghai said on Friday.

The woman, surnamed Huang, was detained for spreading pornography online, it said.

The 12-minute video first appeared on the Internet at the end of October under the title "Kappa girl at Shanghai No 1 Department Store's east building", in reference to the sportswear shop in which Huang worked.

It soon became one of the most popular downloads on the mainland, with thousands of people downloading it last month, the bureau said.

Initial reports said the video originated on a blog belonging to a Shanghai resident surnamed Lu. However, police later determined that Lu was Huang's alter ego.

She set up the blog in a bid to profit from her notoriety by offering advertising space and interviews in exchange for cash, police said.

In the blog, Huang said she would give interviews and provide exclusive information about herself for 30,000 yuan a time, they said.

The would-be porn star is also accused of sending a copy of the video to a former colleague surnamed Wang. Although police have been attempting to remove all traces of the video, it is still available online.

A man from Hubei province is suspected of spreading the video, and police are investigating, the bureau said.

Beijing lawyer Lu Heping said: "Anyone who films, uploads or distributes such videos, is guilty of disseminating pornography."

(China Daily December 20, 2008)