That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons bring us some web forums whereupon we can gather
http://www.octopusoverlords.com/forum/
So my question is how does shutting down Backpage help the cause of preventing exploitation of underaged girls? We have it from the authorities that Backpage works with them, even calling them immediately when there's a questionable ad. Lets say we shut down Backpage tomorrow, and a new website pops up hosted in the Caymans that offers the exact same services but does not cooperate with the authorities? Are things better?LawBeefaroni wrote:If you mean backpage, the cooperative approach has been taken and yet ads/contacts still slip by. Thus the calls for stronger enforcement and/or legislation.silverjon wrote:If you don't mind my making a serious reply, I think taking a cooperative approach rather than a punitive one has more potential to actually accomplish something productive. It's a general principle of harm reduction.
I just find it odd that on the one hand requiring age verification is an acceptable enforcement action to take but requiring verification of legal services is not.
One "wouldn't hurt" but the other is harmful because it would force elements to another venue.
NBC SDFederal law enforcement authorities are in the process of seizing Backpage.com and its affiliated websites.
The websites are being seized as part of an enforcement action by the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service, according to a notice that appeared Friday afternoon on Backpage.com.
The notice didn’t characterize or provide any details on the nature of the enforcement action.
The Department of Justice says a court had ruled the case would remain sealed.
That's a rather fine point to put on it.does *not* accuse Backpage of knowingly facilitating sex trafficking
...
50 counts of violating the Travel Act
On Tuesday [April 3], Charles McFee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor. In court, federal prosecutors revealed that McFee introduced "Minor A" to Joseph Hazley, who is also charged. Prosecutors say McFee watched Hazley create a Backpage.com profile for "Minor A," and for the introduction, McFee was supposed to get a finders' fee of $250.
"It is beyond shocking and heartbreaking that this child was bought for $250," Romanucci said.
The family of Desiree Robinson says "Minor A" was Robinson. The 16-year-old was found murdered in a Markham garage on Christmas Eve of 2016. An alleged customer, Antonio Rosales, has been charged with her murder.
Carl Ferrer, the chief executive of Backpage.com whose name was conspicuously absent from an indictment of seven other Backpage officials unsealed Monday, has pleaded guilty in state courts in California and Texas and federal court in Arizona to charges of money laundering and conspiracy to facilitate prostitution. In addition, he agreed to testify against the men who co-founded Backpage with him, Michael Lacey and James Larkin, who remained in jail Thursday in Arizona on facilitating prostitution charges.
Backpage, in addition to hosting thinly veiled ads for prostitution since 2004, was accused of hosting child sex trafficking ads on its site and even assisting advertisers in wording their copy so they didn’t overtly declare that sex was for sale, federal investigators allege. In a remarkable three-paragraph admission in his federal plea agreement, Ferrer wrote that “I conspired with other Backpage principals … to find ways to knowingly facilitate the state-law prostitution crimes being committed by Backpage’s customers.”
Ferrer also acknowledged creating a “moderation” process to remove terms and pictures indicative of prostitution. “Such editing did not,” Ferrer wrote, “of course, change the essential nature of the illegal service being offered in the ad — it was merely intended to create a veneer of deniability for Backpage.” He said that these “editing practices were only one component of an overall, companywide culture and policy of concealing and refusing to officially acknowledge the true nature of the services being offered in Backpage’s ‘escort’ and ‘adult’ ads.”
Sure, but the low level of freakout is still pretty fascinating to me. And I guess we really should be saying FOSTA/SESTA. Here's a good primer from EFF. I have yet to see a reaction to this approaching anything near what we have seen in other similar cases.