Backpage Seized by the FBI

[neverbored]

I've often wondered if BP themselves post fake ads to inflate the number of postings. Sort of like Ashley Madison.

For sure they did. Any site that relies on advertising or membership revenue will use any way possible to increase the perception of their services. Its the same for shilling... any site that relies on reviews will have a % of shilling and trolling... consider tripadvisor, yelp and even community driven sites such as merb.

An sp today told me how she was unhappy about the situation with BP.

BP was a money maker for girls. It was simple and the interface was efficient. From what I understand no matter what we think of merb, its not the holy grail for traffic and visibility. There are way more people out there that don't even know merb exists or would even take the time to learn their way around a forum site. The only real advantage to advertise on merb, is even tho it dosen't get mass exposure, members here are more committed and have a higher chance of recurrence. This is great for the girls... in other words, its quite well segmented. But not all girls will have the same success advertising on merb.

 

[rumraycer]

Closure of BP has had worldwide effect, for instance in Australia where sexwork is legal. Other USA sites such as Fetlife are on the verge of self-shutdown. And, how about the CLOUD act which was just passed by the US Congress as a part of the recent federal budget bill? https://adultbizlaw.com/2018/04/06/fosta-the-cloud-act-the-1-2-punch-to-end-online-escorting/

And then the timing of the BP closure has been criticized by many who see that the mainstream media covered it last weekend as 'sex trafficing' whereas when the details of the indictment were released this Monday it was simply 'promoting prostitution' with many of the counts relating to a single ad. Also the indictment lists about 10-12 properties (probably worth several million $ in total) owned by the accused persons will be seized if any of the charges are found to be valid in court. And - all this BEFORE FOSTA/SESTA has been signed into law by Pres. Trump !!

Sex workers are having it rough these days - check this list:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1c1nqawo1QuiVlpA3bhS8xyDxzDDlRq6BoogAoc91OmU/edit#

So, give your favorite sex workers your support and hugs!

 

[Monsieur Clarion]

Trump is doing a Law and Order thing to make political points.

 

[rumraycer]

Care to read the BP indictment? Here it is, all 61 pages of it...
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4434401-Backpage.html#document/p43/a416482

 

[EagerBeaver]

Nobody is posting anything about the defense. I assume Backpage is not taking this laying down? There are all kinds of 1st amendment arguments to be made.

 

[urquell]

I doubt the defense means anything. The girls can't wait for the legalities to sort themselves out while they starve. By the time it gets sorted out, and it's very unlikely to change in any case, I suspect, the SPs will have had to have found alternate channels. I suppose it's somewhat similar to what happened with Craigslist some years back, although not exactly. Girls who aren't already established through other channels are going to have a very hard time. All eggs in one basket isn't good for this line of work.

 

[VMaxRideHer]

http://www.lapresse.ca/techno/inter...titution-le-site-backpage-plaide-coupable.php

[h=1]Prostitution : le site Backpage plaide coupable[/h]

 

[westwoody]

Nobody is posting anything about the defense. I assume Backpage is not taking this laying down? There are all kinds of 1st amendment arguments to be made.

Head of backpage made a deal. May face five years but pleaded guilty to several money laundering charges and facilitating prostitution.

So, no defence.

 

[Meat Missile]

The SP landscape in the USA is morphing and will not look as it did in the past. It may one day come back, but not anytime soon.

 

[VMaxRideHer]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFsFp46YiEs&ab_channel=SGTreport

 

[arthur_vandelay]

Not quite sure what to make of this, but according to this, the NYPD is now doing “hotel operations”


https://nypost.com/2018/04/15/thai-general-briefly-detained-in-ny-after-prostitution-bust/

 

[RobertNYC]

Not quite sure what to make of this, but according to this, the NYPD is now doing “hotel operations”


https://nypost.com/2018/04/15/thai-general-briefly-detained-in-ny-after-prostitution-bust/

You see this is a problem going forward. More than likely it was an incall appointment (this diplomat going to the hotel) since police almost never post an ad for outcall since they don’t want the risks - physical and legal - of entering an individual’s hotel room. But without TER to verify what escort is legit, I fear you’re going to see a lot more of these types of busts.

 

[Bred Sob]

police almost never post an ad for outcall

Given the subject of this thread, where do they post ads these days? Just curious...

 

[RobertNYC]

Given the subject of this thread, where do they post ads these days? Just curious...

Backpage was loaded with ads posted by police, and there are still local boards in the states that I’m sure they’re using.

 

[Randy Johson]

CBC Radio-The Current on Backpage Closing & new US law

The Current... CBC current affairs program did a segment on the closing of backpage and the new US law today.

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/...cking-laws-are-a-risk-to-her-safety-1.4624546

 

[Canada-man]

i missed it

 

[Randy Johson]

Click on the link..and the hit listen

 

[Frozen]

related?

I am in the US. When I tried to access Humpshies I got the following message:

[FONT=&quot][ x ] This site's content is not avaibale in your country

I was successful via a VPN

Cheers,
Fredd[/FONT]

 

[forever newbi]

Very recently I had a visitor who mention the shut down of backpage was not as bad as she thought...

She work with a well known local agency and it turns out her taken was not that bad when account all the managing she no longer need to take care. Also advertising on backpage was in fact very expensive, that she no longer need to pay out of her porket.

 

[sweetspot]

it occurred to me that SESTA can have the effect of limiting foreign escorts from working in the US. When girls do travel tours, they post on local boards and of course Backpage where they get lots of exposure. Now with these resources cut off, foreign girls will have limited exposure and they might not go to the US if they don't think they can get enough booking. American girls have the luxury of trial and error since they live there, they will figure out something eventually and build local connections. But I can see it's gonna be hard for visiting girls.

SESTA essentially deters non-US girls from working there. I can think of a few mtl girls that are definitely affected.