eros.com raid

[jalimon]

Patron I would still be worried as the data these service identifier sites provide is candy to hackers.

I am too very surprised they had their server in the us. What a mistake! Especially now where it's so easy to simply move your sites to cloud host based in the Netherland or Switzerland (my preference as opposed to unreliable Caribbean destination).

Maria I have been working the web the last 18 years. I would be very surprised if they erased any data, data is the new money these days.

Cheers,

 

[EagerBeaver]

Maria-

Be careful at the border! If DHS has your info ICE has your info. I doubt Eros erased anything! Not a problem for you unless you travel to US.

 

[westwoody]

That is in no way shape or form a local raid. It’s the DHS and the only way that raid happens is due to something international.

Actually they can be involved if locals ask for assistance.
Locals may argue there is a human trafficking angle to get Fed funding.

 

[EagerBeaver]

None of the reports indicate anyone other than DHS was involved. As a matter of courtesy and protocol if the Feds stage a raid anywhere they call local LE and tell them what’s going down because LE of the jurisdiction needs to know what is going down. It is not the province of local LE to investigate companies like this. The Attorney General for North Carolina could be involved but typically the Sheriff of Hicksville, NC isn’t going to get involved except when DHS calls and says “hey we are raiding one of your residents.” The Sheriff or local police chief likely came along for the ride and served as the DHS local tour guide on the terrain. FBI would use same protocol. They always contact local LE when conducting a raid pursuant to lawful warrant. Local LE will ask to see warrant, will honor and will ride out and watch as silent observers.

 

[EagerBeaver]

One other point: the Sheriff/police chief of Hicksville, NC does not in any way set the LE agenda of DHS, FBI or any other federal LE. It’s the other way around. They tell him what’s going down and that they are coming and he has one choice, which is to come along, watch and keep his mouth shut. It’s highly unlikely local LE had any other role. They are not set up to investigate alleged international cybercrime. They have zero resources and staff to do it.

 

[CaptRenault]

Here's an update from Elizabeth Nolan Brown at Reason.com. I am sure that DHS wanted to shut down the web site, but since its servers are in Switzerland, they have not been able to do so.

Unless Eros.com is owned and operated by Islamic terrorists, which I tend to doubt , it's absurd that DHS has used up so much manpower and so many resources to try to bust an escort advertising web site. While they were working on this case, the terrorist who planned and executed the recent truck attack in New York was unknown to the Feds and free to plan his attack. I have absolutely no confidence in the ability of DHS to protect Americans from terrorist attacks. DHS is just another useless, self-serving bureaucracy.

Eros.com Still Lives, But Homeland Security Raid Has Sex Workers Worried

The fate of the popular adult ad platform remains unclear after a raid on Eros' North Carolina servers.

Elizabeth Nolan Brown|Nov. 13, 2017 10:18 am

 

[EagerBeaver]

Much more interesting is the privacy issues of those visiting the website, who commit no crime in doing so. Now that the Feds have that info they have to proceed very cautiously with it. And ironically we have federal laws like HIPAA that protects the privacy of medical records and information contained therein. I guess some could argue that there is no privacy interest in protecting where someone goes on the Internet, but some can argue that you are then exposed to moral judgments based on what you have done in the privacy of your own home, which is traditionally sacred and inviolable as long as you are not hurting anyone or breaking any laws.

 

[hornylouis]

Honestly, that so called "right to privacy in your own home" is really a myth. Basically as long as you're not targeted by a government body, you'll enjoy unlimited privacy but if they have even the smallest doubt, you'll be guilty until proven innocent. There's already been a few incidents in the past where the US government cracked down on users because they submitted a forum post that rubbed national security in the wrong way.

Luckily in Canada we are bit less sensitive but you can bet your ass if the Canadian government want to invade your privacy at home, they'll do it. They'll create a good reason and make it stick via legal bs. This all seems like conspiracy but I have a buddy working for the federal administration and he's paranoid haha. So I know there's no point in caring about privacy anymore. We need to stop feeling ashamed for surfing weird porn fetishes!

 

[CaptRenault]

Much more interesting is the privacy issues of those visiting the website....

There is no danger for anyone who has visited the site. A website can record the IP numbers of computers that connect to a site, But it would require a court order to force an internet service provide to reveal personal info associated with an individual computer’s IP number.

DHS is not going to do anything with lists of millions of IP numbers associated with computers that have visited the site.

I also don’t think that DHS is interested in the personal information of the ladies who have advertised on the site. I certainly don’t trust DHS to safeguard such info, but DHS does not intend to try to use that info against individual ladies.

This is just another case like the ones listed in the article—Redbook, Rentboy, Craig’s List etc. The feds are trying to abolish prostitution by a campaign of harassment against any website or organization that facilitates the business.

Of course, it won’t work but DHS will generate positive PR so a gullible public will think it is doing a good job. In the meantime, if you are walking on a crowded sidewalk in a big city, keep checking behind you. The next terrorist not stopped by DHS might be driving a big truck headed right for you.

 

[hungry101]

Question: Eros seems to be working. They didn't take their adds down so what's the problem? It looks like they are still running adds for now. I can remember that BackPage and CL disappeared. Both are back but for some reason I cannot see BP adds outside of the United States.

 

[CaptRenault]

Question: Eros seems to be working. They didn't take their adds down so what's the problem? It looks like they are still running adds for now. I can remember that BackPage and CL disappeared. Both are back but for some reason I cannot see BP adds outside of the United States.

Both Craiglist and Backpage were intimidated by federal and state law enforcement, feminists and religious conservatives into shutting down the escort advertising sections of their websites. The main sites were never shut down-only the sex ad parts were shut down. Both sites continue to operate with ads in many other categories (including ads from escorts placed in legit categories such as dating and therapeutic massage).

Eros continues to operate because its servers are in Switzerland. The feds cannot gain control of the servers. So they have attacked that part of the business that is in the U.S. (it’s not clear what role that office in NC plays in the Eros business). But the goal is clearly to intimidate the business owners and any potential advertisers (no escort will be willing to place a new ad knowing the feds might get hold of her personal info). Eros will not shut down right away but in the long run it might be doomed.

 

[hungry101]

It seems to me that they can move the entire business to Switzerland? BTW - escorting, modeling, and massage and all the other euphemisms are not illegal so I just don't get it.

 

[Chris P. Bacon]

It is not the euphemisms that is illegal but the actual product or service. Canada and the US have different laws, but in both jurisdictions if you sell crack and call it candy you still go to prison if caught.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Basically it’s a charade. As CR said the therapeutic massage section is still there on Backpage. And there are advertisers on there offering happy ending massages. What they managed to do is scare off some below radar escort services that were advertising in the massage area. Last summer (2016) I found a very good under the radar agency in New York City. Their ladies were offered at $300/hour for a sensual massage and $600 for FS. This is a bit expensive for NYC, but they actually sent you pics of the ladies. Through this agency I met some extremely hot ladies, Russians mostly mid to late 20s but extremely hot. They were advertising on BP and the ad made it appear it was an Indy offering massage or FS but was really a front for agency which was not a problem because they were not bait and switch. Anyway, I saved their phone number on my cellphone and did a search on it on Backpage and there were no hits. So I am wondering what happened to them. I am nervous about texting the number. All my communications and bookings were by text message and they were very very reliable as far as a NYC place goes, real pics, hot ladies. The only issue was that the ladies, though gorgeous, were off the boat types with crude English skills. There are like 2,000,000 Russians now in Brooklyn, parts of that Borough like Brighton Beach could be called Little Russia

 

[CaptRenault]

... I just don't get it.

It's really simple. Use vague federal and/or state statues having to do with "promoting prostitution" to target websites that sex workers use to advertise their services. If the site is affiliated with any physical location, get a warrant from a feminist or religious conservative judge to raid the place and seize everything at the site as "evidence." If the site is hosted in the USA, get a court order to shut it down.

Do whatever you can to harass and intimidate the owners of websites used by sex workers to advertise. The gullible public, media and legislators will cheer you on for fighting "sex trafficking" while you trample on the rights of sex workers and website owners and operators. There is no danger that you will get shot at by the targets of your investigation. You will feel powerful and righteous while you do battle against the forces of evil (i.e., anything to do with unconventional sex practices). You are a hero despite never doing anything in the least bit heroic!

 

[Chris P. Bacon]

It is the Trump Law and order band wagon. Local authorities use the law and order excuse to make points with the public. Many leaders of LE organizations in the US are elected and must show they are doing their job. What better way to make points with the public than disrupting the sex trade?

 

[CaptRenault]

It is the Trump Law and order band wagon.

Demonstrably and ridiculously false. These kind of busts started long before Trump even announced that he was running for president.

Elizabeth Nolan Brown of Reason.com has been covering this story for years. It is feminists on the left and religious conservatives on the right who have been waging a "war" against "sex trafficking" (their term for any kind of prostitution) since the 1990s.

The War on Sex Trafficking Is the New War on Drugs

And the results will be just as disastrous, for "perpetrators" and "victims" alike.

Elizabeth Nolan Brown from the November 2015

...A federal war on prostitution doesn't play well with large segments of Americans. Fighting human trafficking, on the other hand, is a feel-good cause. At a 2012 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) speech, President Barack Obama insisted that we must call human trafficking "by its true name—modern slavery." And what kind of monster would be against ending slavery? Which brings us to another factor driving all this trafficking action: It makes politicians look good.
At a time when Republicans and Democrats can barely agree on anything, human trafficking bills have attracted huge bipartisan support. Here is an area where enterprising legislators can attach their names to something likely to pass. And if it doesn't pass, for whatever reason, it's ripe for demagoguery: "My opponent voted against a bill to fight modern slavery!" Tough-on-crime policies, particularly tough-on-drugs policies, used this tactic for decades, until mass incarceration finally lost its luster.
Undoubtedly, many lawmakers do legitimately want to help trafficking victims and hold bad guys accountable; political point-scoring is just a happy side effect. But a less happy side effect is a slew of bad laws, violated rights, and squandered money. The federal government has given away scores of millions in grant dollars for this quixotic crusade.

 

[minutemenX]

I don’t think it is in the jurisdiction nor stature of the DHS to fight domestic prostitution. International rings for human trafficking that can traffic with easy not only girls but some other undesired elements such as potential terrorists, saboteurs, and spies, use the site for the communication supporting this activity is, as some mentioned above, the likely motivation for this raid.

 

[EagerBeaver]

MinutemenX,

I believe you are correct. This is likely part of some larger operation, the domestic prostitution impact is a mere incidental collateral damage for DHS. It is not what their mission is. However the privacy implications are that they could and would share information they collect with other agencies like FBI, State and local LE authorities depending on what they find. They know who has correct jurisdiction and can give them what they find. This happens all the time as between FBI and State/local LE.

 

[minutemenX]

EB,
To share information somebody must go and sort out all these terabytes of data. You can’t simply give access to the entire database to hundreds of people in FBI, local LE and border security. This might be illegal and probably not what DHS wants. They will not do somebody else job. Most probably they are looking for a very specific activity and people. In order not to compromise their interest they requested access to the entire database.