Site is down. Too bad, but I think they were tempting fate by being more than a discussion board and clearly engaging in behavior that is actionable under RICO, though. Watch for the other shoe to drop, a LOT of local people have admitted to far too much in Boston. Remember, "you can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich." Besides, the era of the Clinton Justice Department is GONE, GONE, GONE, and there is a new sheriff in town. A lot of legal scholars would tell you that Janet Reno and the Clinton Justice Department were just not interested in the sex trade, but that's not true of John Ashcroft and the boys! Even Larry Flint has been heard to opine that the good times are over and many in adult services are very vulnerable. Whoa, look out Boston, those Texas Republicans don't like us. How long do you think before a grand jury is empaneled in Boston? What's the over/under?

I'll repeat what I posted on the legal corner.  

DA's and police have enough work, and they're not looking for more.  The Courts in Massachusetts are so overworked and understaffed that employees, including judges, were asked to take time off without pay last year.  It is unlikely that this hobby will attract undue attention under Ashcroft or anyone else.

Of course, police and prosecutors must act in response to a complaint.  Similarly, they don't like to be embarrassed.  So avoid disputes, be discreet and continue life as always.

As for the comment that the DA can indict a ham sandwich.  Boston already has a grand jury looking at sex crimes -- the Father Shanley mess.

I don't think anything will change here.

The Big Doggie himself and the local moderator having a very public on-line pi$$ing contest about who was or was not shaking down agencies had to be the dumbest move I've seen in a while. Who knows where else similar exchanges have taken place on their many regional boards. It's like waving a red flag in front of, you will excuse the expression, the bulls! Also detailing investments and other financial arrangements with national agencies is not the act of wary hobbyist! By contrast, this board has not seen any such flagrant behavior, at least not locally. However, I think you might be wrong about Ashcroft. I think the only reason he hasn't cracked down is that he was distracted by 9/11. And, taking action against escort services and hobby boards has no political downside. He would have the support of cultural conservatives and deflect criticism from womens' groups, don't you think? The nags would still hate him, but they'd jump at the chance to attack the sex trade. We are truly between a rock and a hard place!

-- Modified on 6/20/2002 6:45:25 PM

We are under a terrorist alert! The nightly news scares the crap out of us, dirty bombs and cargo containers!!  But what is the governemnt up to, busting an escort message board site on the internet.  Oh yeah, beware that two people might meet and have some consenual sex.  I see where my tax dollars go, right into the fray of right wing politcal wacos who think they are saving us from sin so someday an almightly will judge us in a fictional afterlife!  You know,I'm so mad, so upset.  Study after study shows a direct correlation between the crackdown of prostitution then an increase in rape(check your sociology 101 texts from college).  Also, girls who will no longer be able to communicate, will be once again working the streets and bars endagering themselves greater than using a reliable free information service on customers to avoid and places to be aware.  I'm livid and mad.  Terrorist are about to strike but instead lets fight a fairly victimless business that doesn't adhere to religous constituants although they rape little boys after Sunday morning mass.

If you read the press release from LE and look at the charges you will note that it appears that the people who run TBD were engaging in basic solicitation and got caught.  That happens everyday. These people just happen to also run TBD. So, LE connects the dots back to TBD.  That is the illegal link.  

If they had avoided the old fashion solicitation aspect, LE would have no more claim against them than they would against the Boston Pheonix (sp?) or the yellow pages.  

People who post should be protected by the first amendemnt.  Plus, even assuming that LE would try to bust posters, it would be almost impossible to link the post to the person.  No, don't claim that a credit card is enough.  Wrong.  If you buy a car and a cop sees someone speed by in your car, the officer is out of luck unless he can ID you.  Your plate or even you registration is not enough.  I can almost guarantee you that no prosecutor or smart officer is likely to try and take the TBD issue to the lower levels.  It is very hard to convict someone of a crime in this country.

Lastly, I note that the release says two-year investigation here.  Two years means that the existence of the site was worthless for legal purposes.  They needed the old fashion solicitation.

This is how many Cyberspace issues go. It is mainly just a high tech newspaper/tv.  Sorry computer people.

No proofing.  A.

Yeah brother! Testify!

You've hit the nail right on the head. I'm sure LE is here too, waiting for us to give out too much and snap the trap.

Way to go osiffahs! I can sleep so much more peacefully tonight knowing that you are here to protect us from the Big Bad Doggie! (not to mention protecting us from ourselves.)

Still waiting for a good, persuasive reason why this is illegal in the first place. Oh, that's right, you don't have the free will (or the brain stem,) to question the laws you uphold.

I'm either gonna rape someone or jerk off tonight. Of course, both are equally illegal in the nearsighted eyes of the law.

So, let's hear it for the boys in blue! Have an extra donut for me and clog another artery!

Geez, it feels good to vent, even if it is dangerous to have a free mind under the Bush junta!

couldnt all this hard
work by the coppers have been better used at the
fu*%ing flight school in tampa florida where the
mother fu*%ing terrorists were being trained at the
exact time these doofus cops were playing games with
peoples lives?

TBD lives

RC

The www.bigdoggie.net server has been down since about 1:30 P.M. edt yesterday. For some reason, they never took the public boards server down.

I'm not sure if I'd call this a "backdoor". It's the direct link to the public board for Boston.

http://public1.boards.bigdoggie.net/messageboards/boston/

You should be able to just change /boston/ to another city name to get to that board. Don't know how much posting activity you'll see because most people haven't figured this out yet.

Internet 101 -

Always bookmark/Add to favorites the direct link to a webpage.

-- Modified on 6/21/2002 6:40:37 AM

-- Modified on 6/21/2002 8:09:29 AM

back door just closed down a few minutes ago

The last post I read was from BD13 stating that he was still there and that he was trying to get the word out through email. Obviously the site would draw hits from the curious but I guess that's less likely since the curious wouldn't know the direct link to the boards. If you do get through, ladies, you may want to search the board and print out your reviews.

public1.boards is a different machine. That machine wasn't down.
Just the "www" machine. I've always used that "backdoor", but that's
because I hate banner ads. Sorry I know you need them to survive.

There was a new post from BD13 (Boston_Mod) stating that he was trying to get the word out via email. That post is gone as well as a reply by Nicholette that I never got to read. There seem to be alot of unfamiliar usernames on the recent posts and the Mod is Bigdoggie Mod. Bottom line...who knows what's going on?

I received an email from the Boston Mod and have been at the Boston (and other) Board. Seems as though they are working on keeping things together as best they can.

They did suggest that all similar boards are vulnerable and should keep that in mind.

RC