Upon reading more on this, LE is charging him with running a "prostitution ring"and that allegedly 40 providers were working for him and that all site members were "clients".  WTF?  That would translate to all ladies reviewed on here worked for TER and all members are "Johns".  The site was nothing more than a local hobby board akin to TER in a relatively small metro market.  It's a non-fee site.  The professor stated he made no money on it...that he just did it as a "hobby" (his words...LOL)  Looks like LE is really stretching it here. I would hope any decent attorney can successfully defend him, but the fallout for him and those members could be unfortunate to say the least.   It'll indeed be interesting.

When I was a little kid, my dad would give me a few dollars and send me on my bike accross town to a bakery that sold jelly donuts, and with every dozen you got a free one. They called it a baker's dozen. Well we all know where that  free donut got lost, somewhere down the corridor of time.
I do not have all the details but if the news media is correct when it says that somewhere money changed hands from subscribers or providers advertising their services; if that is true or if arrangements were made to facilitate meetings, then the activity, though useful and helpful for people like us, can be challenged as illegal pandering and they go after the  owner of the site. If the activity is found to be illegal, or if the DA wants to "make his boner" then get set for legal bills and charges., any one who was involved in the enterprise, even years back, will be charged. (provided within the statute of limitations)
This is not an area where the ACLU ventures as a rule, so don't expect them to enter the arena. They like to enter where they find a right that exists has been violated, here here is no right to prostitution except in rare out of the way places like Pahrump Nevada. You see, it is ok to talk about illegal drugs on a website, but facilitating prostitution is  not ok if the site is vulnerable due to location or ownership. No doubt a DA who wants to could make trouble for out of the USA sites such as this, but it is a lot easier to go after guys who have shallow pockets and cannot easily afford a defense. Look at Blogodocia, or what ever his name from Chicago who is accused of selling Obama's senate seat. That ex-governor is now a poor slob, and I mean poor as a result of having to foot the bill fighting a government prosecutor with unlimited funds and numerous attorneys. So don't ask what happened to freedom in America, it ain't free no more!



-- Modified on 6/23/2011 5:52:27 PM

"How can it possibly be illegal to discuss any subject?" Are you fucking kidding????

We (Americans) do not now, nor have we EVER been free to openly discuss ANY and EVERY subject.

Get a couple of buddies, and go to an airport lounge. Order some beers and have a discussion that everyone can hear. See what happens if you talk about how our Founding Fathers took up arms against an oppressive government, and that 200 years later maybe its time for that to happen again.  (I dont believe this ITS JUST AN EXAMPLE) Now time how long it takes for you to be detained

Don't think habeas corpus is going to get you out of detained, uncharged custody before you try that experiment.

If you simply speak about unlawful things in certain ways, you may risk being detained, arrested, charged or convicted of a crime.

What is "legal" or "illegal" is up to constant reinterpretation by the courts. While enforcement of ANY law is up to the personal discretion of the police arm or the prosecutorial arm of any government agency that deems itself to have jurisdiction of a matter. And LE can really fuck you over, long before a court can intervien.

The policies of such LE offices can always be traced back to an ELECTEC official or someone appointed by an elected official. When such an official decides to turn the resources of his/her agency toward a specific area, they will do it.

This human element is the basis for the tremendous inconsistancies in LE that we citizens see every day. It is a characteristic of our legal and justice system that will never, ever change.

The absolute BEST way to steer clear of being a target is to remain low key and under ths radar.

No matter what anyone tells you, if a government agency with the right amount or resources targets something or someone, that target will take a hit of some kind. There WILL be damage.

Even if criminal convictions are not successful, the agency knows it will do damage to the what they are after. They will look at that as a partial success. If they can't "destroy their target" they will at least be able to reduce and deter it; in their eyes that is.

In 'the hobby' everyone takes that risk. Even being here at TER is a risk, as it is not out of the reach of US federal and state agencies.

On top of all that, the Patriot Act allows these agencies to use, at their free will, techniques and technologies which previously required enough proof of potential illegal activity to convince a judge to allow them to use these tools to further see if a case could be built.

There was a sort of checkpoint, if you will, that kept the agencies from breaching freedoms, through surveilance, gathering records, etc, in trying to build a case. You know, the old saying: "they'd have to get a court order to do that."

Not any more.

The goverment is using these new methods far beyond their original stated intent. They are using them for "morality crime" e.g. pornography, prostitutions, etc. They reach across state lines amd national lines.

They now can take their time, with no need for court approval, watching and gathering information, building cases, sometimes slowly over a long period of time, even if there was nothing to indicate or warrant such scrutiny in the first place.

Where's the ACLU? They've been castrated in the process, since LE doesn't have to get the courts involved early on for approval.

Basically, we're all fucked.  

Be Happy! Play Safe! Don't Break the law!


HH