Back in Sept 2011, EscortMessiah667 started a thread
about State Attorney Generals letter to Backpage
concerning prostitution....(sorry this is so long)

http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewmsg.asp?BoardID=25&SortBy=DateCreated%20desc&Search=attorney%20general&SearchType=1&DayFrom=360&DayTo=0&MessageID=17931&frmSearch=1#17931

For those that don't want to read the thread here is the
link to the letter:  http://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/cases/backpage/backpageletter.pdf


This is my update:

Backpage has a new and
aggressive counsel that
says it would not be beneficial
for LE to shut down the Adult
section like Craigslist did.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/girls-sold-sex-online-backpage-defends-decision-ads/story?id=16193220#.T7yr_9z2KuI

On page 2 of the link.....

"I think it's very important to understand that to stop human trafficking online, you have to fight human trafficking online. And we provide an extraordinary tool to do that, because we are online," said Liz McDougall, the lawyer for Backpage.

"I don't believe Craigslist did the right thing," she said. "And it would be the wrong thing for Backpage to take down its adult category. Because you are losing a key tool for law enforcement to get insights into this illicit activity, to get data, greater data than it's ever existed before, to locate, to identify the perpetrators, and to rescue victims."


In the video on page 1:

at about the 1:45 mark the
girls says her pimp took a
potato peeler to her face...
after that ABC lures a 16yo
off BP.

@ the 4:05 mark a 17yo tells that
she would have 20 tricks a night,
bringing in 3-4K per night.


on page 5 it states why BP
isn't held liable:

".... attorneys general are somewhat bound by a law Congress passed in 1996 called the Communications Decency Act. The Act says that Internet service providers or "interactive computer services" like Backpage are merely hosts and not publishers in the traditional sense.

That means that the websites cannot be held liable for material posted on them by a third party, which is why, while the act of prostitution may be illegal, Backpage is not responsible for someone posting an ad for it on their site."


But things might change.....


"....a recently passed law in his home state of Washington that would require sites like Backpage to obtain documentation that the escorts in posted ads are over 18. McDougall said she expects that law to be challenged in court."

Of course it would be nice if someone would point out that the fastest way to shut down most of the wrongful sexual enslavement or abuse would be to decrimalize the sex work business in the first place so that mistreated indivduals could report abusers to the police in the first place.

Does anyone recall that the only way those Secret Service agents got busted in South America in the first place is because the cheated escort could go right to the police to enforce her rights?

You'd think that would make a light flash in some people's minds, but I guess not.

I totally agree, I would love to see prostitution decriminalized and then the police can focus on real crimes and leave the consenting adults alone.