So I posted on this board a warning about a sting operation and I referenced the ad.  Why would TER pull this?  Isnt this board here to help alert members to this?  I dont get it.

The only reason I ever heard, and this was not from TER, was that they didn't want to be seen as impeding an LE operation.  Whether or not that is true, it puzzles me as well.

Friend of mine got ticketed in college for holding up a sign by the road that said "Speed trap ahead." Motorist told the cops who came and took his sign away and ticketed him. He tried to fight it on freedom of speech grounds but the judge wouldn't hear it. My guess is your post might have been the same sort of thing though I haven't researched the law.

We all know the reviews and shills on this site are just fantasies. There is a theoretical possibility that some of the ads might lead to inappropriate behavior, but only if people get carried away and forget their boundaries. It is arguably a different thing to host speech which on its face might be a present and ongoing violation of law. So that would be my guess as to why TER pulled your post. (Did I weasel-word all that sufficiently?)

Discussing and analyzing past police conduct is perfectly okay. Newspapers do it all the time. They also print things like "Increased DUI enforcement over the holiday weekend" but they don't specify exactly where and when.

The interfering with an investigation makes sense except for the fact that TER servers are located in The Netherlands and one of the purposes of this board is to protect us. It would require a rather serious crime for TER to release any IP information or for local LE to make a request for them to pull a thread or release info. I am not sure a sting operation cuts it.

On the other hand, one better be 100% sure that a certain ad is tied to an LE operation before posting on the board. You are hurting a ladies' business and damaging her reputation if you are wrong. Hearsay and "having a hunch" doesn't cut it. You have to support such a claim with solid evidence.

I have seen links to certain ads posted on this board where LE as the poster has been implied. However these links usually start as a 411 request and posters will then point to something unusual that stands out from the ad that might lead some to believe LE is behind it.

My other opinion is that there are a few activist hobbyists and providers who have taken it upon themselves to abuse the "report a post" feature and have certain threads pulled lately that are meant to inform the hobbyist community and to protect us. Why do they do this? The simple answer is their business gets hurt every time a thread regarding a sting operation, arrest or such activity that involves LE goes up.

IF and I say IF a sting was going on, the best way to handle that is to post and encourage PM's without putting up an exact location on a thread.

LE activity is hot right now, but hysteria and hearsay is also.  

Agreed.  I too don't understand why TER would care what US LE thinks but it wouldn't be the first time TER does things that make no sense to me.  And I am also suspicious that there are some people who work to get certain threads down.  There have been too many threads that vanish for no obvious reason.

I strongly suspect the "purpose" of TER, in the minds of its owners, is to make a profit. They do that, to be sure, by hosting information useful to the members. And I agree that MPD is unlikely to go to Europe over a disrupted sting. But ...

If TER allows these sorts of post and they start showing up across the country, it is possible that LE on a federal level, or even diplomatic, might become interested. Suppose a series of blown stings were tragetting exploitation of minors, for instance. That could become expensive and time consuming for TER even in The Netherlands. They probably sought advice from lawyers on this issue, and lawyers will always emphasize the worst-case scenario to protect themselves from malpractice exposure.

So TER has to decide if allowing this sort of post will increase revenues enough to justify the potential expense and disruption. They are doing fine the way things are, so why risk it?

.............Several recent posts were taken down again and I inquired of Admin as to why.  It is against the rules to quote from TER Admin responses, so to paraphrase, they do not want constant nattering about LE on the boards.  I was guilty of seeking removal of a thread some months ago, and have since admitted it was the wrong call, but found out later that the thread had been reported by several others.  I decided then and there not to use the Report a Post button and leave the policing up to TER. Obviously others have a different protocol.  I agree with minn4evr about the the purpose of TER being to make a profit, I also don't think that they have the safety of lobbyists in mind at all.  They want the boards to be entertaining that is their stated goal.  I believe that any serious discussion of LE will be pulled each and every time, which means that all of us who are serious about safety have got to back channel info when we get it.  This is what I do now.  And heat from LE??  As many of you know, based on reliable info I had received late last fall, I posted that we were in for a period of increased LE activity.  I am sorry to say that this will probably continue, meaning everyone needs to stay sharp and alert.

I just getting back on this.  I did get a message from the TER admin saying that it was removed cuz it mentioned a specific hotel.  At the time, it just frustrated me that they removed it without explaination.  Now I know.

Given how important a topic this sort of thing is to us, particularly in the current climate here in MN, that is a real shame.

Agree to a point.  I think there's a business decision in play--but it's to avoid attracting unwanted attention, which may then lead to less business!  Makes sense to me.  General warnings without names or specific locations are good enough to spook me anyway.

As I was researching a lady I came across an arrest warrant that showed Rochester PD and STP vice are currently working together in both cities. So be careful and research, it saved me again today. Google is your friend.