I found or was sent numerous examples of posters and bloggers declaring the demise of TER.  The most virulent went so far as to bring up allegations made against the former owner of TER five years ago, and made it sound like they were current info and a cause of the outage!

What we all forget is that LE is here, every day, in one way or another.  Last week we just happened to read about it because a vigilante reporter (in Georgia) decided to use TER to give tips to some detectives, who then performed surveillance and nailed a provider.  Nothing I've read suggested that any arrests were based on evidence gathered from TER.

In my opinion, this little episode merely underscores the need for everybody to be careful.  Guys, you may find that you'll be referenced a little more carefully by providers you haven't seen before.  On the flip side, I recommend that you consider your options carefully before giving your personal reference info to a provider who does not have a proven record of reputability.

The provider in Georgia was operating out of her own home, a $1.3 million mansion (that she reportedly got in a divorce, NOT from her work revenue...although now she may lose it anyway.)  She should have just painted a bullseye on her ass to make herself an even easier target (although not much easier!)

I've had my Internet and cable TV service interrupted at home more than once.  What happened to TER over the past 36 hours was not much different (except that I hopefully don't have thousands of people trying to reach my home computer!)  

Be safe.

which has nothing to do with Atlanta.

Azlawmans assessments are quite correct.
LE has as much ability to read these websites as the rest of us.

Most of them DO have their priorities in order.
A few however, still feel the need to exercise themselves at others expense. Give it a name.

for keeping us ladies informed as well to the statis...I myself was only relying on the yahoo group info that was updated many times  for us ladies and then if I was asked by a gent I would relay that it indeed was a server problem and to be patient...I only heard of one comment that I took with a grain of salt and it came from a provider! so hopefully you gents didn't get that some info!

Terri

I'll pass on your thanks to my good friend Tom, as well.

I agree we can never be safe enough when participating in our beloved hobby. However, I doubt if LE will ever be able to shut down TER. If they attempted to do so, LE would have to respond to claims that they infringed on members' 1st amendment right to free speech. TER merely is a forum for members to provide "fictional" accounts of encounters with providers. More likely cyber targets of LE would be escort malls and even Craig's List. Ideally, LE should be monitoring cyberspace to prevent catastrophic terrorist attacks.