I'm all about helping out the searchers. When someone that is "new" asks for a reference on the page, I am compelled to direct him to what he seeks. However, is this fair to the VIPs? Is this courtious to the goddesses?
Case in point, the guy below this post asks for a simple reference. I could point him in a couple of good directions (as most all of you could)but is this the right thing to do? What if he's LE? What if he books someone I want to see at that time?
Does anyone else analayze this in the same way or am I on glue?
Tired of Picking the Wrong Day to Stop Sniffing Glue

I for one am glad you brought this up....why can't they do a search like everyone else? and then sometimes what they ask for is so vague...like who is the best provider in town...which to me seems either a rather stupid thing to ask as it is so subjective or it is just LE seeing who they should concentrate on.
Perhaps even looking for those who, though well loved by you hobbyists, do not like to have reviews posted. Also there are the questions in regards to looking for a provider who has seemingly dissapeared when she has been ticketed...all they have to do is ask what happened to her and a regular will sometime volunteer her new name and telephone number.

Most of you guys are pretty hip around here as you have been targeted nearly as much as we have, which brings up another issue of the potential of guilt by association if you are to reccomend a lady via this site and she was set up...could they get a search warrant for the records of the poster who reccomended her if he revealed what occured and what was paid? I know some of you guys back channel info about the ladies...what considerations do you take before doing that? I know that I will only accept references from providers that are very well known and I often ask for two if I can't get other qualifying info. Can a lady providing a reference get in trouble for doing this?

I'm still relatively new to the hobby, but here's what I've found.

When I started out, I would post a short "Thank you" to the provider, simply to acknowledge that I had a great time and hopefully, to help others discover the provider.  This would generate some emails from hobbyists asking for information.

I felt awkward, not wanting to sound like I was screening for the provider, but also not wanting to carelessly give information to a non-hobbyist.  Since most of the inquiries would come from visiting hobbyists, I would tactfully ask if they had posted on a board somewhere with a handle and email that I could verify.  I'd also give the provider a head's up, asking if they were fine with the information that I would give.

In the end, the really important things to tell a searcher are whether or not a provider is a cash and dash, where on the web he can find more about the provider, and how to contact her.  That way, I was giving out information that was accessible to begin with.  It would be up to him and the provider to discuss what they want to discuss.

That, and the few reviews that I've posted, are my way of helping others avoid the ROBs and LE.

Just my $.02.
BKMan

It is one thing to ask about a provider that has no reviews. There are members that may have seen that provider and have not posted a review yet or their review did not meet the minimum information criteria. If the provider has reviews, just point them to the reviews and if they want more info, get VIP membership.

When someone asks "who is the best" at whatever, you always see several providers listed. This is a subjective hobby and as always stated YMMV. A provider I like someone else may not. I make my choices by looking through the ads and/or reviews and make my own selection. I would not be comfortable saying one person is the best because I have had significant variation between sessions with the same provider.

On the provider's side, I would be uncomfortable providing a reference for screening purposes. Someone that you had a safe and fun time with may not act the same way when they see someone else. We all have our good days and our bad days and none of us can predict when someone elses is going to occur.

excellent point! the person's post below is just lazy or as you indicated le's way of trolling. and of course any information handed out in this forum is fictional anyways. . .

That the providers/hobbyists on TBD (check the legal discussion board for a recent post and a link to a news story regarding the case proceeding forward) have found themselves in Florida over the postings, emails, etc. that are now being used in court against them.
Communications between any of us could be at risk.
After reading this thread and that one yesterday,nevermind  Alphared's posts (thanks!)from some threads below, I'm thinking generalities on the boards is the way to go.
It would be very simple for LE to infiltrate TER as a poster by posting regular false reviews of the more prolific providers as well as regular posts here on the board. Don't forget, they have 40 hours a week paid time to do it, as well as the motivation.
(Not that any of you are doing anything illegal.)
AGV

let me get this straight: is it a possibility that my posts here on this board can be traced back to me using my ip address and ISP, and if it is true, can LE or DA subpoena for records of such posts from the archives of TER?

The answer to your first question is yes.  However, it depends on a lot of things, but generally speaking, IP addresses can be traced back to the ISP, which can then be traced to an endpoint.

The answer to your second question is for a lawyer, which I am not.    I would guess that they can, but they would really need to have a hard on for you to go through all that trouble.  

BKMan

Not only is it very possible,it likely has already been done on the higher profile individuals on this and other boards. IP addresses can also be procured easily by gaining a confidence in a user and communicating via regular e-mail. The typical "free" e-mail services that most are deluded into believing maintains anonymity doesn't hide your IP address. It's sent with every e-mail you send and a simple DOS ping command will resolve the hostname and reveal your ISP. The vulnerabilities are endless and utilities readily available to assist in their exploitation and doesn't necessarily require higher intelligence. Information gathering can be as simple as gaining your trust to start, and sending an executable file via e-mail that will install a keylogging program on your personal or business computer. It will record every keystroke and send it back to a preset address. You'll never know it's there and very little short of reformatting your hard drive will get rid of it even if you knew of it's existence.The text of all e-mails, usernames and passwords of e-mail accounts,online banking accounts. Everything is recorded.
Anti virus software doesn't see it unless you are familiar with configuring it to look for specific file extentions. Spyware detection and removal software exists but how do you really know it's no longer functioning or has been removed?   I'm not trying to scare anyone, just trying to make you aware of what is available. Just be mindful of who you trust and what level of detail you choose to reveal to the general and not so general public.

-- Modified on 11/10/2002 6:34:15 AM

If the IP's are assigned dynamically everytime you reboot your computer does that provide any further protection?

Even if your endpoint is assigned a dynamic IP address, the ISP server that assigns it has logs of who had what IP address at a particular point in time.

BKMan

Proxy server*

*Not 100% effective at concealing your IP, but very good.



-- Modified on 11/11/2002 2:35:54 PM

how about using anonymizer? does it obliterate your ip address?

If you are referring to anonymizer.com, no, it does not obliterate your ip address.  They act as a huge proxy server, which for the most part, does assure some sense of security.  In most cases, if you go through them to go to a website, the website thinks that you are coming from anonymizer.com's block of ip addresses, not your own.  There are still some cases where some websites will be able to make a direct connection to your ip address, but not very obvious.

However, the sense of security is only valid if anonymizer does not reveal your ip address to a subpoena.  They know your ip address since you connected to their website to connect to another one, so if push comes to shove, will they not reveal their user's ip addresses?  I don't know since I'm not a lawyer, but the point is, there is probably no 100% solution if they want you bad enough.

BKMan

Anonymizer is just a giant proxy with the potential of having their records subpoenaed. There are literally hundreds of foreign proxies available worldwide that are not subject to anyone to give up records. You must be willing to sacrifice some performance on your machine in order to use them though. Most of them are painfully slow.
Even using a foreign anonymous proxy, your browser can still betray you. Disabling javascript on your browser will take away one more method of an outside party discovering who you are. Be prepared to change proxies frequently also. They go down almost as fast as they appear. There are lists available on the net for anonymous proxies and software available to scan IP ranges for them and test for anonymity. I'll leave it up to you to find those little goodies for yourself. It will give you something to do in your spare time.