So in the past few days quite a few agencies and even independents appeared to be requiring a paid membership to view their gallery on their web site. To access the galleries you were required  all of a sudden to purchase a "Gold Pass Holders Only" membership.
When brought to their attention they all kind of freaked out because this happened without their knowledge or approval.  
I think in most have corrected the situation but I've not heard an explaination as to what happen. I mean it looks kinda suspicious to me.

Was it some kind of tech snafu that affected a ton of sites or did someone manage to hijack these sites for nefarious purpose?

Seems odd....very odd.

The discussion indicates a change in the site software...  changed the provider's settings without warning.  I haven't heard if it's resoved yet.    

http://www.theeroticreview.com/discussion_boards/viewall.asp?MessageID=769510&boardID=12&page=1

It looks like these sites were trying to make a little extra money off these ladies either by charging a fee to access pics or gathering emails to sell on the side. I brought it to the attention of one of my ATF and she was surprised and it took some doing to fix it. Needless to say she was pissed and rightly so. If you notice this you should bring it to the ladies' attention so they can change it back to the way is was.  

Greedy people taking advantage of a situation...

If they get away with this it will only be the beginning. Soon they'll want us to pay for screening .
This cannot be tolerated.

They emailed us and gave us instructions

No email was sent to me, or to other ladies who've posted about this issue.    

After reading a thread about locked photos on my local board, I figured I'd better go check mine to be sure... and yep, they were locked.  I use EscortDesign, so others may be different but many are related and thus the effect has been similar.

Once I logged in to attempt to unlock my photos, I saw a message there which read "Your Website is now more secure! Click to find out about our new privacy settings."
In doing so, I find out that they had automatically set EVERYONE'S site to their "SAFE" mode.  Which then has to be reset, to make photos available again.  

Here is the explanation:

We know many of you are concerned about your content being stolen and want your identity hidden from stalkers and those you know in your daily life. And in light of constant regulatory changes in the industry, having a safe, secure escort website is more important than ever.

To address your concerns, we've just made it easier to make your website more secure and easily decide how private you want your content to be. Here's what's new:

Screening Form

We've made our built-in booking forms better than ever by adding new screening fields, making it easier to screen potential new clients.

Verified Bookings

We've also added a new verified bookings feature. If a verified Pure VIP admirer sends you a booking request, you'll be alerted that they are verified, making it easier to distinguish serious clients from the time wasters.

 
Privacy Updates

You can now decide how private you want your website to be, from fully visible to the public to locking your website for verified admirers only.  

 
We've currently set your website to "Safe," our recommended secure setting. This puts you in control of who sees your photos. All of your photos and models are locked for verified admirers only, but the rest of your website is visible to the public. Displaying too many photos publicly can put you at risk. Our "Safe" mode provides just the right balance of securing your privacy and enticing new admirers.

You can easily change your settings anytime by going to the Privacy tab in your site builder.

 
We hope these privacy updates and new features will make it easier for you to have a safe, secure website and business. Please ask us if you have any questions about these new updates. We're here to help!

 
* A note to our Gold Pass members: Your website has not changed during this update and your Gold Pass membership will remain the same, but our new booking features will be available to you.

 

 

It's just a new angle for the host to make money.  I was already considering getting a new site, now I will actively research my options.

-- Modified on 4/10/2015 8:21:22 AM

No Emails....No warning...Nothing!!  They did post an apology with an explanation(after many providers expressed their concerns.) within the site (Forum) that they were upgrading their system which caused a glitch. I personally emailed them as soon as I saw a post about it here (TER).  My photos and info were unlocked within a short period of time.

I responded to the recent post about this same issue and I have received some PM's and not one lady was sent an Email from them about the new "Privacy changes". Paid/Vip members included. I am not sure if they sent out emails the days following, but on 4/7, the day the photos were blocked and made headlines here, there were no Emails Sent out

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I was unaware that the site admin had put that option on everyone's sites, unbeknownst to us! Very uncool!!!!!!
It is a privacy setting that they recommend as a safety option, and it was put on both free and premium sites.
Ladies, if you have this type of website (I know many of us do) log in and go to your privacy settings. You can change it there.  
Also, when you log in there is a thread about the whole mess lol.

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OMG  never saw your pics before....simply beautiful!

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I'm confused how some people did and others didnt. I just went and checked my junk mail, nothing. I don't look at my site unless I'm updating it so I was happy there was a post on here about it. Otherwise I never would have known. They really should have set them to the minimal privacy setting, which leaves everything the way it was. If we had the pics up for public view we obviously had no problem w people seeing them, there was no need to block them.  
Chances are the girls who still have blocked gallaries don't even know about them.  

it's the hosting site, not us girls. I assure you we are making nothing off this change. It kinda pissed me off the other day when one of my guys told me he was unable to view my pics, I'm trying to find a new hosting site, I don't like this at all, but please don't hold it against us girls we didn't have anything to do with it.

Providers - please check you sites, there is nothing more frustrating then spending time finding a desired provider through reviews only to go to their site and find their photos locked!

I have been searching today for an upcoming trip and found that most sites now have their photos locked for "Gold Pass Holders Only."  I don't know about other hobbyists but if a provider's photos are locked I immediately move on.  Maybe we could of had a great time, but neither of us will ever know

Sissy boy.

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You're assuming we knew about it and okay'ed it. News flash: WE DIDN'T!!! I was livid when I found out they locked my photos, I repeat MY photos, without my permission or notification.

I would never charge a gentleman to view standard marketing photos. It was our web hosting trying to cash in on making money on a commission by selling our photos. Why would they care if it cost us an appointment when they got their few books from the one in the million guy that paid it?  

We had no idea it happened and I had it changed to open access as soon as I noticed it.

I was never notified either. I was livid!!!

Instead of just moving on, which I totally understand, please try to take the time to notify the ladies that their pics are locked.  Odds are, many of them have no clue!!

When are the ladies going to take their business elsewhere, due to the websites poor customer service?

a dozen or more notifications from guys telling you your photos are locked?

I think that would become annoying after a while.

 
When I go to your review page, I can access your public RS2K. If a guy was serious about booking you he could get a fair impression of your appearance from their, and wouldn't need to move on based on your site photos being locked.

I agree and would hope that is what people would have done, had I not already caught this and unlocked my photos.  However, one poster on my local board stated that he HAD moved on after seeing my photos were locked.    

Some people find the locked photos so annoying that they're no longer interested in that provider, and thus it isn't about getting to see what she looks like anymore.  So another place to view them, like my ad, wouldn't be of interest at that point.

Whether you lock them yourself or not, of course if you do it yourself that is a lot different than the web host doing so. I don't see the difference between requesting payment, or prescreening when it comes to the annoyance of locking pics or site access. Ladies a free to do as they wish.

I'm skeptical of the guys who are so quick to move on, how serious can they be about booking to begin with? However any inconvenience in the process can be frustrating.  

Market saturation allows us guys to be very choosy, when it comes to how much effort we put into selecting a provider.