I obviously can't post the article since it names names in a prostitution sting down in Mississippi, but several high profile people got busted in it.

... for THIS, if not someone, anyone, with A LOT to lose if they were ever discovered, esp. a "high profile" person, maybe someone in government or religion, the kind who preach AGAINST this kind of "activity" day and night, but meanwhile...
Uh-huh. (smh...)  

All of you would be better off forgetting you know the darkweb exists. This hobby is hard enough to have decent opSec in (most of you don't), and most of my recommendations to that effect have fallen on your deaf ears. If you're going to play on the dark web, you need quite a bit more knowhow, and need to be a whole lot more careful than you are now.

attracting attention by trying too hard to hide.

there are no high profile people in Mississippi.

If you're in the dark web for this hobby, you're looking for something more than just vanilla fun.

For almost 2 years, we needed a VPN to access TER. That qualifies as dark web. And it could happen again.  

which I like to think is still legal.

Trying to cover your tracks makes you a target.  I used VPN while TER was dark, but I got hooked on reading local news in big foreign cities that I travel to, an innocuous pursuit that makes me look pretty innocent.  I would never use it to set up an appointment directly with a provider. If providers are capturing IP addresses, that will blow up in their faces sooner or later and ruin their business.

I think it a pretty big mistake to confuse dark web with VPN. It's like confusing people valuing their private life and want protection from various types of intrusions as well as the added protection for making things like online banking more secure with the those hiding in the dark (one aspect being unlisted services you will never get to using the DNS registration infrastructure).

These days the overhead for VPN is pretty small and I use it for everything. Makes me feel much better accessing financial accounts while out of the country and allows me to use some subscription services that are licenses geographically even when out of country -- connection comes from the country I subscribe in. (That might be a gray area but seems so trivial to me I don't acknowledge it. I might think twice about that in China but I don't go there -- once through Beijing airport was enough for me)

One of the people caught up in the sting was a college PRESIDENT.  in the SOUTH.  
Plus, to further "dig his own hole," the dude was also soliciting illegal drugs at the SAME time.
Jesus... (smh...)

No, using a VPN to access TER or any other site does not mean that you are using the dark web. You access dark web sites using a TOR browser, which is not the same as a VPN. I use a VPN to connect to my work network from home, there are lots of legitimate reasons to use a VPN, and they have nothing to do with the dark web. I don't know what experts you are listening to, but the dark web is not the future of the internet.

It's always funny when you read some article about a bust and, when you look at the mugshots, you're like "Hey. I'd do her!" LOL

I can only pray it is Falwell Jr. and his pool boy

but I can't imagine for the life of me that there would NOT be escort ads on the dark web. MILLIONS of people are on the dark web, of course you are going to find hookers there too. Like you said it's just too big and has too many people not to have people offering sex for sale, It's simply inconceivable to think otherwise.

It depends on how you define "the dark web". By some definitions, sites like p411 and ter are partially darkweb sites, by other definitions, it's anything a search engine hasn't discovered yet (this definition gets used in news media alot), and by still other definitions, the dark web is anything you either need a .onion address or IP address to access.

Other than the news report mentioning it happened on the dark web, this is the same type of sting operation and bust the police have always done on the light web. (Is that the opposite of the dark web 😀)

who otherwise might have felt being on (in?) the deep (dark?) web would protect them are, in fact, subject to being caught, and therefore should take all due precautions.

The dark web definitely does not make things safer or make you immune from stings and such.

I wasn’t referring to this case so much as generally.

Careful!  There are still LIBEL laws in this country!  LOL!    

Good point, "Mr. Fisher," ESPECIALLY if you have A LOT to lose, like these poor, dumb souls obviously had.  (smh...)