Rentboy Raided by the Feds

[bayoucadillac]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2...raid/32361263/

Spare me the usual jokes---isolated incident or trend?

[WTF]

Trend

Probably why P411 did what they did in regards to charging the ladies

[Tiffani Jameson]

The trend is big money and lack of due diligence. You always protect your moneymaker.

[WTF]

Originally Posted by Tiffani Jameson

The trend is big money and lack of due diligence. You always protect your moneymaker.

Please explain...

You do realize the site is similar to say backpage or even eccie?

What do you think of Redbook?

[ElisabethWhispers]

bigdoggie had a huge dustup years ago.

Redbook.com has been closed down by the Feds.

A few years back, there was a site in New Mexico (I think it was NM) that was shut down and a university professor was arrested because he owned it.

So this isn't anything new.

With the Ashley Madison hacking, and other issues going on that focuses on the negative of the demimonde, we're an easy target.

It's a trend and will get worse.

rentboy was such an interesting site. Did anyone here every read it? I hadn't looked at the site in a few years. Gone, now.

[Tiffani Jameson]

Has anyone ever wondered why Eros doesn't ever come under fire?

[Audrey Astor]

Originally Posted by Tiffani Jameson

Has anyone ever wondered why Eros doesn't ever come under fire?

Maybe they pay their taxes, and have diligent attorneys as well as accountants?

[ElisabethWhispers]

Originally Posted by Tiffani Jameson

Has anyone ever wondered why Eros doesn't ever come under fire?

I think that's a good question. From day one, they're required showing a drivers license or they've collected some form of ID.

I know that YEARS ago, I had to fax something into them and I believe that they still require that.

I'm not sure if that is a driving consideration, since so many of the witch hunts are focused around trafficking, but I bet it's a part of it.

[Tiffani Jameson]

Originally Posted by Holly Love

Maybe they pay their taxes, and have diligent attorneys as well as accountants?

That's due diligence, Holly! :song:

When you make that kind of money, you hire an IT security professional to protect your site. You get lawyers to help you understand your risks. And financial advisers to protect your money.

But EW, outside of money laundering, their primary crime is promoting prostitution. Notwithstanding the reviews, Rent boy and Eros are the same type of entity. Why not go after Eros? I wonder why they wouldn't be next.

[bayoucadillac]

Originally Posted by Tiffani Jameson

That's due diligence, Holly! :song:

When you make that kind of money, you hire an IT security professional to protect your site. You get lawyers to help you understand your risks. And financial advisers to protect your money.

But EW, outside of money laundering, their primary crime is promoting prostitution. Notwithstanding the reviews, Rent boy and Eros are the same type of entity. Why not go after Eros? I wonder why they wouldn't be next.

That was my immediate thought.......why not Eros?

[bd6969]

Eros is not based in the US, I believe it is based in Europe. P411 is based in Canada.

[D.G.]

Maybe some of these sites should not be located i the US if they dont want the feds after them . Common sense .

[MC19]

D.G. your from earth too ... just trying to catchup to WR

[lyn.xes]

The Laws Used Against Rentboy.com Increase Marginalized Communities' Vulnerability to HIV

The war against the sex trade continues. On Tuesday morning, the headquarters of rentboy.com, the country's largest male-escort site, was raided by the Department of Homeland Security with the aid of local law enforcement agencies, resulting in the arrest of rentboy.com's CEO and six other employees. The seven men are facing federal charges in the Eastern District of New York for conspiracy to violate the U.S. Travel Act by promoting prostitution....

With both clients and workers moving further underground to avoid arrest, customary methods of screening for violent or bad clients are becoming much harder to use. The leverage that many male sex workers felt they once had to negotiate condom use and other safer-sex practices has been increasingly eroded by the government's war on sex work....

At a time when sex workers are still struggling for basic forms of recognition, we cannot allow anti-sex work attitudes to erase the interconnected reality of our fight for sexual liberation. Consensual sex, and the enjoyment of it, is a human right, and any law that prohibits it goes against our country's principles. In California, the Erotic Service Provider Legal, Educational and Research Project (ESPLER) has begun challenging the federal constitutionality of state anti-prostitution laws, building on precedent established in Lawrence v. Texas -- the Supreme Court case that decriminalized acts of sodomy in 2003. It is still too early to know where this legal challenge will take us....

Historically, male sex workers have largely operated with impunity, while female and transgender sex workers have felt the greatest impact of anti-prostitution, and now human-trafficking laws. Earlier this month in Alaska, a woman who set up basic forms of safe working conditions was found guilty of trafficking herself and others into prostitution. Last year, Monica Jones fought back against a "manifestation of prostitution" charge after she was arrested simply for walking down the street as a transwoman of color....

[lyn.xes]

How Does a Gay Escort Stay ‘Legal’?

the self-proclaimed “original and world’s largest male escort site” with the belief that CEO Jeffrey Hurant—and six other employees—were promoting and managing prostitution across state lines and international borders.

“Twenty years we’ve been doing it [running Rentboy.com]. And I don’t think we do anything to promote prostitution,” Hurant told reporters. “I think we do good things for good people and we bring good people together. And I hope that justice will be done in the end.”...

...the “Terms of Service” explicitly state that the “site may not be used for the advertising of sexual services or to engage in activities requiring the payment of money for sex or other illegal activities.”...

“Our allegation with this case is that the business and its principals purported itself to be an escort service while promoting criminal acts, namely illegal prostitution. We allege violations to the federal Travel Act, which forbids interstate or foreign travel for the purpose of criminal acts.”

But why—after almost twenty years in business—is the Department of Homeland Security getting involved? Are the escorts also at risk? And what does this mean for the dozens of other internet-based escort services and their clients?....

“There’s no federal law that prohibits prostitution, so they are having to rely on a New York statute for any federal prosecution.”...

...if DHS decides to broaden their investigation. Dozens of websites like rentmen.com, men4rentnow.com, and hourboy.com facilitate similar advertisements for escorts. Thousands of ads describe the physical appearance and sexual preference (think, position and fetishes) of men selling their time not sex....

“If you were to book me, you wouldn’t be booking me for a specific sexual act—you’d just be booking me for my time,” porn star Duncan Black, who is also one of RentBoy.com’s escorts, told The Daily Beast last year. “We could go to dinner, or for a walk, or just hang out and talk… or, y’know. Other things can happen, too!”

The act of selling time, not sex means everything. It’s kept thousands of websites, escorts and clients embedded in the right side of law and out of jail… until now....

“This goes beyond an erotic service provider issue. If we are going to start holding passive Internet intermediaries liable for the posing of third parties, that is going to be a very deep concern for not only advertising networks, but also social networks and tech giants who allow the internet to function without the constant supervision of every posting.”...

In New York, organizations are offering urgent “Know Your Rights” workshops to cover “broad-stroke legal concerns for advertisers on the RentBoy.com platform, as well as prostitution-related New York State laws,” according to posts on Facebook.

“The meeting is intended to be informational in nature,” it reads, offering a warning of potential undercover agents. There will be lawyers present to discuss e-discovery, asset seizure, forfeiture, and tax issues, among others....

He also believes customers will be safe throughout the entire ordeal.

They have “absolute legitimate privacy rights,” Walters said, “and the government would have to think very carefully before releasing any information that was shared on the site given the privacy rights of individuals who have not been charged and have not been alleged to be involved with any illegal activity.”

The protection of Section 230 will be the most significant issue at play, Walter says, “because the government is relying upon a state law—the State of New York prostitution law—to build its federal prosecution. If that state law does not apply to an Internet network such as RentBoy.com, then it might be that the prosecution will fail.”