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Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges

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Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges

#121

Post by adventurer »

cft wrote: post #46

This was no more a prostitution website than Craigslist, before Craigslist struck a deal with attorney generals of several states to shut down its Adult Classifieds section [1]. In fact, given Craigslist scale it had many more prostitution (and probably child prostitution) ads. The question is: why Craig and this CEO were given such disparate treatment? Because the times have changed, or because Craigslist was much b…

I remember this very vaguely about 3-4 year back but I believe Backpage pretty much publicly said they were there to fill the void. If Craigslist doesn't want to deal with it, then come on over! Craigslist was a warning shot. Backpage new that fully and sprinted into harms way. $$

Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges

#122

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

niftich wrote: post #31
SwellJoe wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most sex workers agree that their safety is improved dramatically by having the business side of it out in the open. And, there have been studies on sex worker safety that indicate strongly that legal prostitution is safer for everyone; it also reduces coercion when it is not underground (women don't need a pimp, if law enforcement is on their side). Since I started paying attention a few years ago, I've noticed that…

There's idealism on both sides of the argument. On one hand, there are those who believe that conducting these arrangements in the open is safer for all involved parties. On the other hand, there are those who believe that sex work can never truly be consensual, because even if consent is given, a sex worker may have felt pressured to seek this life because all other choices available to them to make a living and att…

> On the other hand, there are those who believe that sex work can never truly be consensual

Discussion about sex work is always interesting. Sex workers are so often left out of the discussion about their own lives. How about we listen to what the sex workers want?

Here in Australia, sex workers are completely on the side of decriminalisation.

Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges

#123

Post by k__ »

gregpilling wrote: post #39
tessierashpool wrote: post #20

FWIW, this headline is not completely accurate. The story itself says further down the page, "Ferrer was arrested on felony charges of pimping a minor, pimping, and conspiracy to commit pimping." None of these are actually trafficking charges; they're run-of-the-mill prostitution charges. There's also a story from a young girl who was forced into sex work, which is certainly awful, and some stuff about studies and cl…

and it was based on a few reports of minors, who paid for ads on backpage.com, and that the sin was backpage.com took their money and should have known they were minors somehow. Out of millions of ads posted annually, they should have known that those three women were underage. Even after they checked the "I am 18" box. Bad backpage. Or maybe someone is trying to get headlines on how they are tough on crime. Because…

yes, they wrote someone was republican and I thought 'who cares?!'

Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges

#124

Post by rayiner »

TAForObvReasons wrote: post #80
shubhamjain wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it somewhat boils down to intention. In the case of Wells Fargo, opening fraudulent accounts couldn't have accrued any benefit for the bank. It seems more likely that it would have increased overall cost for the company. Yes, the fraud is attributable to stressing too much on reaching an upselling goal, but it's hard to imagine it's a thing that CEO would have wanted. Should we start punishing people for mana…

> opening fraudulent accounts couldn't have accrued any benefit for the bank Actually, in the hearing Senator Warren tried to connect the fraudulent accounts to the stock price, which would have been a direct benefit for the bank: > You squeezed your employees to the breaking point so they would cheat customers and you could drive up the value of your stock and put hundreds of millions of dollars in your own pocket.…

Senator Warren is really good at generating sound bites for people who have no idea about how companies work but are abstractly mad at them. The idea that WF would engage in systematic fraud to goose revenue by about $2.4 million is absurd (or add a bunch of accounts generating only that much in revenue--as if Wall Street analysts won't compute revenue per account).

Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges

#125

Post by kgwgk »

haser_au wrote: post #7
seibelj wrote: post #5

Even if you are morally opposed to prostitution, is there really any benefit to authorities when you remove a centralized location and move it to the street or many different websites? If you really want to manage the prostitution "problem", having it all on a single website seems like a benefit for managing and researching the issue.

Same could be said for the legalisation of drugs. Central online repository, good for research.

And for the legalisation of contract killing or the legalisation of slavery. Of course one might think that drugs or prostitution should be legal but then you don't need to "allow" a special marketplace for an illegal activity.

Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges

#126

Post by throwanem »

empthought wrote: post #63
steve_b wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coercion requires threats or force. Do you think all prostitution involves threats or force? And wouldn't autonomy include the freedom to do with your body as you see fit?

The threat of loss of home, food, or family due to insufficient means is indeed coercive. If it were about freedom, you would see people of all economic conditions choosing to prostitute themselves. But you don't.

Don't you? The past few years have seen a spate of "high-class call girl" memoirs. Unless you want to make the novel claim they're all fabricated, or try somehow to argue they are negligible, that would seem to suggest that your second claim here is not accurate.

Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges

#127

Post by DanBC »

ZoF wrote: post #89
stephenr wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, what kind of prostitution charge is average or not special? That kind. I don't even want to know how you consider a child prostitution charge "average or not special".

Your comments here are based on emotion, others are approaching this analytically. This stuff happens; just like murder, rape, arson, etc. It's irrational to get upset about someone using a common idiom to convey that this isn't a typical instance of child prostitution.

> child prostitution

Child sexual exploitation. The vast majority of children involved aren't there through free choice.

Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges

#128

Post by Gibbon1 »

cloudjacker wrote: post #88
Gibbon1 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless Craigslist has changed their model 0% is from prostitution since I think they only charge for house and job listings.

Because they struck a deal with governments in the us to stop making money from sex ads.... The short term memory is strong in this thread

Looks like they started charging in 2008 and then pulled the ads entirely in 2010. I think the article I read on their business model was prior to 2008. Or after.

Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges

#129

Post by squid_ca »

icebraining wrote: post #106
maxxxxx wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The CEO gets credit and a lot of money when things go right so he should take blame when things go wrong. Personally I think they could find out about a lot of wrongdoing if they wanted to.

The question wasn't whether he should take blame, but whether he should be criminally charged. Sounds a bit over the top - I'd rather see WF fined, and then the CEO sued by the shareholders, and forced to pay damages if proven he knew or should have known.

That's an okay opinion, but I'd like to see CEOs criminally charged and go to jail if it's proven that they knew or should have known what was going on.

Re: Backpage Raided, CEO Arrested on Sex-Trafficking Charges

#130

Post by ZoF »

DanBC wrote: post #127
ZoF wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your comments here are based on emotion, others are approaching this analytically. This stuff happens; just like murder, rape, arson, etc. It's irrational to get upset about someone using a common idiom to convey that this isn't a typical instance of child prostitution.

> child prostitution Child sexual exploitation. The vast majority of children involved aren't there through free choice.

Sure...?

I didn't intend to imply otherwise.

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