Backpage.com Told To Halt 'Adult Section' Ads

[modelchick]

DES MOINES, Iowa – Attorneys General from 21 states, including Iowa’s Tom Miller, asked operators of Backpage.com Tuesday to remove its adult services section because the online classified-ads website allegedly cannot adequately block potentially illegal ads promoting prostitution, sexual exploitation of children and human trafficking.

Miller said the call for Backpage to “immediately take down” its adult services section followed similar multi-state action taken by attorneys general against Craigslist. In that case, Craigslist appeared to have surrendered in a legal fight over erotic ads posted on its website, shutting down its adult services section earlier this month and replacing it with a black bar that simply says “censored.”

“Many of the ads now appearing on Backpage.com are nearly identical to the types of ads the public saw on Craiglist.org,” Miller told a news conference. “We’ve received reports that there are now ads on Backpage promoting prostitution here in Iowa, and there are reports emerging of ads promoting child exploitation and human trafficking in other states. Iowans didn’t tolerate these types of ads on Craigslist and won’t tolerate them on Backpage.”

Miller said it was feared that Backpage would become the leading “conduit” of blatant adult section advertisements following the action taken by Craigslist. He said Backpage officials implemented some changes in response to previous concerns raised by the attorneys general working group, but Miller said those efforts “have fallen short” and they are being asked to shut down the adult section altogether until they can better screen the postings.

In addition to Iowa, states calling on Backpage to close adult services are: Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

A letter sent Tuesday by the 21 attorneys general to Backpage’s legal counsel acknowledged that the web-based company could face the prospect of losing revenue if it were to remove the adult services section.

“Still, no amount of money can justify the scourge of illegal prostitution, and the misery of women and children who will continue to be victimized in the marketplace provided by Backpage,” the attorneys general said in a letter to Chicago attorney Samuel Fifer.

According to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Backpage is expected to earn this year an estimated $17.5 million from prostitution ads and Craigslist $30 million.

“Websites should not profit from prostitution and exploitation of women and children — as Craigslist recently recognized and Backpage hopefully will,” said Blumenthal, who cited a recent study by the Advanced Interactive Media Group indicating that Craigslist and Backpage are two of the nation’s largest online classified ad websites and account for about $47.5 million of the $63 million in online prostitution ads expected this year.

“Adult services sections are little more than online brothels, enabling human trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and children,” Blumenthal said in a statement. “Because Backpage cannot properly police adult services, the section should be shut down immediately. Backpage has a moral — if not legal — obligation to purge ads that promote trafficking and sexual abuse of women and children.”

The attorneys general, in their letter, urged Backpage to take steps to prevent migration of prostitution ads into its personals section, including flagging and screening systems and manually reviewing all such ads.

Miller said the attorneys general planned to give the web site operators a reasonable amount of time to comply, but indicated that probably would not span more than one or two weeks. He also said the state attorneys general also are considering the option of seeking federal legislation to remove immunity provisions for online sites that allow them to provide adult section services.

A spokesman for Backpage.com did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Backp...103456969.html

[TVSURFER]

Question: Will this be the revitalization of the strolls?

[bigdicki]

Question: Will this be the revitalization of the strolls?

It'd be nice to take it back to the old school, but my guess is that it won't. It will just give rise to some other internet site doing the same thing, but finding some loophole to help them stay in business. Backpage has refused to take down the ads despite the tactics of the AGs by the way. So, this might be a war between Village Voice Media and State AGs.

[Ms Remy M]

The problem with CL and BP is that they are community sites. Eros.com will likely not experince any problems like this, and all serious escorts should just migrate to Eros if they haven't already. Those that were stuck with CL and BP may revert back to the stroll if they ever stopped using it...

[MrKnockOut]

At the end of the day, as my man doughboy from boyz n da hood said, hoez gotta eat too.
Get rid of bp or cl and something else will take its place. Online classified ads are big business. Its 2 much money to let walk away.
As a last resort they could ban all escort listings on the net and it wouldn't end prostitution. Itd just bring the girls back to main street.
A hoe doesn't care where her money is coming from, so long as it comes consistently.
Sadly people are too dumb 2 realize that cl and bp did what traditional law enforcement could never do. Get hoes/pimps off the street and out of their communities.

[Indy24]

At the end of the day, as my man doughboy from boyz n da hood said, hoez gotta eat too.
Get rid of bp or cl and something else will take its place. Online classified ads are big business. Its 2 much money to let walk away.
As a last resort they could ban all escort listings on the net and it wouldn't end prostitution. Itd just bring the girls back to main street.
A hoe doesn't care where her money is coming from, so long as it comes consistently.
Sadly people are too dumb 2 realize that cl and bp did what traditional law enforcement could never do. Get hoes/pimps off the street and out of their communities.

Those sex repressed bitter old prudes aren't trying to hear that and you know it.

[vidman]

What needs to happen is that someone needs to produce a non-community website to compete with Eros. Eros has the market cornered when it comes to escort dating. Actually, I can't think of any other site that's comparable to Eros. I should come up with an escort website (like Eros) and cut the prices to post ads in half. I think Eros charges the girls $150 to post an ad. What if I came up with a website called "Aphrodite" and only hosted Transsexual and Female models (like Eros) and I charged $75 per post as opposed to $150. I think that sounds like a great idea!!! Tell me what you think, BTG Forum. Like someone said in an above post, craigslist and backpage are community sites. Eros is not a community site, therefore, it never gets the flack like CL and BP gets.

[SexxxyJade]

Myself along with my partners over at SMCrevenue are launching a new escort type website http://privateerotica.net The website domain is based in Europe so it wont have any of the problems CL or backpage has had. Also if you notice it is of much greater quality than those as well as it caters to escorts only and not the sale of other items.
The website is fairly new now but we anticipate adding lots of new features and girls soon. Any of you ladies feel free to register and I will go ahead and approve you. We are offering a promotion that gives you 4 months free to try the site out to see how you like it. You can anticipate alot of calls in the near future as we will be promoting it on all SMC porn websites. We get traffic from all over the world and as you know ShemaleClub is one of the biggest transexual sites online. So you can expect callers from the US and abroad.
Againt he site is fairly new right now so feel free to browse thru what content we have there now and keep in mind we are adding more everyday. And girls take advantage of the free promotion.
~Kisses
SexyJade
http://privateerotica.net

[Ms Remy M]

What needs to happen is that someone needs to produce a non-community website to compete with Eros. Eros has the market cornered when it comes to escort dating. Actually, I can't think of any other site that's comparable to Eros. I should come up with an escort website (like Eros) and cut the prices to post ads in half. I think Eros charges the girls $150 to post an ad. What if I came up with a website called "Aphrodite" and only hosted Transsexual and Female models (like Eros) and I charged $75 per post as opposed to $150. I think that sounds like a great idea!!! Tell me what you think, BTG Forum. Like someone said in an above post, craigslist and backpage are community sites. Eros is not a community site, therefore, it never gets the flack like CL and BP gets.

I think the higher fee Eros charges, $170, is good, it keeps the amount of fake posters down to a minimum. You don't want your site to end up full of ads by "boy in a wig" like CL and BP.

[dimichi13]

Myself along with my partners over at SMCrevenue are launching a new escort type website http://privateerotica.net The website domain is based in Europe so it wont have any of the problems CL or backpage has had. Also if you notice it is of much greater quality than those as well as it caters to escorts only and not the sale of other items.
The website is fairly new now but we anticipate adding lots of new features and girls soon. Any of you ladies feel free to register and I will go ahead and approve you. We are offering a promotion that gives you 4 months free to try the site out to see how you like it. You can anticipate alot of calls in the near future as we will be promoting it on all SMC porn websites. We get traffic from all over the world and as you know ShemaleClub is one of the biggest transexual sites online. So you can expect callers from the US and abroad.
Againt he site is fairly new right now so feel free to browse thru what content we have there now and keep in mind we are adding more everyday. And girls take advantage of the free promotion.
~Kisses
SexyJade
http://privateerotica.net

good for you sexxxyjade i wish you success as an entrepreneur. by the way you are the first transexual i jacked of to i love you