Shutdown of MyRedbook.com sparks legal debate

[straightshooter30]

Not news that LE has shut down a sex business web site. What I thought was groundbreaking was was this:
"Legal experts said the case might test prosecutors' ability to go after a website despite protections in Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which says Web service providers cannot be "treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."The law protects a company like Yelp from getting sued over the content of its customers' reviews, and largely shields Craigslist from liability for actions that arise from its users' listings. But the law explicitly states that it doesn't "impair the enforcement" of federal criminal law."


more info here:



http://www.sfgate.com/default/articl...te-5588516.php


Anyone with more legal insight? SJ, do you have any bandwidth available for your thoughts?

[19Trees]

Seems that 230 may have been a sensible law in 1996. Not clear that its workable in 2014. Google now has responsibility to scrub 3d party content (right to be forgotten cases in Europe), Roommates.com was stripped of its Section 230's shield because it "participated" (in civil rights violations related to discriminatory housing), several sites (like PirateBay) shuttered for facilitating illegal downloads. Perhaps most notably, the US Supreme's just completely shut down Aero (see, http://mashable.com/2014/06/25/aereo-loses-2/). The Supreme's found Aero complicit, even though a significant amount of the content was not even covered by copyright, or was "public" (like Congress and Senate hearings).

Clearly technology has gotten far ahead of the law. Another thing is equally clear: governments and law enforcement believe the internet is being used to circumvent the law. The cases above, and Redbook teach us that LE will not sit and watch idly at civil and criminal violations online.

One does wonder: if the domain and website were purchased and hosted outside the subpoena/seizure authority of the US (p411 in Canada; TER in Europe, etc), would Redbook still be online?

Have lots of thoughts about Redbook and interested to hear insights as well. If there is scholarly law student among our members, this could make a great law review article there are a TON of juicy and potentially precedent setting issues likely to come out of this.

Or (more likely?) defendants' cop plea, pay fines and walk away promising never to promote adult entertainment services again, else violate their release.

19Trees

[Roothead]

19trees.... I was thinking the same thing....but also recall the Feds going after off-shore based internet gambling sites.... My guess is that once they lock on to a biz/person or other entity, they have many different legal approaches to select from RICO, etc

[jframe2]

In the process of charging persons for violation of law (especially State and Fed) part of the planning strategy will include "throwaway" charges.

Prosecutors get a bigger bang when the first round of charges are presented, but as the process wears on, the defense will winnow out the weakest charges (in this case, section 230) as part of plea deals, dismissal due to lack of evidence etc.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, to see the least.

[ck1942]

Basic thrust of the federal indictment is the money laundering and tax evasion charge(s).

Looking at the physical records, redbook was registered via godaddy.com and hosted on the amazon cloud, both of which were and still are located physically within the U.S.A.

Above makes it pretty easy for the feds to seize any physical (website included) assets in prosecution process.

Ditto seizure of any monetary assets in U.S. bank accounts (see the indictment) plus any physical assets on the ground, like automobiles, homes, firearms, jewelry, stocks, bonds and other sundries.

Whether 230 gets tested or not, not much to contest in the seizures associated with money laundering or tax evasion.

= = = = =

imo, redbook owners/operators biggest mistake was believing federal statutes either didn't apply or that they were "covering" their tracks, which obviously they were not doing very well or at all.

[trey32]

Obama Administration Says the World's Servers Are Ours
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2...vers-are-ours/

Global governments, the tech sector, and scholars are closely following a legal flap in which the US Justice Department claims that Microsoft must hand over e-mail stored in Dublin, Ireland. In essence, President Barack Obama's administration claims that any company with operations in the United States must comply with valid warrants for data, even if the content is stored overseas. It's a position Microsoft and companies like Apple say is wrong, arguing that the enforcement of US law stops at the border. A magistrate judge has already sided with the government's position, ruling in April that "the basic principle that an entity lawfully obligated to produce information must do so regardless of the location of that information." Microsoft appealed to a federal judge, and the case is set to be heard on July 31.

[oldbutstillgoing]

Originally Posted by ck1942

Basic thrust of the federal indictment is the money laundering and tax evasion charge(s).

Looking at the physical records, redbook was registered via godaddy.com and hosted on the amazon cloud, both of which were and still are located physically within the U.S.A.

Above makes it pretty easy for the feds to seize any physical (website included) assets in prosecution process.

Ditto seizure of any monetary assets in U.S. bank accounts (see the indictment) plus any physical assets on the ground, like automobiles, homes, firearms, jewelry, stocks, bonds and other sundries.

Whether 230 gets tested or not, not much to contest in the seizures associated with money laundering or tax evasion.

= = = = =

imo, redbook owners/operators biggest mistake was believing federal statutes either didn't apply or that they were "covering" their tracks, which obviously they were not doing very well or at all.

Exactly. This is a perfect example of LE using legit crime to achieve broader goals. The site in New Mexico was shut down strictly as an escort site but the charges were overturned by the courts. Al Capone was sent to jail on tax evasion not for all the other crimes he committed.

There is a fine line for sites to walk. Greedy people get crushed in the end.

[throckmorton]

What is the difference between Myredbook and eccie or cityvibe or preferred?

[PhillyChik]

Originally Posted by throckmorton

What is the difference between Myredbook and eccie or cityvibe or preferred?

Is this a trick question?