Backpage Under Pressure from AG's

[live4fun]

it was reported that States AG's want BP to stop the adult portion of their website.
They have said no.
it reportedly earns 17million.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...ryId=130022961

unlike CL they seem to have a larger war chest, and are citing legal arguements upto an including the SCOTUS that what they are doing is legal.

Will be interesting how it plays out.

[thebodyguard_69]

the AG's don't have a strong enough case against BP.. I'd still be interested in seeing how this all plays out though.


but 17mill on adult ads alone?? good shit...

[Brian7772]

Well at like 7$/ad look how many are generated in this area alone each day.

[SneakyCancer]

man....go backpage. stand up to em....

[Killersalt]

When everything is said and done, they will fold just like craigslist.... It's just a matter of time. They were off the radar due to craigslist, now they are the next target. Hopefully they will put up a good fight before it's over. Given the money they could lose if the AG's ban together and go after them, etc., it will be over after some fighting.

[futile]

Anyone know why CL caved in under pressure? They don't have to, do they?

[Killersalt]

Originally Posted by futile

Anyone know why CL caved in under pressure? They don't have to, do they?

Bad publicity, stories in the news, threats of lawsuits and fines from the AG's. I'm sure there were even some threats of criminal prosecution. It's a hornet's nest, they make enough money off of other sections. I'm sure it got to the point where financially and from a PR perspective the fight wasn't worth it.

Plus all of the publicity related to the "craig's list" serial killer didn't help either.

Someone said in another thread, you can't
sell puppies and these kinds of services on the same site without pissing off a bunch of puppy owners.... or something like that....

[Guest030911]

http://blog.backpage.com/2010/09/bac...ts-censorship/

BACKPAGE.COM REJECTS CALLS FOR CENSORSHIP

Backpage.com respectfully declines the recent demand by a group of 21 state attorneys general that it close its adult classifieds website.
Backpage.com is a legal business and operates its website in accordance with all applicable laws. In response to concerns raised by the AGs in recent months, Backpage.com has increased its efforts to provide clear, legal rules to users who post classified ads and to ban users who violate those rules. While no system is perfect, even the AGs acknowledge Backpage.com’s good-faith cooperation with law enforcement.
In the last two years, Backpage.com users have posted 58 million ads and only 6 million in the adult services section. Federal and state authorities have called on Backpage.com to testify in just five cases involving alleged abuse of underage persons. Backpage.com continues to respond to valid subpoenas from law enforcement officials whose job it is to investigate, apprehend and prosecute criminals who wrongfully post illegal ads and victimize others.
Backpage.com is disappointed that the AGs have determined to shift blame from criminal predators to a legal business operator in an apparent attempt to capitalize on political opportunity during the election season.
The Internet was born. The federal government enacted laws to regulate its use and to allocate responsibilities and immunities to web operators. Backpage.com follows those laws and it declines to censor an entire section of free speech from its website.
Censorship will not create public safety nor will it rid the world of exploitation.
Tags: attorney generals, censorship
This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 at 2:04 pm and is filed under Press Releases. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

[Guest030911]

You know what is next after CL and Backpage don't you?

[Guest022712-3]

Sigh-- Yet again

Just do what my avatar tells you. Because arguing with logic and common sense won't do any good.

[whitechocolate]

It may help if they appear to only let women 21 and over run adult ads. Craigslist took heat for promoting underage activities. Although there is no way for BP to accurately check age, they can make it appear that they are doing it.

[1ThickBlond]

They could require a copy of ID or DL to be on file like the Eros Guide does.

[whitechocolate]

Collecting IDs with payment would take much of the steam out of the arguments they used against CL.

[coefficient]

speaking of backpage, I'm going to access it now to look for some whores

[DEAR_JOHN]

Originally Posted by coefficient

speaking of backpage, I'm going to access it now to look for some whores

Whores?