[2015-12-15] NPR: For Sex Industry, Bitcoin Steps In Where Credit Cards Fear To

[pawel7777]

For Sex Industry, Bitcoin Steps In Where Credit Cards Fear To Tread

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/12/15/456786212/for-sex-industry-bitcoin-steps-in-where-credit-cards-fear-to-tread

Across the country, law enforcement is cracking down on sex trafficking of minors by going after online escort ads.

Five years ago, Craigslist was pressured to shut down its adult-services forum. The new target is Backpage.com — Visa and MasterCard stopped processing transactions with Backpage this summer.

Some in the sex industry are getting around that by using the virtual currency bitcoin. That's the latest adaptation by an industry used to getting creative to avoid detection.

After making more than 800 arrests off Backpage since 2009, Cook County Illinois Sheriff Tom Dart called a news conference to announce a victory this summer.

"We want to commend both Visa and MasterCard for their civic responsibility, for so quickly acting when we talked to them. American Express has already done that. They've now been narrowed down to where there's very little options for people who want to work with that website," Dart said.
...

[Gleb Gamow]

For Sex Industry, Bitcoin Steps In Where Credit Cards Fear To Tread

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/12/15/456786212/for-sex-industry-bitcoin-steps-in-where-credit-cards-fear-to-tread

Across the country, law enforcement is cracking down on sex trafficking of minors by going after online escort ads.

Five years ago, Craigslist was pressured to shut down its adult-services forum. The new target is Backpage.com — Visa and MasterCard stopped processing transactions with Backpage this summer.

Some in the sex industry are getting around that by using the virtual currency bitcoin. That's the latest adaptation by an industry used to getting creative to avoid detection.

After making more than 800 arrests off Backpage since 2009, Cook County Illinois Sheriff Tom Dart called a news conference to announce a victory this summer.

"We want to commend both Visa and MasterCard for their civic responsibility, for so quickly acting when we talked to them. American Express has already done that. They've now been narrowed down to where there's very little options for people who want to work with that website," Dart said.
...

Who would've thunk it?  



http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/10/06/backpage-ceo-charged-pimping-california/91699912/

The top executive of the online classified portal Backpage.com and two of the company’s controlling shareholders were charged on Thursday with felony pimping charges in the state of California as authorities alleged the web site operators were effectively running an “online brothel.”

Carl Ferrer, the CEO of Backpage, which runs its operations out of Dallas and Amsterdam, was arrested after arriving in Houston from a flight from the Netherlands.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and California Attorney General Kamala Harris said that a three-year-long joint investigation revealed that adult and child sex trafficking victims were forced into prostitution through escort ads that appear on the web site, and that Ferrer and stockholders Michael Lacey and James Larkin made millions of dollars from illegal sex trade. Ferrer faces charges of pimping a minor, pimping, and conspiracy to commit pimping, while Lacey and Larkin face conspiracy to commit pimping charges.

Follow Link Above the Fold to Read the Rest of the Article

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backpage#Controversy

Backpage has had continues issues with Credit card processors. In 2015 they lost all Credit card processing for anything relating to sex work ads. Leaving Bitcoin as the remaining option for paid ads.