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Comment by dragonwriter | Hacker News Reader

No, it doesn't, though it seems to be the standard method that people ignorant of law enforcement come up with and think they have solved the problem of keeping LE out.

For a start, if soliciting prostitution is illegal, the LE agent doesn't have to perform service, they just have to bust the “client/screener”, and turn them so that they report back properly.

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You're correct, this can be subverted. Though it would not last very long. The thing many people seem to forget when talking to us is that this business is already happening. People are working off classified ad sites, like eros.com. The verification procedures are being used by workers charging from $$$ to $$$$. So while this isn't perfect, it's far better than anything existing.

And in the end, what does LE end up with by doing all this? A few individual prostitution "busts", with no real change.

turn them so that they report back properly.

But that only works if the client/screener can actually lead you anywhere.

It also works if you want to keep arresting Johns and make the service unreliable in your jurisdiction, too.

Note that a similar technique also works for criminal gangs interested in robbing Johns who want to exploit your platform for their funnel.

Theoretically you're right. In practice no jurisdictions are actually carrying out a denial of service on escorts. They could. They could buy ads and people to comply and turn over intel and on and on... yet they don't. There's a few busts here and there, mostly when they can take down a whole brother/agency/parlor. Plus low-level arrests, typically against minorities, for prostitution.

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