"The United States government has seized Backpage.com, the controversial classifieds website. A notice informing visitors of the seizure was posted on the site, and a Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the notice. According to the notice, the website and its affiliates were seized “as part of an enforcement action” by the FBI, as well as other federal and local agencies. The notice provides little other information, saying the Department of Justice will provide more at 6PM EST today. Backpage was the target of allegations that it facilitated sex trafficking and prostitution through its adult section, a controversy that took years to unwind and culminated in the arrest of the company’s CEO and eventual removal of the adult section. “The FBI can confirm that law enforcement activity is occurring,” a spokesperson for the FBI’s Phoenix field office told The Verge. The office referred further questions to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last month, Congress passed controversial legislation meant to give law enforcement more power to stop online sex trafficking. Backpage became a central part of the discussion around the legislation, which many sex workers opposed. Developing..." https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/6/17207838/backpage-com-seized-website-down-...
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA256 On 04/06/2018 07:15 PM, Razer wrote: I guess we will need to make an onion site to sell our old junk cars and advertise for gigs. > "The United States government has seized Backpage.com, the > controversial classifieds website. A notice informing visitors of > the seizure was posted on the site, and a Justice Department > spokesperson confirmed the notice. > > According to the notice, the website and its affiliates were seized > “as part of an enforcement action” by the FBI, as well as other > federal and local agencies. The notice provides little other > information, saying the Department of Justice will provide more at > 6PM EST today. > > Backpage was the target of allegations that it facilitated sex > trafficking and prostitution through its adult section, a > controversy that took years to unwind and culminated in the arrest > of the company’s CEO and eventual removal of the adult section. > > “The FBI can confirm that law enforcement activity is occurring,” > a spokesperson for the FBI’s Phoenix field office told The Verge. > The office referred further questions to the Justice Department, > which did not immediately respond to a request for comment. > > Last month, Congress passed controversial legislation meant to give > law enforcement more power to stop online sex trafficking. Backpage > became a central part of the discussion around the legislation, > which many sex workers opposed. > > Developing..." > > https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/6/17207838/backpage-com-seized-website - -down-fbi > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2 iQGcBAEBCAAGBQJayAPtAAoJEPn/Y5FXPbRCIGQL/A5HwvGz+FxuQtkXq1ELkrCe hrcg3aaAtpWu6Apc4VJBBg21pZt+xH6c4GRp7oL5XaXavxJbRxRXHFf68jC/YbIQ RqoSnyDnIAdr7oC0psVpqd1hhuz7mj1xH+qWjnQh+ElPLv8/OLyISWkeGFV8d0nl N5oq5PD4wQD6t2RPZP3HH9gi0gmiNhpgUtPUegsu5io0e5Y7geKfm82BfSjs7Law f3ocTbgCZ28MFrtNTcev1XSM9j2H3kxqjzM9U7rwlxZpL2xf/hevtA/Kh1aB+I8c Ep2bBvwz0Cehl0440rcJ/eVOO4TfbJhG+g3znhz31EnqxrNsHEI2S5wWf6liIQzX Uv0J8UfpAPDQYIhQeHSXwm2fFj/M+1ZthCJiAu0YNjsL3agML3cHsnGVy6KyLaS5 3uCdqFGRXL6jZIZ73UTUNw21LCz1ZzuwcUY7eqLdrsj+bmbN/90UQb9mY0rl+ykc zowOzGDrbhtSGbr3U6ZdXzGAjQR4vQocVAdd8XYIZw== =DnHD -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
To prevent this type of censorship, while making it sticky to an existing site, like Craigslist, why not use a browser add-on, like GreaseMonkey for FF, so the classification and ad content only appear to users with add-on? This approach is used by price comparison services so, for example, if you're shopping and find it on Amazon the add-on overlays the page with pricing at competitive sites. Of course, the add-on would have provide all the add front- and back-end support and do so in a manner to thwart the censors. On Fri, Apr 6, 2018, 4:16 PM Razer <g2s@riseup.net> wrote:
"The United States government has seized Backpage.com, the controversial classifieds website. A notice informing visitors of the seizure was posted on the site, and a Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the notice.
According to the notice, the website and its affiliates were seized “as part of an enforcement action” by the FBI, as well as other federal and local agencies. The notice provides little other information, saying the Department of Justice will provide more at 6PM EST today.
Backpage was the target of allegations that it facilitated sex trafficking and prostitution through its adult section, a controversy that took years to unwind and culminated in the arrest of the company’s CEO and eventual removal of the adult section.
“The FBI can confirm that law enforcement activity is occurring,” a spokesperson for the FBI’s Phoenix field office told The Verge. The office referred further questions to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last month, Congress passed controversial legislation meant to give law enforcement more power to stop online sex trafficking. Backpage became a central part of the discussion around the legislation, which many sex workers opposed.
Developing..."
https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/6/17207838/backpage-com-seized-website-down-...
participants (3)
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Marina Brown -
Razer -
Steven Schear