Do we need to cover our tracks if the Law Changes?

[Waterfordstud]

This recent tread on covering our tracks interests me


What if the government brings in a new Law making all the things we do with escorts illegal in three years time?

What if they get a search warrant of out of the back end of the website?

Just wondering what information shows up on the website about us and does it give a unique reference code for each computer or is it just an IP address that they might have on us to haul before some tribunal or a Spanish Inquisition

I can live with an IP address as it usually work and lots of people in my organisation

However if they can drill down into my computer and they found me!!!

Maybe I'm worrying Or thinking unnecessarily

[QuietFella]

What if the government brings in a new Law making all the things we do with escorts illegal in three years time?

You can't be done retroactively over here, so anything legal now can't be used then:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_post_facto_law#Ireland

I'd be more worried about your boss looking over your shoulder, tbh. :-)

[Davidontour]

Several issues here and these are purely my own thoughts.

Firstly, assuming criminalisation comes in, the crime will be paying for sex. It can't be enforced retrospectively. It will up to the individual whether they wish to continue purchasing sexual services, but who you have visited and which currently legal sites you have accessed will be irrelevant.

There has been talk of making the accessing of sites such as EI an offence equivalent to viewing child pornography. If that is brought in, I for one will be emigrating as living in a lunatic asylum is not something I find acceptable. Assuming otherwise, accessing the site will not be a criminal offence any more than accessing Swedish escort sites is currently.

Any apprehension for a criminal offence will occur during or after the act of visiting a sex worker.

In Sweden, over 1000 sex workers still make a living in a population not much larger than Ireland. No-one, as far as I'm aware, has been jailed for buying sex in the 15 years since the law was brought in. Plenty of fines though.

The powers that be can access absolutely anything if they want to and being paranoid about IP addresses won't make any difference.

[Petros]

I suppose it will all depend on how the law is written and how if it does come in how it is enforced!

[samlad]

Would you still leave reviews if the law come into force?

[Petros]

Would you still leave reviews if the law come into force?

Good question! Never mind a txt on a phone, a review could possibly hang you depending on the wording of the legislation!

[69patrick69]

Would you still leave reviews if the law come into force?

No, why would you incriminate yourself.

[rob_tig]

Would you still leave reviews if the law come into force?

Would depend on what framing they use with the legislation, in all honesty I'd be very wary about it coming back to bite me.

Sam thats something I never would have thought about, cheers.

[celticden]

when is it suppose to be decided ?

[Wakka Wakka]

First of all I do think the new laws will come in. Not because they are good laws, they are bloody awful laws, no, but because the anti-side of the argument is better funded and better organised, plus very few of our legislators are willing to publicly stand up to them. I think it is likely, but unfortunate, that these laws will hit the statute books, unless the government runs out of interest, or time, to pass them.

If and when they do arrive I don’t think it’s the end of the world. After all, to be blasé about it, other activities are illegal but continue, from serious crimes down to downloading movies and not having a television licence. Name one activity that disappeared after it was made illegal. Having laws and having the means and manpower to fully enforce them are two different things.

I do think it’s likely that we’ll see some arrests once these laws are passed, for no other reason than to keep those who were promoting them happy. A few unfortunate clients will be hit with fines and probably have the tabloids chasing after them but interest will probably wane shortly after that. I also see a few ladies dragged through the mire as well, unfortunately, probably ladies from Eastern Europe or further afield, for no other reason than it’ll be easier to portray them as unwilling victims in all this, whether they are or not.

The safest ladies to visit, for those who are worried, will be the ladies at the top end of the market, simply because they are the ladies those in power are more likely to visit themselves, it’ll be alright messing with someone else but God forbid the laws would cause problems for the ‘important’ people!

For people who are discrete, and people who keep their wits about them things will continue as before, largely. Hopefully those ladies currently operating will be able to continue doing so. The worst fear of these new laws isn’t that it’ll make things embarrassing for the clients but that it’ll make things more dangerous for the escorts. As long as escorts can work discretely and safely things shouldn’t change all that much.

Just invest in software to hide your IP address or use a private computer or smartphone to access the site. You may end up as one of the unlucky ones who get caught but I do believe that once the initial attention dies down things will largely continue as before.

I expect that things will get quiet around here after the laws are passed, everyone is likely to be wary of attracting attention for a while, but hopefully a degree of normality will return