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There's no way you survive the eventual law enforcement issues here. Uber circumvented law enforcement on certain issues by operating in a legal gray zone - you

There's no way you survive the eventual law enforcement issues here. Uber circumvented law enforcement on certain issues by operating in a legal gray zone - you're offering a platform that will unquestionably make you a prime target for an FBI investigation, at the very least. EDIT: And it's not just the sex aspect of what you're doing. Your business model is going to be so ripe as a target for a money laundering investigation.

monocasa 9y ago
Assuming that they're in the states.
- venantius 9y ago
  Or anywhere in Europe! And don't forget that the US legal authorities have a very long arm internationally - especially when it comes to things like money laundering.
  - jsjohnst 9y ago
    > Or anywhere in Europe! Not sure what you mean there. If you meant their core business is illegal, Wikipedia[0] seems to disagree (of course I wouldn't trust Wikipedia and would consult competent legal counsel if it were me). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Europe
    - venantius 9y ago
      I mean that the money laundering issues put them in the sights of the EU authorities.
    - barry-cotter 9y ago
      They could just kidnap them too. Extraordinary Rendition is possible if unlikely but given the New Zealand GCSB's behaviour they have to assume the local security service/secret police will be out to get them too.
  - monocasa 9y ago
    Prostitution is legal in Germany at least.
tj-teej 9y ago
Surely this post is Satire...
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- JWLong 9y ago
  It's not. :/ https://pinkapp.io/ https://pinkapp.io/ (nsfw)
- svantana 9y ago
  If it is, then it's very thorough. Looking at the OP's profile, there's a link to the site and everything. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction...
  - the_stc 9y ago
    We're completely serious and have already raised some money (doing a blockchain fundraiser right now to get the rest to open our first market). We're operating as an extrajurisdictional company. De-anonymization is a risk, though we are taking a lot of measures to prevent that and, well, obviously we are OK with the risk. This is basically the only way someone can actually help sex workers. Disclose your identity and do what we're doing and they come after you.
problems 9y ago
Well... there is a way, it just involves anonymity networks and cryptocurrencies and probably drives away most of the market on both sides.
- the_stc 9y ago
  If you look at our offering, I think we have found a great spot between "lol bitcoin sex workers over Tor" and a full SV startup with a HQ on Market St. We accept cash payments, so that eliminates a huge barrier to entry. You can use our app, verify yourself, make a date, pay in cash. The anonymity part applies to the core team and servers so we can continue to operate the platform. We have strong privacy guarantees for workers, unlike Eros.com/Backpage/etc. (For instance, we watermark each picture with the viewing client's ID, so if they leak or repost photos, we know who to ban.) Our gateway-to-Tor approach lets users access it without using Tor directly. (In the Android app, we will bootstrap connectivity so we don't rely on a domain as a SPOF.) [1] Talk to sex workers: We offer real solutions to real problems. We aren't just some nerds in a basement thinking blockchain and code can solve any problems. 1: https://medium.com/@PinkApp/pink-app-trading-latency-for-anonymity-and-other-techniques-815ee21c6da4 https://medium.com/@PinkApp/pink-app-trading-latency-for-ano... (Original title was about latency for anonymity tradeoff, but we changed it to mention how Silk Road would still be online for the clicks.)
the_stc 9y ago
The LE issues I meant that Uber had a blacklist for LE agents using Uber. They actively prevented LE from using the service. This is one of our core features.

monocasa 9y ago

Assuming that they're in the states.

venantius 9y ago
Or anywhere in Europe! And don't forget that the US legal authorities have a very long arm internationally - especially when it comes to things like money laundering.
- jsjohnst 9y ago
  > Or anywhere in Europe! Not sure what you mean there. If you meant their core business is illegal, Wikipedia[0] seems to disagree (of course I wouldn't trust Wikipedia and would consult competent legal counsel if it were me). [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Europe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Europe
  - venantius 9y ago
    I mean that the money laundering issues put them in the sights of the EU authorities.
  - barry-cotter 9y ago
    They could just kidnap them too. Extraordinary Rendition is possible if unlikely but given the New Zealand GCSB's behaviour they have to assume the local security service/secret police will be out to get them too.
- monocasa 9y ago
  Prostitution is legal in Germany at least.

tj-teej 9y ago

Surely this post is Satire...

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
JWLong 9y ago
It's not. :/ https://pinkapp.io/ https://pinkapp.io/ (nsfw)
svantana 9y ago
If it is, then it's very thorough. Looking at the OP's profile, there's a link to the site and everything. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction...
- the_stc 9y ago
  We're completely serious and have already raised some money (doing a blockchain fundraiser right now to get the rest to open our first market). We're operating as an extrajurisdictional company. De-anonymization is a risk, though we are taking a lot of measures to prevent that and, well, obviously we are OK with the risk. This is basically the only way someone can actually help sex workers. Disclose your identity and do what we're doing and they come after you.

problems 9y ago

Well... there is a way, it just involves anonymity networks and cryptocurrencies and probably drives away most of the market on both sides.

the_stc 9y ago
If you look at our offering, I think we have found a great spot between "lol bitcoin sex workers over Tor" and a full SV startup with a HQ on Market St. We accept cash payments, so that eliminates a huge barrier to entry. You can use our app, verify yourself, make a date, pay in cash. The anonymity part applies to the core team and servers so we can continue to operate the platform. We have strong privacy guarantees for workers, unlike Eros.com/Backpage/etc. (For instance, we watermark each picture with the viewing client's ID, so if they leak or repost photos, we know who to ban.) Our gateway-to-Tor approach lets users access it without using Tor directly. (In the Android app, we will bootstrap connectivity so we don't rely on a domain as a SPOF.) [1] Talk to sex workers: We offer real solutions to real problems. We aren't just some nerds in a basement thinking blockchain and code can solve any problems. 1: https://medium.com/@PinkApp/pink-app-trading-latency-for-anonymity-and-other-techniques-815ee21c6da4 https://medium.com/@PinkApp/pink-app-trading-latency-for-ano... (Original title was about latency for anonymity tradeoff, but we changed it to mention how Silk Road would still be online for the clicks.)

the_stc 9y ago

The LE issues I meant that Uber had a blacklist for LE agents using Uber. They actively prevented LE from using the service. This is one of our core features.