I have no idea what the laws are in the various US states, but up here in Ontario prostitution is perfectly legal. I'm shaky on this, but I believe that the cha

I have no idea what the laws are in the various US states, but up here in Ontario prostitution is perfectly legal. I'm shaky on this, but I believe that the chauvinist porker argument used to be that the law is unable to distinguish a prostitute from a mistress. While the act of exchanging services for compensation is legal in Ontario, there are laws that criminalize various aspects of running a prostitution business: Solicitation, living off the avails of prostitution, keeping a common bawdy house, and so forth. We have our own similar debate: Various printed "free" papers include big sections of erotic services classifieds, and there has been much argument as to whether the laws against solicitation really apply to advertising. One argument is that the laws against solicitation were written up to prevent streetwalking, and classifieds help take prostitutes off the street, so they are actually a public good. Again, this is my understanding of the situation in Ontario, and I present the argument in favour of classifieds purely for the sake of promoting discussion.