A year after the CEO of classified ads internet site Backpage.com , Carl Ferrer , plead hangdog to federal charge and the site waspermanently shut down , the feds have turned their care to Backpage ’s successors .
Per a Sunday report in theWall Street Journal , U.S. federal agency including the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice are wait into whether three websites that make money off of accompaniment ads and user - generated prostitution reappraisal “ have hire in or knowingly enabled human trafficking , prostitution and money - laundering . ” The probe , focalize on massage parlour review site Rubmaps.ch , date critique site EroticMonkey.ch , and escort advertizing serve Eros.com , is also seek to determine the compass of their ties to David Azzato , a Swiss man of affairs convict in France in 2011 for hightail it a connection of escort website .
grant to the Journal , the three sites in interrogation were among those that most benefited from Backpage ’s remotion , which allowed them to surge to success :
Screenshot: Backpage.com
Among website in the underground commercial sex activity thriftiness in the U.S. , Eros.com was the most confab advertising platform in July , agree to an analysis of visitant data compiled by Alexa Internet Inc. Rubmaps and EroticMonkey were the two most visited reassessment sites that calendar month , according to ChildSafe.ai , which performed the analysis and provide data and other putz to facilitate natural law enforcement fighting sex trafficking .
“ All three of those websites do good substantially from the capture of Backpage , ” say Rob Spectre , ChildSafe.ai ’s founder and primary executive .
While Azzato has deny any current connection to the sites , source familiar with the investigating say the Journal the bureau trust that he is actively involved . Forensic comptroller Bassem Banafa , who attend authority in the Backpage sheath , recite the paper “ Critical parts of the intellectual belongings and payment and net infrastructure of these sites are linked to David Azzato . Based on this analysis , he is potential still the beneficial possessor of all three website . ”
The Journal found that Azzato ’s name appeared in readjustment data , email address , and corporate records tied to some of the land site in question , as well as that the .com versions of the Rubmaps and EroticMonkey sites appeared to have begin redirecting to .ch ( the top - stage domain for Switzerland ) versions after the Backpage squelch . A spokesman for Azzato exact that his name was fraudulently used as the contact for EroticMonkey .
A law that took impression after prosecutors destroy Backpage , FOSTA - SESTA , modified immunity for sites thatfacilitate sex trafficking , and drive some operator to move their clientele outside the U.S. Per the Journal , authorities can still essay to seize technology supplier accounts consort with such site or attempt to lodge owners with violations of U.S. law .
Critics of FOSTA - SESTA , say that it has been ineffective athalting or even slowing downthe on-line sex swop , and that driving it further underground has hampered both police oeuvre and put sex worker in danger . Last month , libertarian situation Reasonposted 2012 memosfrom federal prosecuting attorney that look to show that Backpage was actively engaged in fighting underage whoredom on its platform , as well as that it was highly communicatory with legal philosophy enforcement and aid police force in investigations .
[ Wall Street Journal ]
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