The adult industry, which includes Professional Domination, is aghast at the passing of the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act. In most people’s opinion, it will do little to stop the “human trafficking” which was how it was sold to the public, but will instead force the sex industry (including the traffickers and pedos) farther underground and make everyone less safe. It also blows a giant hole in our internet freedoms but few are actually talking about that. The bottom line is the new law will hold website owners, hosting companies, social media sites, etc. responsible for the content of their users. If a provider posts a tweet on Twitter that says she will be available for sessions in Washington, DC, (and if those sessions are deemed illegal) technically Twitter would be breaking the law and Twitter would be held accountable. But what does it really mean to Us as Dommes and you as a client?
We are a long way from knowing what the fallout from this will be. As many have said, it will really be up to the courts. The first test case will set the precedent. The DOJ has already said they don’t have time to police this and many believe that the judiciary will see this as overreach. We shall see.
I am not a political creature and have no expertise in these matters but my guess is they will go after the “low hanging fruit” first. Sites like The Erotic Review would be far easier to prosecute than say Max Fisch. TER caters primarily to escorts and illegal activity (illegal in the US, but they are based in Canada where providing sexual services is not illegal) is openly talked about there. I know TER has taken their US forums down, but what about the profiles and reviews of US providers? Profiles contain information like “rimming allowed” and “cum in mouth”. They may self-regulate this too by taking all US provider profiles down. As long as those profiles and reviews are up, they will be a big potential target. It will be interesting to watch.
Eros Guide is another big question mark. After the raid on their call offices in North Carolina, they notified advertisers saying that they were based in Switzerland and that all our information was safe. It will be interesting to see how non-US based companies like TER and Eros Guide will be treated. Any of the websites that mix escort/GFE services with BDSM are likely to be gone for us going forward – either by self-censorship or heavy enforcement of this new law. Personally, I have never liked being on a site that mixes the two but we don’t always have a choice if we want to advertise effectively. I would much prefer being exclusively on sites like Dickie Virgin that cater solely to BDSM. I may get my wish.
What’s really sad for me to see is all the self-censorship this is already causing. People are so afraid that they are policing themselves before the law has been tested. We are letting them win. Until there is a test case, I am not doing anything.
Obviously, those of us that are established in the business will feel any fall out less than newer providers or those trying to get started out in the business. When the BDSM/fetish portion of Backpage when down, I didn’t feel anything. If anything, I think it cleaned up the business a bit. But I am not a new Domme trying to get my name out. I am well indexed and easy to find. If sites like MF, the Buzz and Dickie Virgin bite the dust, it will be very hard for a new provider to get her name out there. I feel their pain.
Regardless, I think it’s highly doubtful they will choose to go after BDSM anytime soon. We should all stick to best business practices on our own websites and social media. We know what that is, we just don’t always adhere to it.
What should you do?
As a ProDomme, you need to get your name out everywhere now because you don’t know what, if any, sites will be going down. Do not rely on one advertising source. Make sure your website is search engine friendly and take steps to get it indexed properly. If you have a free site like Weebly or a WordPress blog, replace it. Those companies already have rules against adult content and will be sure to enforce it fully now. Back up your website and at a minimum copy all the wording in the event you have to rebuild it. It’s also a good idea to start researching non-US based hosting companies. Start using encrypted email and encourage your clients to do the same. Use “best practices” on social media, like marking sensitive content. You should have been doing this anyway and the first to have their accounts shut down will likely be the ones that have not used best practices. Allow clients to subscribe to your email list and back that list up often if it is kept at a third party vendor like icontact. These are all things that savvy, business headed ProDommes are already doing anyway. That’s why they will be hurt less by any fallout.
As a client, you should start saving the contact information of providers that are important to you. Websites, social media accounts, etc. may start to disappear. If they have an email mailing list, subscribe to it. Replace your “sub-persona” email account with encrypted email. I’ve been using private, encrypted email (Luxsci.com) for a while now because I’ve never liked the idea of data mining. However it’s only good if it’s used on both ends – meaning if I send an email to a gmail account, it loses its secure feature once it lands in your gmail account. Many people are converting to ProtonMail.com, a free (for now) provider based in Switzerland that claims to be encrypted and does not share or scrape your account for marketing purposes. ProtonMail to My account would therefore be encrypted and secure.
So in summary, I am not panicking and I don’t think anyone else should either. However, it is good to be prepared. I think it is sad to see this potential loss of freedom, but as a nation, we brought this on ourselves by being asleep at the wheel and trading liberty and freedom for security. Sleep tight America.
Want a simple primer to get up to speed on what FOSTA is all about? Here is a pretty cut to the chase on:
https://www.thecut.com/2018/03/sesta-anti-sex-trafficking-bill-fosta.html
Yes, you may! Sometimes prospective subs want a face to face meeting prior to sessioning. I understand that. It prevents you scheduling a session with someone that turns out to look nothing like their photos. It can help you establish if you have chemistry and are compatible. It can also help a new sub get his nerve up to actually serve in session.
Some of you know that I consider Myself a “Green Domme”. I drive a hybrid, do My due diligence to respect and conserve the world’s limited resources and I am a big believer in recycling – everything possible. That means more than glass, plastic, metal and paper. I donate unused items to Goodwill, do clothing swaps with friends and of course I often make subs recycle their own cum . . . but that’s another story.
Bow your heads down where they belong