Take the prostitutes out of my Cracker, please

A bunch of wiley po-stitutes are outwitting a reputable and large media company and putting the company in breach of the law, writes a concerned Cracker reader.

Crikey

Aug 19, 2009

Fairfax Media owns www.cracker.com.au
It is a site that also has “dating” ads and prostitution ads
In Victoria, prostitutes must be licensed and hold a PCA Number
The advertising of prostitution services, by prostitutes is strictly controlled by the Act.
ALSO, the media has strict controls on how they allow prostitutes to advertise. For example, all ads must carry the PCA number and cannot have nude images.
See here.
Cracker is in breach of the Act by allowing illegal prostitutes (unlicensed) to advertise.
The Department Of Justice is investigating the matter because Fairfax has done nothing to change its activities even after being informed that it is in Breach of the Act.
The problem is that Cracker allows self posting of free ads. They are not checked before publication, which means Cracker becomes in breach of the Act by allowing Illegal Pros to advertise.
Fairfax says they remove offending ads, but that is ONLY after they have been published and therefore a breach has taken place.
Brian McCarthy has been informed of this.
Fairfax has “escalated” monitoring of the site — but has not changed the procedures whereby illegal ads can be published.
So when a breach occurs they remove the ad.
BUT … and here’s the rub (pun intended) that’s all OK when there is staff in the Fairfax offices.
Illegal Pros have worked out that they can post illegal ads after 5pm and the go live.
The ads are removed in the morning having stayed online overnight.
BUT … the smart Pros have also realised that they can post an ad after 5pm on a Friday night and they remain online for three days, presumably when all the action (read: business) is happening.
So what you have is all these hookers outwitting a reputable and large media company and putting the company in breach of the Law.
This has been going on for weeks and McCarthy is fully aware of it. Nothing is being done to change the way Cracker operates, so Fairfax keeps breaching the Law.
Fairfax’s management is incompetent.