Action against website offering prostitution

THE IE Domain Registry (IEDR) has initiated action against a website for actively promoting prostitution.

The website, www.escortireland.ie, advertises 44 women offering sexual services for fees of up to €350 per hour.

The website is registered to a Larry Murphy who is described as a “sole trader”. It advertises one escort agency, Cork Dream Girls agency.

The website does not list sexual services explicitly. It puts the common disclaimer paragraph on its pages: “Money exchanged for legal adult services is for time and companionship. Anything implied or inferred on this website is not to be taken as inducement for services other than this. Any sexual activities that take place are between consenting adults.”

However, there is little doubt of the women’s intentions, especially given the nude or nearly nude photos of all of those listed.

The advertisement of prostitution in this country is illegal. However, many prostitutes, pimps and brothel owners dodge that law by hosting websites outside the state, more than likely on the dotcom domains. That is because the offering of the services in an agency is not illegal in the likes of Britain.

Prostitution services do not appear on dotie domains normally because the person registering the site must give a company name in order to register.

In the case of www.escortireland.ie, IEDR said the name of the website in itself was not illegal and so it permitted the domain to be used. However, it said that when the content of the website was brought to its attention last Friday, it began to review the situation. It said that, while it did not have any say over the content, it could refer the situation to the gardaí who would then decide whether IEDR could remove the website from the domain.

A number of other .ie domain names linked to prostitution services have been snapped up by individuals, including a man suspected of being heavily involved in the prostitution industry. However, to date those websites have not been updated with content so they cannot be brought to the attention of gardaí.