Friday, February 15, 2008

Prostitution, Internet-Style

According to Yahoo! news, a German woman who became pregnant from an online sex auction has successfully compelled the Website which hosted the auction to reveal the names of the winners. The German Court is described to have upheld the "right of the child to know its father" over any confidentiality agreement between the men and the Website operators. Conservatists everywhere may hail the judgment as a preservation of the family as a basic social institution, but I find it difficult to understand how the scandal of online sex auctions can be glazed over by a discussion of the binding character of contracts.

While prostitution may be legalized in some parts of the world, it remains a heavily regulated industry, where sex workers are guaranteed employee benefits including union representation. An online sex industry--particularly one which crosses over to actual personal interaction--can hardly be classified in the same manner. In fact, such transactions would be decidedly criminal within Philippine jurisdiction, even with the woman's consent. The fact that the sexual encounters were in the nature of a prize is all the more disturbing. Has communications technology progressed so far as to justify the blatant peddling of female flesh?

Please see:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080213/od_nm/germany_sex_dc;_ylt=Ao2GRNmCWx5wtuQFN.6yzXes0NUE

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