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BBC Uses Skype Links In Murder Hunt

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the free-and-anonymous dept.

Nico M writes "The highly publicized UK murder hunt for the serial killer(s) of five young sex workers in Suffolk is using Skype to ask the public for information. BBC News is embedding freephone Skype links to both the police incident room and Crimestoppers UK. Is this the first time Skype has been used in this way?"

18 of 193 comments (clear)

  1. Why yes... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 2, Informative

    Why yes it is. Becoming more and more prevalent as a recognition that there are apparently a lot of people that willingly choose that trade. Look in the back of your local "alternative" weekly, and you'll find many many ads for "sex workers" willing to assist in your every kink. And, of course, not all prostitutes are "sex workers". For example the average CEO...

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  2. Re:sex workers? by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's in Wikipedia, so it must be so! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_worker

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  3. This is probably a really bad idea by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Informative

    This is probably not a good idea, because there is no anonymity with Skype. It is trivial to log the IP address of anyone calling. At least with a normal phone number, you can just use a public payphone and there is no real chance of being identified.

    Anonymity is really important, especially if they want other sex workers to contact them. After all the recent "crack-downs" and "zero tolerance" policies, not to mention the bad reputation the police have, is it any wonder that prostitutes dont want to talk to them?

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    1. Re:This is probably a really bad idea by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · · Score: 5, Informative

      This is probably not a good idea, because there is no anonymity with Skype

      1) They have a normal number in addition to the skype links.
      2) You can anonymously use skype from an internet cafe (most have it installed, with mic + headphones these days)
      3) Its for convenience sake, so someone who doesn't think it's worth calling (for the little thing they remember seeing walking past) will just click on the link when reading a story.

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  4. Re:Sex workers? by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Sex worker, is that the PC term for prostitute?

    I am amazed that so few slashdotters (reading the first 10 posts or so) are unfamiliar with that term. (Do you all live under rocks or something?)

    Its basically a superset of prostitute - including people in the industry who don't actually fuck for money, ie strip dancers, porn stars, topless waiters, dominatrixes (sp?) etc.

    Nothing PC about it.

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  5. Re:Sex workers? by Marbleless · · Score: 2, Informative

    > I am amazed that so few slashdotters (reading the first 10 posts or so) are unfamiliar with that term. (Do you all live under rocks or something?)

    They may not live under rocks, but it would be interesting to know where they do live.

    Here in Australia, 'sex worker' is a fairly common pseudonym for prostitute.

    > Nothing PC about it.

    An ironic comment from someone with a web address of http://whineymacfanboy.googlepages.com/ !

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  6. Re:i cant see them by Geoffreyerffoeg · · Score: 3, Informative

    Same here. No Skype links for me, with Safari and the near-latest Mac version.

  7. Re:sex workers? by fabs64 · · Score: 2, Informative

    You're aware that "whore" "prostitute" and "escort" all have other literal and colloquial meanings? Also the aforementioned words fail to include strippers etc.

  8. Re:Sex workers? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 3, Informative
    Seriously? Illegal? (not just regulated?)

    Yeah, illegal, except for "rural" Nevada. Enforced to various degrees depending on where you are, and there are always loopholes for people setting up brothels ("it's a massage parlor, dammit!"). As to why - probably due to religious taboos to a large extent. After all, the USA *was* founded by Puritans.

    I hate to say it, but better illegal than legal *and* legally recognized by the State as a "normal" profession like in Germany. There was the recent case of an unemployed lady there who was refused continuing unemployment benefits because she didn't take a job as a "sex worker." (Cite: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/ne ws/2005/01/30/wgerm30.xml ) I'd be ok if it were legal for the purpose of harm reduction but not overtly encouraged by the State.

    -b.

  9. Re:Sex workers? by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2, Informative
    That seems like a much better argument for "legal but voluntary" than "illegal". The police in the US must waste so much time trying to stamp out something that is never, ever going to go away.

    Agreed about the "legal but voluntary" part. As far as US police, I don't think that they try *that* hard. They may run an occasional sting operation in some cities to look like they're doing something or if the residents of the neighborhood complain, but the law isn't enforced all that severely.

    -b.

  10. Re:Sex workers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    That is not what happened.

    http://www.snopes.com/media/notnews/brothel.asp

  11. Re:Sex workers? by 1u3hr · · Score: 5, Informative
    I hate to say it, but better illegal than legal *and* legally recognized by the State as a "normal" profession like in Germany. There was the recent case of an unemployed lady there who was refused continuing unemployment benefits

    Note there are no names or dates in that stpory. It's an urban legend. Never happened. http://www.snopes.com/media/notnews/brothel.asp

    ...a story was sensationalized for political purposes and passed from one news source to the next, and somewhere in the rewriting and translating process what was originally discussed as a mere hypothetical possibility has now been reported as a factual occurrence.
  12. There are NO SKYPE LINKS in TFA by 1u3hr · · Score: 4, Informative
    Anyone with information that would help Ipswich detectives is urged to contact the incident room on 0800 096 1011 or speak to Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.

    Which idiot wrote the headline without even looking at TFA?

    1. Re:There are NO SKYPE LINKS in TFA by jasoncart · · Score: 4, Informative

      Looks like the submitter has this installed, which turns the phone numbers into Skype links. This toolbar was distributed with the latest version of Skype.

  13. Story is false by Geoffreyerffoeg · · Score: 4, Informative

    (I posted this further down as a reply to an anon comment, so it got buried.)

    Guys, this story is false. I see no Skype links. Do you see any Skype links?

  14. Re:Slashdot's most offensive moments by TheRaven64 · · Score: 2, Informative
    You seem to be reading a different /. to me. The first 60% of comments were on the how tasteless and dehumanising it was to tag the article deadhookers. Most of those defending it were mod'ed below my threshold. The next few posts were pointing out that the idiot submitter just had a toolbar installed which turned all 'phone numbers into Skype links, and that the 'editors' should have spotted this. Then I got to your post.

    Oh, and for the record, I tagged this article 'deadpeople' and (since this is slashdot) 'iseedeadpeople.'

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  15. Re:Slashdot's most offensive moments by gjuk · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's a very fair point that, depending on your threshold you see a different /. ...

  16. Murderers MySpace Profile! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    The murderers myspace profile is here. Found it after reading this article