Prospector

Prepaid Porn

New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com
Porn sting
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By TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2005

Prepaid cards that unlock one of the raunchiest X-rated sites on the Internet are being peddled by bodegas and newsstands across the city - even to underage kids, the Daily News has learned.

The so-called PPP cards cost $5 to $50, and work similar to prepaid telephone cards.

Each one has a scratchoff number that buyers can use to cloak themselves in virtual anonymity when they log on to a Web site filled with hard-core pornography.

Since it's illegal to sell smut to minors, the cards are printed with an 18-and-over warning - but an investigation by The News revealed that some merchants are willing to sell them to youngsters.

PPP cards hit the city about four months ago, after entrepreneur Greg Moss, 33, of the Bronx, bought the exclusive U.S. rights from a Canadian company. They are already in about 20 city stores, usually displayed among an array of prepaid phone cards. Each features a scantily clad woman on the front.

The Internet is flooded with adult-only sites, but most of them require users to pay for access with a major credit card.

That sometimes leads to recurring charges, identity theft, unwanted popup ads for other sex sites - and uncomfortable questions from a significant other when the bill arrives.

The PPP card sidesteps those problems because it's purchased with cash and the scratchoff number is the only identification a user needs.

Moss plans to dramatically expand the rollout of the cards over the next few weeks, and then move into New Jersey, Miami and Atlanta in the coming months.

"Porn has always gotten a bad rap, but people enjoy it," he said. "As a world, we need to face the fact that sex is part of people's lives - and this is making it more secure and less worrisome."


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posted by Prospector @ 6:34 AM