SoTxBob said:
FifthElephant said:
As to passports solving everything -
In general, if the ID is fake, or in error, you are still liable as a porn site. It's just that the penalty may go down.
Absolutely .. As far as ID is concerned. its really fairly east to dummy one for just about anyone with simple photoshop skills for electronic transmittal.
I also agree that Leo/MFC needs to be more active as far as "studio monitoring" and verification process. It's not only Asians,. I know for a fact several Russian and Romanian studios that have a large hand full of house accounts they regularly assign to different girls. They can literally walk into the studio and be on cam within a few minutes instead of waiting on the verification process from MFC. That has also allowed the studio to not pay the girls after 2+ weeks on cam since she literally didnt exist other than in the screen caps and recorded privates she'd done.... MFC pays the studio and it goes straight into the bosses pocket.
I worked in passports for about 7 years here in Australia and yes, sometimes a chain of ID starts that is incorrect, but in a modern society that's pretty hard to do and requires accomplices at various stages. It's also a hefty penalty (up to 10 years prison/$250,000 fine for lying on a passport application) and each office has a fraud team that works with police and other govt agencies to find and prosecute people who attempt to falsely apply for passports.
To get a passport in Australia you need to get your full birth certificate, using whatever id BDM (births deaths and marriages) asks for, you need to submit a certified copy of it to the passport office - which means someone in a position of responsibility has sighted it and is certifying that it appears real. You must also appear in person at the passport office or at an authorised agent to conduct an interview where they'll check that you are in fact the same person who's submitted the application and photographs and that the documents match up and are original (document details will also be crosschecked with various departments later in the process). The submitted photos must have been signed and dated by someone who has known the person for a period of (if I remember correctly) no less than 3 years, who is not related to them by blood or marriage, who has a current Australian passport or is on the electoral roll, who guarantees that the person in the photograph is the person pictured.
The person signing (guarantor) will be spoken to by telephone after their number and address is confirmed via the electoral roll or their passport details, and they'll be asked how long they've known the person, and whether they signed these photographs, sometimes asked to give a verbal description of the person. They'll also be advised that making a false statement regarding a passport application is a federal crime, and the penalty (as above).
So now you've got a number of official documents, and personal certifications by a number of people who have everything to lose and probably nothing to gain by making false statements, presuming all this checks out - you can get a passport.
If the Phillipines passports cost what WickedTouch said...that's ridiculous lol. No wonder they can't make a decent, fraud-proof one. They still stick photographs on I believe and I've seen some country's passports are still black and white photos. We'd all gather round for a general "wtf" when they passed through the office.
Btw if you lose 3 Australian passports, you'll be investigated and may not be issued another, in addition to a hefty fee on top of the application. Which is non-refundable if the application is unsuccessful. It will cost $678 to apply for the 4th passport, and is at the discretion of the department as to whether it will be issued.