Kudos to the Chicago Tribune this morning for printing a story that poses the very same question I ask myself every time I hear about legal action taken against sex workers. And that is, ‘Why is this illegal?’.

Read the story: The other prostitution scandal….

On another note, I have temporarily removed my portfolio due to unwanted attention from the media relating to the Spitzer scandal. Apparently they were trying to discover if someone I designed a website for was the very same ‘Kristen’ as indicated in that story.

As they’ve now identified this woman and posted photos, I can say outright that she is not one of my design clients. However, because I’m still being contacted with general questions about the industry, I have taken down my portfolio to prevent my design clients from being harassed with similar-minded questions about their chosen profession.

Also, to avoid confusion as to what I do, I would like to state for the record that I provide web design and hosting services to escorts. I think the media and public has forgotten (or chooses to ignore) that escorting is a perfectly legal and legitimate business. Whether or not a companion conducts her business within the legal parameters of the profession is irrelevant in terms of the website dynamic itself. It is a choice she must make and not one I have any participation, knowledge or interest in.

If a companion I host were to be prosecuted for prostitution, I would be forced to remove her website from my server. Not because I personally believe she has done anything wrong or that it is the right thing to do, but because I could be held liable for knowingly assisting a business indulging in illicit activities.

However, until that is proven to be the case, every woman I host or design a website for is an escort. I will not tolerate or respond to emails and blog comments that imply otherwise. I will not discuss, expose or share information about any of my clients. These women already have to deal with enough ignorance and judgement from society. Let them conduct their business in peace.

Just a heads up that beginning January 1st 2008, my services and fees will be changing as follows:

Web Design Services:

• Standard fee will increase from $750 to $800
• Secure SSL Form Processing will now be available to everyone at no additional cost
• Hosting is now provided on a private, dedicated server owned by Veda Designs
• VedaCMS, which allows companions to update text, photos and maintain a simple availability calendar has been completely rewritten and unified into one secure location.
• Everything else that was previously included

Hosting Renewal Fees*

• 1 Year Renewal: $120
• 6 Month Renwal: $90 (previously unavailable)
• Month-to-Month: $20 (previously unavailable)

* Existing Veda clients that have paid for the next year of hosting will not need to worry about the new hosting fees until their next renewal term.

My general policy until now has been to have the first working draft of a new website ready within one week from when I’m sent all of the project data. However, because the new baby is more active and mobile now…I’m finding that I have less time for uninterrupted work throughout the day and recent projects are taking about a week longer than they once did.

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Just a heads up that I will be migrating this website to a new server tonight. Depending on how long it takes for the server admins to reinstall my SSL certificate, my site may be down throughout the night.

Taking advantage of the holiday weekend, I’ve decided to finally launch my new site design, which was in passive development for the last two months. I’ve been wanting to do a web 2.0 look for quite some time (bigger fonts, soothing colors, lots of whitespace etc) - and am happy with the result. It’s different than my typical companion designs - but I’m aiming for usability with this site.

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