johntv.com: the channel you never want to appear on

A 'john' is a term for a prostitute's customer, so who do you suppose is the unwitting star of johntv.com? Let's hope it's not someone you know.

One sign that your house value is in peril is when hookers set up shop on your street corner. The ancillary crimes that spin off of the prostitution trade can send your house value plummeting quick as a Louisiana hurricane.

Brian Bates, an Oklahoma City AIDS/HIV counselor, grew fed up with the plague of illicit sex in his neighborhood and decided to confront it in a very 21st century way. Picking up his still and video cameras, he began to record the hookups, documenting the faces (and other physical attributes) of the 'johns' who buy the prostitute's services.

He then uses the Internet to share this traffic with the world. 72 of his videos have been posted to Youtube.com and on his own site, johntv.com. He also posts a rogue's gallery of mug shots and news stories on his site.

Bates has been threatened at gunpoint, and the threat of violence is certainly a reason I would strongly recommend against following his example. However, with the latest video surveillance cameras, almost impossible to spot if craftily placed, one should be able to carry out such surveillance undetected.

Certainly, the threat of public humiliation is a strong motivator, and Bates has shown how effective the uses of Internet tools can be in fighting this scourge.

And to think that, as I child, I dreamt of appearing on TV.

Warning: this video is intended for mature audiences