Headlines today are proclaiming "Amsterdam closes nearly one third of prostitution windows". Well, they will on January 1, but the usual crap news agencies aren't too concerned about accuracy, as usual.

Today  Mayor Job (Nobsack) Cohen says 33 licenses will be withdrawn or not renewed, affecting nearly one-third of the 350 prostitution "windows" in the city's famed red light district.

The city said a 2003 law allowed it to deny or revoke brothels' licenses when it suspected operators would use them for money laundering or other illegal financial activity, "which in concrete terms means that those involved won't be able to continue their businesses" after Jan. 1, the city said in a statement. "Suspicion" is all that is needed, and this is a disgrace.

"We're not knights on a morality crusade, and this is intended to target financial crime, not prostitution per se," said city spokesman Martien Maten. "But we do think this will change the face of the red light district."

An Amsterdam spokesman stressed the fact that although these brothels would be closed down, it does not mean the city would not allow new sex businesses with other owners to set up in their place.

Many of the brothel owners say the financial screening is unfair, because banks and reputable accountants are often unwilling to work with them, making it difficult to keep correct books.

"This is a war between the city and the real estate bosses, and it's the women who are suffering," said Metje Blaak, spokeswoman for De Rode Draad, a labor union for prostitutes.

She said she feared many of the affected prostitutes would end up working on the street, which is more dangerous and where it is more difficult to halt the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

But city spokesman Maten said that business in the area has been in a slump and he suspected that many of the prostitutes affected — around 300, given that the 105 windows that will be shut are often occupied in shifts — will find work at the remaining legal brothels.

A number of brothels are still under review, and Amsterdam said in a statement it plans to extend the crackdown next year to related hotels and cafes suspected of money laundering.

Blaak said she hoped in the future the city would set up a more transparent commission to decide when brothel closures were merited, rather than putting prostitutes at the whim of politicians.

"You'll never get rid of prostitution anyway, so you might as well control it as best you can," she said.