There was once a website were you, as a buyer, were assured of having complete rights over the source code and the binary of an application for which you hired a developer. Also, the developer was assured the money for the application are in an escrow account once the project was awarded and he will be paid if he can deliver in time. This site was RentACoder, later renamed vWorker. There was no way for a coder to be able to keep the source code hostage until a 5 star review was given or for the buyer to delay the payment.
Today, vWorker doesn't exist anymore, it was bought by Freelancer. On Freelancer there is no guarantee that you will get your final product (as a buyer) or that you will be paid (as a coder). Actually, a buyer can post a project, pay you for an application, get the application and than request a charge back from the credit card company :). Freelancer has no inclination to protect the buyer or the coder.
It's been a while since I visited elance, but I think that's exactly how it is supposed to work. Freelancer.com is a weird experiment in gamification, feels like a scam from the start.
Today, vWorker doesn't exist anymore, it was bought by Freelancer. On Freelancer there is no guarantee that you will get your final product (as a buyer) or that you will be paid (as a coder). Actually, a buyer can post a project, pay you for an application, get the application and than request a charge back from the credit card company :). Freelancer has no inclination to protect the buyer or the coder.