Law enforcement wins and charity loses in Wednesday’s announcement that Craigslist is taking the “erotic services” section of its online classified ads out of service, ending what lawmakers and attorneys general of several states have characterized as one of the largest sex-for-hire operations in the world.
In an almost petulant statement issued by the wildly popular, and mostly free, internet advertising marketplace, Craigslist said it will immediately stop accepting new ads for “erotic services” and eliminate the category in seven days.
“Also effective today for all U.S. sites,” the statement continued, “a new category entitled ‘adult services’ will be opened for postings by legal adult service providers. Each posting to this new category will be manually reviewed before appearing on the site, to ensure compliance with Craigslist posting guidelines and terms of use. New postings will cost $10, but once approved, will be eligible for reposting at $5.”
Craig Newmark
The statement did not include a definition of “legal adult service providers,” but did note that with the closing of its “erotic services” category, charities will lose:
“Our announced intention to contribute 100 percent of net revenues for the ‘erotic services’ category to charity has been fulfilled, and will continue to be fulfilled, notwithstanding criticism questioning our good faith in this regard. However, in light of today’s changes, and to avoid any future misunderstanding, we are making no representation regarding how revenue from the ‘adult services’ category will be used.”
The months-long controversy over sex-for-hire ads on Craigslist got hotter when it was reported that medical student Philip Markoff allegedly murdered one Boston-area woman and robbed two others after hooking up with them through Craigslist classifieds. He was immediately dubbed “The Craigslist Killer” in media coverage.
Cook County (IL) Sheriff Tom Dart filed a lawsuit several weeks ago, charging that Craigslist knowingly accepted sex-for-pay ads, making it the “largest source of prostitution in America.”
Attorneys general Lisa Madigan of Illinois, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, and Chris Koster of Missouri sat down with Craigslist officials last week to discuss their objections to the sex-services ads.
In issuing its statement, the company thanked them for providing “valuable constructive criticism.”
For his part, Blumenthal said, “We’re very encouraged that Craigslist is doing the right thing in eliminating its online red-light district with prostitution and pornography in plain sight.
“We’ll be watching and investigating critically to make sure this measure is more than just a name change.”
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1 Comments
#1. janiceenberg 06.15.2009
A warm greeting to everybody! Hello to all,i am a new member of this forum and hope to have a good experience here
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