In a bow to pressure from Attorneys General in several states, Craigslist is eliminating their erotic services ads from its website.

http://www.nytimes.com/20...technology

The AG's have accused Craigslist of fronting for prostitution, and in the wake of the murder of several escorts and prostitutes due to a serial killer who picked out his victims through Craigslist ads, Craigslist has come under fire and was about to be sued by several states. They are replacing the erotic services category with an adult services category which will require paid posts and will be monitored by people at Craigslist itself.

What's next? Will they shut down MySpace or Facebook because some rapist found its victims there? Will they shut down Twitter for the same reason?

So what? Better safe than sorry. Someone's need for a hookup does not trump a human being's life.

Besides, how low do you have to go to resort to Craigslist for nookie anyway?

I think it's not just the murder but the fact that it's the biggest source for prostitution in America.

Like it or not, prostitution is still illegal in most states.

well, no need to spend money on an internet connection anymore.

NDRU said:

I think that's the key here. It was being used to promote illegal activity.

And let me say - I'm all for making prostitution legal so that it will be regulated and therefore safer! But this doesn't surprise me, nor bother me in any way.

CarrieMpls said:

Same here.

I'm for prostitution being legalized. It's safer for those who do sex work, and it's safer for their clients. But while it is illegal I'd rather not see it advertised so freely on things like Craigslist because really, that's just supporting illegal and dangerous activity, not to mention the exploitation of people.

This seems pretty stupid on at least a couple fronts...

First, I'm not arguing that it should or shouldn't be, but the exchange of sex for money isn't illegal in Nevada brothels. Nor is it illegal in private settings in Rhode Island. Similar provisions are seen in other parts of the world that Craigslist services. It'll be interesting to see if these changes are wholesale or regionally implemented. It's sort of unfair that Craigslist is being asked to be the watchdog for people who should know and abide themselves by their local laws. More generally, I'm no champion of the whole online sex scene, but I think it's a bit (overly) reactionary that free association is being curbed for everyone because some folk abuse it for illegal endeavor. College campuses are hotbeds of drug activity, date rape, etc., for example, but I see no pressure for them to close down.

At the same time, it doesn't seem that Craigslist is closing these services down at all. Rather, they're now making money from the fee's they'll charge to post these ads. This won't at all stop solicitations, and I can't imagine a $10 fee will really stop sex workers whose bread and butter is this sort of thing. They'll simply use less incriminating language on the site, and discuss specifics in private communications... like they do in countless other print and online classifieds.

Neither Craigslist nor the AGs pressuring them can stop this sort of thing.
[Edited 5/13/09 21:32pm]

Lammastide said:

they aren't closing down craigslist itself! but they do crack down on drinking & drugs on campus all the time



I do agree with you there. They seem to simply be renaming it & "monitoring" it ie charging money so that not everyone will so easily be able to see what's going on there
[Edited 5/13/09 17:32pm]

NDRU said:

What I meant was it seems Craigslist critics aren't calling for mere regulation of the Erotic Services pages, but rather a wholesale shutdown of them. Even with Craigslist's recent changes, they're unsatisfied. I understand their concern, but I think they're being simply unrealistic... and somewhat unreasonable.

Lammastide said:

Agreed. It's reactionary and kind of silly.

But how can you have business sex service soliciting ads in cities where business sex services solicitation is illegal?

i just hope it doesn't spill over into the hookup listings.

ufoclub said:

That's the catch. I can think of no cities (in the U.S. at least) where erotic services are altogether illegal. Escorting (with the pretense of no sex for pay) is fair game. Erotic massage is fair game. Nude dancing is fair game. Buying and selling adult, non-violent porn is fair game. Hiring actors or shopping yourself around to star in adult, non-violent porn is fair game. (...Though I'd imagine there are local regulations around some of these things.)

It's only prostitution that's flat-out illegal in most parts of the U.S. -- and it seems some are asking for the shutdown of the entire erotic services department of Craigslist based solely on these solicitations. That's nutty.

I suppose I see the sense in demanding the immediate removal of all explicit language suggesting the exchange of sex for money in jurisdictions where it is illegal. But I think it should end there.
[Edited 5/13/09 21:33pm]

errant said:

You mean that the hookers don't hop on over or that the hookup forums don't get shut down?
[Edited 5/13/09 19:24pm]

johnart said:

that the hookers don't hop on over obviously

errant said:

Nothing here is ever "obviously".

i admit it - i remember someone on this site saying they were "addicted" to looking at the "missed connections " area of craigslist .... so i had to look ...

and now i usually just peruse the whole damn craigslist site for about 10 min every day !!!! looking for free stuff ... lookin for jobs ... looking for erotic personals ... oops ... well maybe my time on craigslist will go down alil now ....

This doesn't change a thing.

JustErin said:

it doesnt

im certain there just as much money to be made by regulating it as there is by trying to lock either party up for it.

i was laughing at the local news going on craigslist and pretending to be a client. lol what was the point exactly?

to let all the people who didn't know, like old elderly men who dont know how to use a computer that they can get on the web and hire people for sex? So now people who generally wouldnt have a clue will now be susceptible to being charged with a crime for their curiosity?
Will the undercover officer turn him/herself for soliciting to a minor in when and minor who found out from the news decides to go on there out of curiosity.

They were insinuating on the local news that undercover officers go on there and solicit themselves as workers and clients and charge people with crimes that way.

Cuddles said:

So why aren't they doing this for all the ads like this in newspapers?

.....and desperate men cry bitter tears everywhere

That's okay. I always lookin in the free stuff anyway. Ya can't have enough free coffee tables and bricks, furniture and paneling.

JustErin said:

but i do know that politicians seem to be using it to advance there grounds with people who think that its just filthy and atrocious. when they need to stfu with their fake asses