Attorneys General Want Craigslist Clean-Up

CBS Evening News: States Want Removal Of Site's Erotic Services Section

(CBS)  In a closed meeting in a Manhattan office building, three attorneys general, and representatives from six other states, pressed lawyers from Craigslist to permanently remove the site's erotic services section.

Leading the charge was Connecticut's top prosecutor, Richard Blumenthal, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace,.

"No question, absolutely none, that Craigslist is operating an online brothel here," Blumenthal said. "We're going after them to persuade them they ought to do the right thing, cooperate and eliminate the ads."

South Carolina's Attorney General Henry McMaster went further - remove all prostitution ads and pornography or Craigslist executives themselves will be prosecuted.

"It is nothing but filth," McMaster said. "It is advertisement for prostitution, it is ugly, it is harmful."

Can Craigslist be held criminally liable or sued for having illegal ads on its site? Not under current federal law, which grants immunity to sites like Craigslist for posting content it didn't create.

"Congress' rationale, which I think was a good one, that we want to not make illegal content legal or somehow inexcusable but place the onus on the people who are behaving badly in the first place," said Matt Zimmerman, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The pressure on the classified online ad site, which gets 30 million postings a month, has grown in recent weeks after medical student Philip Markoff was accused of robbing two women, and killing another, all of whom he met on Craigslist, and a New York radio reporter was killed by a teenager who allegedly responded to a Craigslist advertisement.

In a statement, Craigslist's CEO Jim Buckmaster said Tuesday's meeting was productive and added, "We're optimistic that our shared concerns can be addressed … without compromising the quintessentially American values of free speech embodied in our constitution."

In November, Craigslist, at the urging of the states attorneys general, agreed to begin requiring a working phone number, a credit card and a $5 fee for anyone using the erotic services section.

Blumenthal said the action hasn't gone far enough, and said that if Craigslist doesn't respond positively in days, not months, the states' prosecutors will consider trying to change the law, or finding another route to legal action against the site.

[CraigBerkeley]

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See what Gun Controller California and a lying California attorney, Gun Controller Steven T. Schoonover, and flip flopper James K. Olson did here to a Nevada citizen?s right to have a gun to protect herself after James K. Olson had broken into this Nevada citizen?s home! Gun Controllers Among Us, Marin County California Courts

Most liberal Gun Controller Marin County California has repeatedly thumbed their nose at the US Constitution, then imposed their illegal Gun Controller actions onto a Nevada citizen. What's next?

Lying California attorney, Steven T. Schoonover had the Nevada citizen served at 7:30 Thursday evening in Nevada for a 9 am the following Monday court in California and the California incompetent Gun Controller judge allowed that 1 day notice although illegal as have to be served more than 10 days before a hearing and furthermore it was to a Nevada citizen!

Three strikes you?re out lying California attorney, Gun Controller Steven T. Schoonover

http://reno.broowaha.com/article.php?id=3749
http://www.babelation.com/?q=node/1833
http://reno.broowaha.com/article.php?id=3630

[culturechang]

Looks like they got it. They will censor Craigslist. What a joke. Isn't this the same AG who could not get the former governor removed after he was arrested and charged by the FBI. i guess she finally succeeded at something. She really looks like a loser now.

[ayatoldya]

Here is big brother attorney general. Color him bully black. He has no laws to support his strong arm thug tactics, but threatens his subjects with excruciating corporate torture should they not cooperate.

Here is make the world a better place Craigslist. Color him psychedelic with flowers. What has big brother been doing to anyone nonconforming for decades? Refer to the non-violent protest films and pay attention to the violence of the police officers.

How is it that some government types do business above the law and get scott free away with it?

[Oregon_State_OSU]

Attorneys General Want Craigslist Clean-Up


I want a FOX News Clean Up !

[TrickynWV]

mariahwelch needs some psychiatric help. That person likes to compare someone who does not agree with their puritanical views at a pervert. They like to resort to childish name calling and babbling illogical nonsense dragging in child molesting into this issue of consenting adults advertising a service (the oldest profession) on Craigslist. mariahwelch this article isn't about child molesting. Please have your third grade teacher review it with you. Now, if you think consensul sex with 2 adults if perverted, then sobeit. But keep that opinion to yourself, because you are sadly wrong, and your puritanical brain-washing is showing through, making you look really silly.
mariahwelch, take my advice: shut up. Your comments just show everyone how moronic you really are.

[presjfk]

And Craigslist users should look out for themselves--and not have Big Government holding their hands.
Posted by Hermit1948

Exactly! But the truth is they don't give a damn about the public. This is about power and influence. The AG's are wrapping themselves up in the flag and fighting a legal but very successful business under the false pretense of consumer protection. its crap, its a lie and it is none of their damn business.

NJ has corruption at ridiculous levels, local and state - and where is our AG on this and other real issues? Real issue take work! Fighting craigslist is cake and puts them in the spotlight. These bureaucrats wrap themselves up in the flag and in the name of consumer protection when it is about misdirection and power.

[presjfk]

The AG's should clean up the messes in their states starting with the politicians and the corruption and stop worrying about craigslist. Friggin bureaucrats.

[DefendLiberty]

What an f'ing waste of time and resources. This is nothing more that the AG's making political hay. I guess THEY get their hookers through more conventional means- kind of like Spitzer.

The MEDIA pushes this story for their own reasons.

Craigslist has been sucking ad revenue from the mainstream media. It offers FREE or low cost advertising that replaces CLASSIFIED ADS. The media conglomerates are LOSING MONEY because Craigslist is providing an affordable alternative to the MONOPOLY that the newspapers (owned by the big media companies) have enjoyed.

There is nothing that the mainstream media would love better than KILLING CRAIGSLIST so they can get you to pay $100 a day for an ad that you can place on Craigslist for almost nothing (not to mention the IMMEDIACY of Craigslist ads).

There IS a reason the media is trying to tie Craigslist to MURDER and PROSTITUTION. it's GREED.

[ubrew12]

These AG's must realize that we're about the legalize pot, and they won't have that easy avenue of locking up innocent people to appear 'tough on crime'. So, its back to the prostitution, I guess.

[prettylady101]

government is always so busy trying to protect us from ourselves...please, please just leave us alone....seriously it's a stupid website. concentrate your elected powers on something we care about.

[Hermit1948]

"In a closed meeting in a Manhattan office building, three attorneys general, and representatives from six other states, pressed lawyers from Craigslist to permanently remove the site's erotic services section. "

These people need to look into other, more important issues.

And Craigslist users should look out for themselves--and not have Big Government holding their hands.

[hologram5]

This is outlandish, it is a victimless crime. Legalize prostitution and all these problems will go away. Look at Amsterdam, it is legal there and the percentage of sex crimes is lower than any other country in the world. People won't sell themselves on the black market if it is legal. Then punish those that break the law.

[1kwb]

Can some of you people not read?
You are blaming the Obama Administration for this crackdown on Craiglist despite the fact that the article very clearly refers to "States Attorneys General" as leading the charge on this issue. The Department of Justice and, by extension the federal government, are not mentioned here nor are they involved.
Get your facts straight before you criticize or you'll be lumped in with all of the other whining & complaining B.R's. i.e. Bitter Republicants.

[aka_KJB]

++Did you ever notice that Obama's attacks on computers and the internet are increasing? The socialists will do anything to stifle opposition.++

Last I looked, Obama had nothing to do with the Craigslist case. These are STATE AG's, not Federal. If you're going to be a paranoid wingnut then at least point your paranoia in the right direction. The ONLY reason this is going on is because you have some AG's that want to attach their names to a high profile case so they can use it in their campaigns later. Missouri? The guy wasn't within 1500 MILES of Missouri!

All that will be accomplished by making Craigslist remove the erotic ads is provide an opening in the market for someone else to do the very same thing. Hmm... sounds like a good idea, now that I think of it. Okay, you guys go ahead and shutdown the Craigslist erotic ads - I've got to go lease some server space for, um, a "Hello Kitty" website. Yeah, that's it.

[egghead48]

Do you all noticed the players in all this scenero. They are all white....... If the victims were black you wouldn't have heard anything from these prosecutors about changing laws and prosecuting anyone. Secondly, why are they concentrating on Craighlist when you can find the same thing all over the internet? I am not a person that support this kind of stuff, but I think each and everyone who dare to enter those sites should be responsible enough to know what they are doing. I think if we should go after Craiglist, lets get all the other sites that advertises the same thing. PEACE

[didserve]

If this happens where will the congress find its action?

[stychokiller]

"I'm not religious or puritanical and I say Shut it down. This is not a case of free speech because it involves serious harm to many people. Predators, criminals, and now murderers have been shown to use the site. I'm certain many, many victims have not reported violence against them over the years. Only perverts like Trick in WV and the sad and pathetic drug addicts who offer themselves for sale will be the only ones defending it. And use words like "puritanical" to change the subject. I suppose those of us who work against crimes against children are puritanical as well, in your book?"

Sooo, are we to censor newspapers that carry such ads as well, or is this just a case of the crime-du-jour being reported on a slow news day? If prostitution were to be legalized, a lot of crime, especially victim-less crimes, i.e. prostitution, would go away. Keeping Prostitution illegal is a Christian morality position and has NEVER made anyone more moral. If you want the world to be a more moral place, concentrate on saving your own soul first and set a good example, instead of forcing moral beliefs on others.

[mariahwelch]

budmag06, what does protest against Craig's List "erotic services" site have to do with socialism? Unless you are a capitalist pimp for the sad wretches on CraigsList, you are making no sense.

[budmag06]

Did you ever notice that Obama's attacks on computers and the internet are increasing? The socialists will do anything to stifle opposition.

[mariahwelch]

I'm not religious or puritanical and I say Shut it down. This is not a case of free speech because it involves serious harm to many people. Predators, criminals, and now murderers have been shown to use the site. I'm certain many, many victims have not reported violence against them over the years. Only perverts like Trick in WV and the sad and pathetic drug addicts who offer themselves for sale will be the only ones defending it. And use words like "puritanical" to change the subject. I suppose those of us who work against crimes against children are puritanical as well, in your book?