Craigslist Ordered to Clean Up

• By theWHIR.com , March 28, 2008

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March 28, 2008 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Connecticut's attorney general has ordered online classifieds community site Craigslist (craigslist.org) to heighten its screening process for posting ads, following this month's arrest of a Connecticut woman who allegedly advertised prostitution services on the site, according to reports on Information Week (informationweek.com).

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal on Thursday sent a letter to Barry Reingold, Craigslist's lawyer, demanding that the community-driven site clean up its act.

"I am astonished and appalled by Craigslist's refusal to recognize the reality of prostitution on its website -- despite advertisements containing graphic photographs and hourly rates, and widespread public reports of prostitutes using the site," Blumenthal wrote.

Blumenthal says the issue extends beyond the borders of Connecticut. Five people were arrested Tuesday evening in Aurora, Illinois for alleged drug possession and prostitution. The Chicago Sun-Times reports that the prostitutes advertised on Craigslist.

Blumenthal says that the online classifieds site is ignoring this "serious and growing problem" by not hiring people to screen postings for graphic nudity or solicitations with hourly rates.

"The company effectively denies the undeniable, incomprehensibly and unacceptably," Blumenthal said. "Although Craigslist touts measures to ban illegal activities and limit or remove inappropriate postings in its erotic services section, a cursory review of this section shows that its supposed solutions are woefully and obviously inadequate."

The site's erotic postings are not just found in the erotic services section either. A brief look through the "therapeutic services" section on sfbay.craigslist.org reveals a number of posts soliciticing sexual acts.

Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster told Information Week that it introduced this month new strict screening procedures regarding erotic service ads, which he says has improved compliance with our terms of use and reduced the volume of such ads by up to 80 percent."

He says that Blumenthal's office knows about these improvements and that he is upset that Blumenthal has not acknowledged the site's "tremendous progress." Buckmaster also adds that illegal use of Craigslist is not a wise idea considering that any information posted is recorded on the site's databases and Craigslist staff regularly works with law enforcement.

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