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Craigslist CEO Responds to Calls for Curbing Erotic Services Ads

by Chad Mumm on April 23, 2009 at 06:28 PM



When Boston police arrested Philip Markoff on Monday, charging him with murdering a masseuse and robbing a prostitute at two separate Boston area hotels, the saga of the much-publicized "Craigslist Killer" came to an end. However, it looks like the trouble may just be getting worse for Craigslist, the site where Markoff allegedly found his victims. According to some of the latest reports, more officials are calling upon the online-classifieds site to take stricter action to combat illegal erotic postings on its pages.

Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster (pictured, above right, with founder Craig Newmark) says that Craigslist is not to blame, telling the Boston Globe that roughly one percent of the ads on Craigslist are in the 'erotic services' section. Regardless of the number, the company is protected by the 1996 Federal Communications Act, which absolves a company from liability for content it did not create. Still, Craigslist has been under fire a lot recently, even before the horrific Boston murder incident. Just last month, an Illinois sheriff sued the site, alleging that Craigslist promotes and facilitates prostitution. And yesterday, Connecticticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal sent a letter to Buckmaster asking it to shut down the erotic services ads.

Even competitors are getting in on the Craigslist bashing -- earlier this week, Greg Collier, owner of rival site Geebo, called out Craigslist and stated on Twitter that scams and prostitution will be the more-popular site's downfall.

We here at Switched happen to think that blaming Craigslist is a pretty terrible idea -- would people be so quick to blame a newspaper if a killer had found his victims in local classifieds there instead of online? If Craigslist begins imposing fines for illegal or suspicious posts, criminals will just find another venue for their posts, and the illegal acts will continue. Prostitution is the world's oldest profession for a reason; as long as people desire sex, it will continue to be a lucrative business. [From: Boston Globe]

Tags: craig newmark, CraigNewmark, craigslist, craigslist killer, CraigslistKiller, crime, geebo, Jim Buckmaster, JimBuckmaster, top

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