Craigslist dropping
'erotic services' ads
CHICAGO -- Craigslist is dropping its controversial "erotic services" category that
critics have called a front for prostitution and replacing it with an adult category to
be reviewed by employees, state attorneys general and the online classified ads site
said Wednesday.
The new category, which will charge a fee, will be called "adult services,"
Craigslist said in a statement. Craigslist said employees will monitor every posting
before it appears online -- a precaution the site has been criticized for refusing to
take in the past.
The agreement comes amid mounting pressure to remove the "erotic services" site,
particularly after a Boston medical student was charged with killing a masseuse au-
thorities allege he met through Craigslist. It also comes two months after Cook
County Sheriff Tom Dart filed a lawsuit alleging Craigslist not only allows the so-
licitation of prostitution but had created what he called the "largest source of pros-
titution in America."
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and the attorneys general for Connecticut
and Missouri met with Craigslist officials last week seeking an end to ads they
contended promote illegal sexual activities.
"The new balance struck today preserves a place for legal businesses to advertise,
while incorporating important feedback from attorneys general, free speech advo-
cates, law enforcement, Internet law experts, and millions of Americans that value
and rely upon community services provided by Craigslist," CEO Jim Buckmaster
said in a statement..
Madigan's office and Craigslist said Wednesday that existing "erotic services" ads
will expire in seven days. "Craigslist's erotic services section had become nothing
more than an Internet brothel," Madigan said.
Craigslist attorney Eric Brandfonbrener, appearing in federal court for a hearing on
Dart's lawsuit, told U.S. District Judge John Grady that the site is undergoing
changes he expects to satisfy the suit's concerns "My expectation is that it will be
moot," Brandfonbrener told the judge.
Dart attorney Daniel Gallagher said he remained skeptical.
CONT: PAGE 29


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38