
Craigslist dropping 'erotic services' ads - DavidSJ
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ik4kA6-yP41NYEBP1jV5TfU8eM6Q
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rbanffy
That's silly. If I were in law enforcement I would _use_ erotic services ads
as a way to prosecute those involved. Something like Craigslist would be an
asset for me.

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keefe
I think there is some tricky business regarding entrapment and that sting
operations have only met limited success. If I were in law enforcement, I'd
feel stupid wasting my time investigating violations of a law as ill-conceived
as anti-prostitution legislation. How many unsolved rapes, murders and
robberies are there out there? There shouldn't be a penny wasted on something
this trivial until those are taken care of - and girls forced into
prostitution is a totally different issue which would be largely addressed
with legalization.

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biotech
This is probably a bad idea; the main advantage of this controversial section
is to keep prostitution ads off the main personals listings. I'm guessing
there'll be an increase in these types of ads in the other sections.

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antidaily
There is probably a huge opportunity in this for someone willing to trudge
through that wasteland.

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staunch
You'd be one step away from the business end of organized crime. Not worth the
risk IMO. Craigslist is probably somewhat protected by their sheer size and
high profile. You'd be one guy taking money from and dealing with career
criminals.

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DLWormwood
> Craigslist is probably somewhat protected by their sheer size and high
> profile.

Profile, maybe. But not size... AFAIK, CL is still a mostly small team
operation...

<http://www.mslater.com/2007/1/26/the-craigslist-anomaly>

...though they are a little bit bigger due to the increased local coverage
since that article was written.

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siculars
will this stop others from providing a forum for "erotic services"
advertisements? no. but this will bring some sort of order to the current
system on cl. and cl is the largest market place for this kind of stuff.

at the risk of being flamed, i kind of liken this to whats going on between
arrington and fb re. holocaust denial. if fb squashes holocaust denial on
their platform, will it kill it everywhere, no (duh). but it would draw a line
as to what is acceptable and what is not on their systems.

neither cl nor fb are legally responsible for what people post on their sites.
but cl made a decision to "do the right thing"(tm), im pretty sure fb will as
well.

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erlanger
How is this an example of doing the right thing?

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siculars
its the right thing on a number of levels.

1\. it gets the attorneys general off your back.

2\. it is good pr

3\. it will reduce spam on that section of the site which will result in
better ads for customers

4\. it sets a standard that says "we wont allow a wild west freak show on our
site"

agree, dont agree, whatever... the freak show will continue in other parts of
the interweb. just not on cl in the manner that it has in the past. and thats
the win - because cl is the main hub for people looking for all kinds of stuff
- freak show or otherwise. you cant really have your cake and eat it too.

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randallsquared
Your 3 is bizarre. It removes spam on a section of the site _by removing the
section_. No customers are helped by this; it's straight cost-cutting (which
is the other side of trying to be profitable, of course).

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siculars
That section is being replaced by a moderated analogue

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randallsquared
Maybe I should have read the article, eh? :)

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padmanabhan01
I seriously hope this would lead to more discussion or light on this that
would pave way for legalizing the service.

I mean, what business can the state have in dictating what two consenting
adults do without disturbing others.

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lsb
Why not just charge for them?

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benmathes
IANA(L|PO), but I suspect that the people looking to perpetrate a crime won't
be deterred by a nominal fee.

~~~
mahmud
They would be, if the commercial transaction leaves their identity behind.
Pimping is a "cash or stash" business.

~~~
derefr
to sign up to post on this section, you already have to confirm a phone number
that can be used to reach you, which is very likely tied to some sort of
information about you already (and if you can fake a phone application, why
not a credit card application?)

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quellhorst
"Also effective today for all US sites, a new category entitled 'adult
services' will be opened for postings by legal adult service providers," it
added.

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vaksel
smart move on craigslist, they get to skip the "controversy" and in turn get
to make money off ads that used to be free.

And this won't do shit to lowering prostitution, there are dozens of other
sites in that same space

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Mintz
I had to make sure I wasn't reading The Onion. Why does Craigslist think
they're the new authority on what free speech we are and aren't allowed to
express?

The correlation between the crazy medical student and Craigslist does not
imply causation, the same way keeping guns from a murderer won't stop him from
using a knife.

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icey
What does Craigslist's removal of a section on their site have to do with your
right to free speech? (Hint: The answer is absolutely nothing.)

Why should they expose themselves to liability unnecessarily?

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hachiya
Not everyone is aware that the First Amendment, like all the Amendments, apply
to government. It prevents the government from restricting our speech, and
does not dictate what kind of ads a private enterprise may choose to allow.

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icey
Except the government didn't dictate anything in this case. Craigslist made
this decision on their own at the _request_ of various law enforcement
agencies.

There will still be an adult section on Craigslist, it will just be moderated
by CL staff and will no longer allow explicit images. Not much is really
changing here; and there certainly isn't an infringement of anyone's rights.

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hachiya
Yes, I was agreeing with you, and commenting on your parent post. Craigslist
chose to exercise their right to not allow a free-for-all on their adult
section.

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icey
Ahh, my mistake. Thank you for clarifying.

