I, for one, look forward to having it as a $ site. This will crack down on the spammers and professional flaggers!(with the lawsuits against the clist workarounds). 
http://ca.tech.yahoo.com/experts/chrisnull/article/1009
Craigslist is one of the most dazzlingly useful websites on the Internet, but as with most things, it has a seedy dark side. Specifically, it's a mecca for "sex workers," who flood its "erotic services" listings with come-ons promising -- in loosely veiled terms -- sex for money.
In an attempt to upgrade its growing reputation as a wretched hive of scum and villainy, Craigslist is taking additional steps to crack down on these listings. In March it began requiring a phone number -- followed by an automated verification call -- before listings would be placed. Yesterday the company said it would take the additional step of charging up to $10 per ad placed, requiring that a credit card be used for payment. The money collected will be donated to charity, including those that fight human trafficking.
Observers, including Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal, think the mere act of requiring personally-identifying information like a credit card number will on its own be enough to send sex workers packing... or at least to friendlier websites. In the linked New York Times story above, he's quoted as shrewdly noting, "There are very few prostitutes who want to be called by Craigslist and asked to give additional identifying information."
But others are critical of Craigslist, going so far as to accuse Craigslist of now acting as a sort of pimp in this arrangement, and that by inserting itself into what was once a largely anonymous system, Craigslist is putting its users at direct risk of legal prosecution, deportation, etc. And of course, this doesn't really stop prostitution, it just moves it somewhere else -- conceivably even back to the streets.
Is Craigslist's move -- a concession to immense pressure from 40 states who've been pushing to get these ads removed -- a good one? The Internet will always have its Red Light Districts, but how far into the back alleys of the web should they be located?
LINK: Craigslist Agrees to Curb Prostitution Ads
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/t...artner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Craigslist Agrees to Curb Sex Ads
By BRAD STONE
Published: November 6, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — The online classifieds company Craigslist said Thursday that it had reached an agreement with 40 state attorneys general and agreed to tame its notoriously unruly “erotic services” listings.
Prostitutes and sex-oriented businesses have long used that section of Craigslist to advertise their services.
Early this year, the attorney general of Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, representing 40 states, sent a letter to Craigslist demanding that it purge the site of such material and better enforce its own rules against illegal activity, including prostitution. The two sides began a series of conversations about what Craigslist could do to prevent such ads.
“They identified ads that were crossing the line,” said Jim Buckmaster, chief executive of Craigslist. “We looked at those ads, we saw their point, and we resolved to see what we could do to get that stuff off the site.”
In March, Craigslist began asking its erotic services advertisers to provide a phone number, which an automated system calls. The system reads a series of digits, which the advertiser types into a Web page as verification before the ad will appear on the site. Craigslist said that ended most of the illicit material.
Under the broader agreement announced Thursday, Craigslist is going further, asking that advertisers provide valid identification. It said that it will charge erotic services vendors a small fee for each ad — $5 to $10, Mr. Buckmaster said — and require that they use a credit card for the payment. This, theoretically, will let the company confirm users’ identities. It will donate the money to charities, including those that combat child exploitation and human trafficking.
On Wednesday, Craigslist also sued a variety of companies offering services designed to circumvent its protections.
Mr. Blumenthal said the new measures would discourage many sex operators from using Craigslist. “The mere act of authentication will be a very significant deterrent,” he said. “There are very few prostitutes who want to be called by Craigslist and asked to give additional identifying information.”
http://ca.tech.yahoo.com/experts/chrisnull/article/1009
Craigslist is one of the most dazzlingly useful websites on the Internet, but as with most things, it has a seedy dark side. Specifically, it's a mecca for "sex workers," who flood its "erotic services" listings with come-ons promising -- in loosely veiled terms -- sex for money.
In an attempt to upgrade its growing reputation as a wretched hive of scum and villainy, Craigslist is taking additional steps to crack down on these listings. In March it began requiring a phone number -- followed by an automated verification call -- before listings would be placed. Yesterday the company said it would take the additional step of charging up to $10 per ad placed, requiring that a credit card be used for payment. The money collected will be donated to charity, including those that fight human trafficking.
Observers, including Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal, think the mere act of requiring personally-identifying information like a credit card number will on its own be enough to send sex workers packing... or at least to friendlier websites. In the linked New York Times story above, he's quoted as shrewdly noting, "There are very few prostitutes who want to be called by Craigslist and asked to give additional identifying information."
But others are critical of Craigslist, going so far as to accuse Craigslist of now acting as a sort of pimp in this arrangement, and that by inserting itself into what was once a largely anonymous system, Craigslist is putting its users at direct risk of legal prosecution, deportation, etc. And of course, this doesn't really stop prostitution, it just moves it somewhere else -- conceivably even back to the streets.
Is Craigslist's move -- a concession to immense pressure from 40 states who've been pushing to get these ads removed -- a good one? The Internet will always have its Red Light Districts, but how far into the back alleys of the web should they be located?
LINK: Craigslist Agrees to Curb Prostitution Ads
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/t...artner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Craigslist Agrees to Curb Sex Ads
By BRAD STONE
Published: November 6, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — The online classifieds company Craigslist said Thursday that it had reached an agreement with 40 state attorneys general and agreed to tame its notoriously unruly “erotic services” listings.
Prostitutes and sex-oriented businesses have long used that section of Craigslist to advertise their services.
Early this year, the attorney general of Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, representing 40 states, sent a letter to Craigslist demanding that it purge the site of such material and better enforce its own rules against illegal activity, including prostitution. The two sides began a series of conversations about what Craigslist could do to prevent such ads.
“They identified ads that were crossing the line,” said Jim Buckmaster, chief executive of Craigslist. “We looked at those ads, we saw their point, and we resolved to see what we could do to get that stuff off the site.”
In March, Craigslist began asking its erotic services advertisers to provide a phone number, which an automated system calls. The system reads a series of digits, which the advertiser types into a Web page as verification before the ad will appear on the site. Craigslist said that ended most of the illicit material.
Under the broader agreement announced Thursday, Craigslist is going further, asking that advertisers provide valid identification. It said that it will charge erotic services vendors a small fee for each ad — $5 to $10, Mr. Buckmaster said — and require that they use a credit card for the payment. This, theoretically, will let the company confirm users’ identities. It will donate the money to charities, including those that combat child exploitation and human trafficking.
On Wednesday, Craigslist also sued a variety of companies offering services designed to circumvent its protections.
Mr. Blumenthal said the new measures would discourage many sex operators from using Craigslist. “The mere act of authentication will be a very significant deterrent,” he said. “There are very few prostitutes who want to be called by Craigslist and asked to give additional identifying information.”
