Bowing to pressure from state attorneys general, Craigslist pulled the plug on its Erotic Services listings. But Craig Newmark & Co. aren’t exiting the XXX category altogether; they’ve simply changed the name to Adult Services and decided to turn a nice profit from all the “legal” businesses who post there. So everyone is happy, right? Not quite.
In the aftermath of the Craigslist Killer, the AGs of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Illinois, and Missouri all pressured the site to yank its Erotic Services category. And while they might be content with Craigslist’s changes, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, who was also on that bandwagon, isn’t yet satisfied.
He’s still leaving open the possibility of prosecuting the site for aiding and abetting prostitution, a threat he attached to a May 15 deadline if the site doesn’t remove all such listings. (The location of Mr. McMaster’s attention on prosecuting the men who actually frequent these services, however, remains a mystery.) Civil liberties groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation counter Craigslist maintains zero liability. And you don’t have to throw a stone far to find an experienced attorney who says McMaster has no criminal case.
Which might explain why Craigslist is still serving up thinly veiled prostitution ads, like this easily accessible one from a “Bottomless Top Model” gal looking for “some generous new friends,” or this “Generous white guy” who’s “lookin for 18-23 white/latino dudes slender, cut, sane.”
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And why Craigslist is still home to folks like 41-year-old Arthur Ramos, who goes by the female handle Helen Bedd (“Hell In Bed”) and offers “man rubs” for just $200 hour. Mr. Ramos was arrested by police and “told officers that he was a prostitute, that prostitution was the world’s oldest profession and that he did not understand why the officers were making a big deal out of it. Ramos also told police he had a prostitution business in Miami.”
Bless Craig Newmark, serving only the sharpest of customers.
Jess
I don’t get why people think anything will change. Everybody knows what “Adult Services” means. And if the mission is to get rid of the prostitution altogether…good luck with that!
http://www.newsy.com/videos/craigslist_crackdown/
saul_M
Does’nt matter the hoes wil go to other sites with free erotic ads that are based offshore and out of reach of a gs like http://www.SellitForFree.com.
P2R
> I don’t get why people think anything will change. Everybody
> knows what “Adult Services” means.
I don’t get why people think anything would change even if Craigslist shut down altogether. This profession, for better or more likely for worse, has been around and thriving for recorded history. We’re talking millennia. Those who choose to offer such services will advertise somewhere else.
Craigslist has nothing whatsoever to do with this problem. Another in the endless examples of simpleminded people looking for simple solutions to enormously complex problems.
Affordable housing, a moral employment minimum wage, child care, and UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE would do infinitely more to help women keep out of this line of work than targeting one advertising venue after another.
Our politicians and especially our ever-worsening press are turning our formerly mindless, sheep-like citizens into something even dumber.
adam
This is stupid. Prostitution and kiiling prostitutes is not going to stop because advertising is banned from Craigslist. Craigslist is beneficial since it leaves an electronic trail that helps the police catch and convict people who kill prostitutes.
Peter Petermark
In all honesty, Craigslist is being unfairly targeted. The fact that people use cars to meet up with prostitutes does not mean that cars are the cause. Prostitution is one of the world’s oldest profession. The fact that prostitution has moved online now makes it much safer and cleaner, especially for city dwellers who dont have to see prostitute parading up and down their streets. Many years ago, as a young man, I recall being approached on several occasions by prostitutes as I would walk to school. On other instances, while taking walks in an nearby park, I would chance to see sexual acts taking place behind the bushes. One day, while jogging, a man popped out of the side of the road masturbating surely with the intent of finding a companion. These are things of the past now that people look for sex online.
Now that prostitution has moved to the internet, our cities are cleaner and safer. We dont see pimps and prostitutes standing on corners. Cruising for sex has moved on line where no one sees it unless they want to see it. Removing prostitution ads from craigslist is like asking to return to the old ways. In my conservative estimates, the number of prostitutes killed as a result of conducting business in the streets was orders of magnitude higher than the numbers that are killed by contacting their clients through craigslist.
I wish people would approach this rationally and see the benefits that they are deriving from having prostitution completely out of their everyday sight.
Peter Petermark
@adam: This is so right. In the old days prostitutes would just be found dead, now their is a trail linking their killers to them.