prostitution

The biggest difference between Craigslist soon-to-be defunct "erotic services" and the new "adult services" sections will be human monitoring.

Craigslist on Wednesday announced that the Web classifieds site will do away with its controversial "erotic services" section and replace it with a new "adult services" section. The move comes after Craigslist managers were pressured by several state attorneys general to help remove from their site the posting of numerous ads for prostitution.

All the texts and photos within ads submitted to the adults section will be reviewed by a Craigslist employee before … Read more

Catherine, a 35-year-old sex worker in San Francisco, is disgusted with U.S. lawmakers for demanding that Craigslist abolish the "erotic services" section.

She says she knew something was amiss on Monday when she attempted to post an ad, offering a massage with "a happy ending." Catherine, who posts on Craigslist about eight times a month, was prevented from posting and couldn't understand why.

"This is ridiculous," Catherine told CNET News. "It is a sign of an immature society to repress sexuality. You're going to create more violence by doing this. … Read more

Craigslist, the online classifieds publication much loved by users for declining to charge a fee for most of its services, issued a statement Wednesday about the closing of its "erotic services" section and the opening of a new "adult services" section:

Striking A Balance

As of today for all US craigslist sites, postings to the "erotic services" category will no longer be accepted, and in 7 days the category will be removed.

Also effective today for all US sites, a new category entitled "adult services" will be opened for postings by legal … Read more

Updated at 9:33 a.m. PT to include a statement from Craigslist and correct an error. See details below.

Craigslist has yielded to law enforcement officials from all over the country, deciding to dismantle its "erotic services" ads.

"As of (Wednesday), for all U.S. Craigslist sites, postings to the erotic-services category will no longer be accepted," the publication said in a statement. "In seven days, the category will be removed. Also effective today for all U.S. sites, a new category entitled 'adult services' will be opened for postings by legal adult service … Read more

Three state attorneys general plan to meet with Craigslist representatives to begin negotiations toward eliminating advertisements from the site for prostitution and other suspected illegal sexual activities.

State attorneys general from Missouri, Illinois, and Connecticut will represent a group of state attorneys general in a meeting Tuesday in New York City with representatives of the Web site.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said his office found several ads offering and seeking prostitution on Craigslist pages for the Kansas City, St. Louis, Columbia/Jefferson City, and Springfield areas.

"Craigslist is allowing … Read more

Craigslist released numbers Monday it touted as evidence of its success in reducing the volume of "erotic services" ads appearing on the Web classified site in an apparent response to a federal lawsuit that accuses the site of facilitating prostitution.

The number of ads for such services is down 90 percent to 95 percent during the past 12 months on Craigslist sites that serve five major U.S. cities, according to information posted on a company blog. The site credited the "spectacular" reduction on its joint effort with 40 attorneys general and the National Center for … Read more

Everywhere one has turned this week, folks have wanted to talk prostitution. Craigslist is supposedly the nation's biggest bordello. And prostitution is stunningly rife in every leaf-filled American suburb.

In an attempt to get away from the more troubling side of existence, I ventured to the Los Angeles Times, knowing that the only obscene discussion I would find there would revolve around money and plastic surgery.

Choking on my allergies, I fell upon a very interesting article by David Lazarus, one of America's foremost writers on the subject of consumery-businessy stuff.

And there he was revealing that a … Read more

Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster has responded to the lawsuit filed this week by the sheriff of Chicago's Cook County against the Web classified publication.

Buckmaster suggested that the suit is a waste of time. Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart called Craigslist one of the country's largest sources of prostitution in the complaint he filed in federal court and asked the court to force Craigslist managers to remove their erotic services section.

Buckmaster said in a statement late Friday that Craigslist wrote Dart in 2007 and explained that the law is pretty clear and favors Craigslist.

"As our … Read more

We get tricked into supporting Robot teams we don't know anything about, plus we talk about Pluto's pimps, also known as the Illinois Assembly. And speaking of pimps, Cook County Sheriff's are trying to get Craigslist to stop helping prostitutes. Thank goodness Veronica was here to set them straight.

Sheriff files lawsuit over Craigslist’s red-light district (Updated) http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/03/sheriff-sues-craigslist-over-mass-levels-of-prostitution.ars

Seattle paper may shift to online-only: reports http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/news/2009/03/reuters_us_hearst_pi

Palm investor: Pre will trump … Read more