The Good NET Guide

Posts Tagged ‘dissemination’

Craigslist is suing South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster in the state’s federal court, seeking declaratory relief as well as a restraining order with respect to criminal charges he has threatened against the company and its executives. The company is raising the gloves because it refuses to shut down its operations in South Carolina, claiming it’s in full compliance with all applicable laws and has already done enough by removing its ‘erotic services’ category.

Guess who we’re rooting for here? (Hint: We’ve encouraged the executive team at Craigslist to stand firm from the get-go). After all, our own poll shows that given the choice between keeping Craigslist or South Carolina, most of you would choose Craigslist. That is not too surprising. But even some people in South Carolina say Craigslist is more important than the state. And don’t forget the all-important “McMaster, stop abusing your power” Facebook group.

Facing certain prosecution, Craigslist decided to strike first with its own lawsuit. In a blog post, amusingly tagged ‘harrassment’ (sic), that went up earlier this morning, Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster writes:

Two weeks ago Mr McMaster presented craigslist with an ultimatum, “to remove the portions of the Internet site dedicated to South Carolina and its municipal regions which contain categories for and functions allowing for the solicitation of prostitution and the dissemination and posting of graphic pornographic material” within ten (10) days.”

“If those South Carolina portions of the site are not removed,” McMaster said, “the management of craigslist may be subject to criminal investigation and prosecution.”

In addition to being unwarranted by the facts, legal experts agree that the charges threatened represent an unconstitutional prior restraint on free speech, and are clearly barred by federal law (sec 230 CDA).

Interestingly, if you read Mr McMaster’s ultimatum carefully, you’ll note that the only way to definitively comply with it is to take down the craigslist sites for South Carolina in their entirety. The open architecture of craigslist, quintessential to the value it provides for users, simply does not allow for the absolute prevention of solicitation or pornography, with respect to any of its categories and functions.

Usage of craigslist in South Carolina has exploded over the last two years, with some cities experiencing 2000% growth. South Carolinians clearly value craigslist services, and appreciate finding jobs, housing, automobiles, for sale items, friends, romance, community information, local services, event listings, and just about everything else they need in their everyday lives, all in one place, and all for free.

We say just go ahead and shut off South Carolina from Craigslist.

Update: the Attorney General’s office says this is good news.

McMaster Statement On Craigslist Legal Action

COLUMBIA, SC – “The defensive legal action craigslist has taken against the solicitors and my office is good news. It shows that craigslist is taking the matter seriously for the first time

More importantly, overnight they have removed the erotic services section from their website, as we asked them to do. And they are now taking responsibility for the content of their future advertisements. If they keep their word, this is a victory for law enforcement and for the people of South Carolina.

Unfortunately, we had to inform them of possible state criminal violations concerning their past practices to produce a serious response. We trust they will now adhere to the higher standards they have promised. This office and the law enforcement agencies of South Carolina will continue to monitor the site to make certain that our laws are respected.”

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

The various state attorneys general have focused like a laser on Craigslist these past weeks. Like most politicians hoping to get reelected, Attorneys General tend to follow the press and jump in front of any parade they see.

Years ago if a crime was committed and anyone involved had a MySpace account, the press focused only on the MySpace angle. The attorneys general went after them with a vengeance. Then it was Facebook, who managed to stay in the spotlight only momentarily.

Now Craigslist is firmly in the AGs’ sites. And those AGs aren’t going to just sit by and do nothing as mainstream press paints a horrifying picture of sexual debauchery and murder. There’s easy press out there for the taking, people, and these AGs aren’t going to let this opportunity pass them by.

Earlier today Henry McMaster, the Attorney General of South Carolina, wrote to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster. The letter, copied below, starts with “I hope you will take immediate steps to end craigslist from being used to facilitate harmful activities in South Carolina.” It ends with a threat of “criminal investigation and prosecution” if ads for prostitution aren’t removed from the South Carolina parts of craigslist by this Friday.

McMaster also expressed concern that pornographic images were displayed on Craigslist and were accessible by minors.

Craigslist responded on their blog without saying much.

We’ll put the pornography issue aside as purely ridiculous (see Google image search and all the rest of the smut filled Internet). But the recent “Craigslist Murder” of a prostitute (or massage therapist, whatever) is going to be too much for Craigslist to overcome. The AGs will salivate over a lawsuit, which equates to press and votes and has no downside.

The erotic services category on Craigslist is likely history sometime soon. And, alarmingly, anonymity on the site in general may follow not too long afterwards.

Here’s the letter:

HENRY McMASTER
ATTORNEY GENERAL

Mr. Jim Buckmaster
CEO, craigslist
1381 9th Avenue
San Francisco, California 94122

I hope you will take immediate steps to end craigslist from being used to facilitate harmful activities in
South Carolina.

As you are aware, in November 2008 you entered into an agreement with forty state attorneys general and
the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to install safeguards to combat unlawful activity and
improve public safety on the craigslist internet classified service. This occurred after law enforcement officers
across the country called attention to the misuse of the craigslist site to facilitate unlawful activity.

Recent national events, along with ongoing law enforcement efforts in South Carolina, indicate that
craigslist has not installed sufficient safeguards since November to prohibit the Internet site from being used as a vehicle to advertise or solicit prostitution.

Also of concern is the unrestricted manner in which graphic pornographic pictures are posted and displayed
by users on the craigslist site and their accessibility to minors.

Many of the classified and communication services on the craigslist site provide the public with a valuable
service. However, it appears that the management of craigslist has knowingly allowed the site to be used for illegal and unlawful activity after warnings from law enforcement officials and after an agreement with forty state attorneys general.

Therefore, please be advised that the craigslist management may be subj ect to criminal investigation and
prosecution by this office if the portions of the Internet site dedicated to South Carolina and its municipal regions and which contain categories for and functions allowing for the solicitation of prostitution and the dissemination and posting of graphic pornographic material are not permanently removed on or before 5:00pm EST, the close of business Friday May 15,2009.

Yours very truly,

Henry McMaster

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.