“Now Comes Thomas Dart…”
We will respond to Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart’s complaint (we have not yet been served, and learned of it only through press releases and media) sometime soon. Our preliminary view is that the complaint is not well founded in law, and that it should be dismissed.
However, we still very much appreciate and commend the good work of Sheriff Dart’s department, and will continue to provide any and all assistance whenever we are called upon to help in their efforts to protect and serve the people of Cook County.
craigslist has a long history of cooperation with law enforcement. As example, here is a recent joint statement by craigslist, 40 state Attorneys General — including the Attorney General of Illinois Lisa Madigan — as well as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), which was announced in November 2008:
blog.craigslist.org/2008/11/joint-statement-with-attorneys-general-ncmec
craigslist is an extremely unwise choice for those intent on committing crimes, since an electronic trail is inevitably created that law enforcement officers can follow. We pride ourselves on the prompt and valuable assistance we provide to police departments and federal authorities nationwide.
Here are some of the measures we currently take to prevent illegal activity on craigslist:
1. We ban all illegal activity in our Terms of Use
2. We place prominent notices on our posting forms warning against illegal activity
3. We perform telephone verification on user accounts as a requirement for posting in “erotic services”
4. We block ads containing language that in our experience has a high likelihood of violating our Terms of Use
5. We remove inappropriate ads that come to our attention
6. We block persons violating our Terms of Use from posting
7. We provide a community moderation system whereby our users flag inappropriate ads for removal
8. We place prominent notices asking users to flag inappropriate ads
9. In U.S. cities we require credit card authorization to post in “erotic services”, and charge a fee for each ad, with 100% of net revenues donated to charity.
10. We label adult content using the PICS rating system, which supports most content control software programs
11. We prohibit the use of adult-only categories by persons under the age of 18
12. We participate in the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) Cybertipline program
13. We collaborate on user awareness campaigns regarding human
trafficking and child exploitation
14. We place notices encouraging users to report any suspected abuse of minors
15. We maintain a resource page to assist users in reporting suspected abuse of minors
16. We maintain information pages regarding personal safety on craigslist
17. We adapt our web site to aid the work of agencies working on human trafficking and exploitation issues
18. We respond promptly to inquiries and requests for assistance from law enforcement officers
More background information on the “erotic services” category is available here:
March 6th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Well it appears that you have now instituted “Phone Verification” for all categories. I fail to understand why some religious whacko in Illinois is preventing me in California from posting my computer repair services for my local town because he is on some kinda crusade to rid the world of sexual deviants. Lame move craigslist. I will be looking for alternatives.
March 6th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
I suppose this guardian of public morality resents his not being able to bully women on the streets for free sex for himself. He would rather see more sex workers back on the streets where he and his buddies can harrass them and shake them down for protection money. That is not to say that craigslist condones any prostitution sollicitation on its site. However, if a sex worker happened to work out a way to be safe from the streets and sadistic cops and pimps, I would not resent it in the least. In fact, I would think it would justify all the other crap we sometimes have to weed through on the list. Good luck, c’listers.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
I’m glad the law enforcers are doing something about these types of issues online, police the internet communities all over the internet because I’ll bet it’s not just in craigslist.
Good luck to you craiglist and I hope you take more preventative measures for this issue, it’s as simple as blocking out a few words or better yet validate their company.
March 6th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Thomas Dart’s next prosecution target: The US Constitution!
March 7th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
A quick note as devil’s(?) advocate:
“Erotic Services” is advertising for erotic professionals, right? This may or may not be legal, let alone generally accepted in many of the countries Craigslist operates in.
Sure, erotic services will exist regardless but Craigslist need to consider the responsibilities of any international organisation, localised as they are (albeit virtually) throughout the world.
Granted that the Sheriffs case can be viewed in many ways and I just do not know enough about it to comment in any depth.
->But answering to US legislature and related mechanisms does not mean you are addressing the variety of contexts you are interacting with.
And no, I’m not religious at all. Just thought this point was worth raising. XD
March 9th, 2009 at 4:18 am
Professional and educated law enforcement officers appreciate the information under “erotic services” and consider it to be a valuable source of information to assist them in combating prostitution problems. Why would anyone want to cover it up and push it back underground where law enforcement may not know? It provides information that law enforcement may use to combat the many related problems with prostitution and good law enforcement investigators will be able to properly address the issues by investigating and preparing cases on persons that should be prosecuted while gathering valuable intelligence in regard to unadvertised illegal activities. Perhaps the Sheriff is getting pressure from organized crime or other elements to suppress Craig’s list information usually posted, if it is interfering with their own illegal prostitution activities or undesirably making the issues public while advertising for their competitors. Many persons and organizations fight hard to keep those activities illegal and subseqently very profitable for themselves only. If the Sheriff does not wish to investigate the valuable information provided he is just being derelict in his duties and should not blame Craig’s list for exposing the information for law enforcement and the public. It appears to me that he may be supporting prostitution and related illegal activities by trying to deprive the public of the information in regard that Craig’s List provides. He should be attacking the real problems, not the valuable and cooperative messenger (Craig’s List). The sheriff’s actions do not reflect knowledge of the United States Constitution and I am quite sure that a judge will impart some related knowledge to him. There are many complex issues with prostitution and related activities but they are not precipitated, supported or caused by Craig’s List. Those activities have and will thrive with or without Craig’s List. I encourage Craig’s List to stand their ground in regard to their procedures and continue with the advertising as permitted by law as a public service. The Sheriff needs to realize that prostitution and related illegal activities are just a few of many social problems in this country that are illegal and it is in his scope of authority and responsibility to address those issues, not try to cover them up by attacking those that make those issues known. There is a big problem with what is going on here, but it has nothing to do with the entirely legal activities of Craig’s List. It appears that Craig’s list is being persecuted for their legal activities by those that do not wish to properly address illegal activities. What a sad state of affairs! Not much incentive to report illegal activities to this Sheriff’s department since they may view you as the problem, not the illegal activities.
March 11th, 2009 at 7:40 am
Someone tell Tom he should really have his policemen stop surfing the internet using the excuse that they’re looking for some harmless call girl to arrest. Put these “officers of law enforcement” on the street where they can fight some real crime. The only result this might achieve is to put hookers back on the street where the cops can resume shaking them up for cash(protection). Shall we talk about police supt. Jody Weis recent Contempt of Court charge for refusing to release the names of 2500 officers accused of using excessive force? So don’t try to argue that it doesn’t happen. Law enforcement in Cook County is nothing less than an embarrassment to the law abiding citizen. We all know that crime is somewhat of an issue here in Cook County. Apparently Tom Dart is to busy trying to maintain some kind of image of himself to worry about reality. Is he an idiot or has he forgotten we abide by something called The Constitution in this country. It’s the First Amendment, Stupid! Just how much does he think his lawsuit might cost the taxpayer to ultimately be struck down as not having merit? Maybe Dick Daley can put a tax on the air we breathe after he’s sold off everything else he can think of to cover his deficits. Tell Tom it’s not up to him to rewrite The Constitution. Sadly, this airhead will most likely get re-elected despite his incompetence. TII(This Is Illinois). Is anyone paying attention to this sham? Maybe we can condone putting more 14 year old police impersonators out there. No doubt they have more integrity than the majority of the existing force.
April 27th, 2009 at 12:49 am
Un-Constitutional… period.
May 13th, 2009 at 10:25 am
[…] Dart’s suit seeks to force Craigslist to take down its erotic services section. A hearing on that suit was held in federal court this morning, where an attorney for Craiglist asked a federal judge to dismiss the suit, saying that the Web site had removed its erotic services section this morning. But an attorney for the sheriff said that the office will continue to pursue the suit until it sees proof that the changes, which include manual monitoring of ads posted to a new adult section, will end the site’s use for the solicitation of prostitutes. “We’re certainly not going to just take their word for it,” said Dan Gallagher, an attorney for the sheriff’s office. “We want to see some action.” Dart’s office filed the suit in March, after making what they said were hundreds of arrests related to ads posted on the Web site. At a press conference after the suit was filed, Dart referred to Craigslist as the “the largest source of prostitution in America.” Gallagher said that Eric Brandfonbrener, an attorney for California-based Craigslist, called and said the Web site would be removing the “erotic services” section after seven days. The section would be replaced by a new “adult” section, which would be monitored by Craigslist employees for illegal activity. Gallagher said that the sheriff’s office will file a reply to the motion to dismiss on June 10. In the meantime, it will monitor the Web site to make sure it keeps its promises, he said. “We are somewhat skeptical,” Gallagher said. “There have been agreements made before.” Brandfonbrener declined comment after hearing, saying he was asked by Craigslist owners not to speak to the media. craiglist CEO Jim Buckmaster replied to Dart’s lawsuit in March on his blog. […]
June 17th, 2009 at 9:22 am
As “Disgruntled” commented, it is rather unfortunate that due to the criminal element, a valuable resource such as Craigslist has to institute safeguards against those looking to use the service. Keep in mind, Craigslist must protect their own interests - unfortunately it is at the expense of those that play by the rules…