Said Judge John Grady:

"Sheriff [Thomas] Dart may continue to use Craigslist's Web site to identify and pursue individuals who post allegedly unlawful content. But he cannot sue Craigslist for their conduct."

Since the sheriff filed his suit in March, Craigslist has renamed the section "adult services" and imposed rules requiring a working phone number and valid credit card from, err, adult service providers. This doesn't seem to have impacted business much. But that's actually a good thing for the sheriff: since hookers will continue to flock to Craigslist, which cooperates with police, Dart can continue to use the site as a choke point for large-scale prostitution busts, as he has in the past. He just can't demonize the site for his own political posturing.

Instead of posting nude photos with their "massage" and "escort" ads, providers now post bikini pictures, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. And instead of explaining how many times you can have sex with them, they now "quote their prices in roses per hour." This is all wayyy too confusing for customers, says the "Erotic Service Providers Union," proving decisively the Craigslist has the dumbest johns on the planet.

Earlier today, several attorney generals announced that Craigslist would be ending their "erotic services" category. But in the first statement on the change from the company, which was forwarded to us by Craigslist spokesperson Susan MacTavish Best, the new "adult services" forum Craigslist is planning to replace it with will be an entirely for-profit venture. In the old "erotic services" category, Craigslist had charged sex workers a fee for phone verification, but donated all of the proceeds, after costs, to charity.

Here's Craigslist's explanation of the move (emphasis added):

Note: Our announced intention to contribute 100% of net revenues for the "erotic services" category to charity has been fulfilled, and will continue to be fulfilled, notwithstanding criticism questioning our good faith in this regard. However, in light of today's changes, and to avoid any future misunderstanding, we are making no representation regarding how revenue from the "adult services" category will be used. Our commitment to philanthropy remains however, and craigslist will continue to develop its charitable initiatives.

So, our elected officials, in their effort to find a scapegoat for crimes against sex workers like the murder of Julissa Brisman, have taken a site that never made a dime from the hookups it helped set up, and turned it into a full-time, for-profit sex money machine. You know, like the alt-weekly newspapers littering town. Progress!

Here's the full statement from Craigslist:

STRIKING A NEW 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 adult service providers. Each posting to this new category will be manually reviewed before appearing on the site, to ensure compliance with craigslist posting guidelines and terms of use. New postings will cost $10, but once approved, will be eligible for reposting at $5.

Unsurprisingly, but completely contrary to some of the sensationalistic journalism we've seen these past few weeks, the record is clear that use of craigslist classifieds is associated with far lower rates of violent crime than print classifieds, let alone rates of violent crime pertaining to American society as a whole.

The relative safety of craigslist compared to print classifieds is likely due to some combination of:

* Measures such as blocking, screening, and telephone verification  
* Community moderation via flagging system  
* Electronic trail ensures violent criminals are quickly caught  
* Personal safety tips prominently posted  
* Unusually high level of cooperation with law enforcement

Community moderation as exemplified by our flagging system is arguably the most successful system ever conceived for eliminating inappropriate activity from a massive internet community. Working in tandem with various other protective technologies, it is an inescapable force to be reckoned with for anyone set on abusing free internet communications across a broad array of posting types.

However, with respect to this new paid category for advertising by legal businesses, we will experiment with some of the methods traditionally employed in paid print classifieds.

We'd like to thank everyone who has provided helpful input over the past few weeks, all of which we've closely considered:

* Our users, whose suggestions have shaped every aspect of craigslist  
* Attorneys General, who have provided valuable constructive criticism  
* Law Enforcement officers nationwide, who have been hugely supportive  
* Legal businesses concerned at their right to advertise being questioned  
* EFF and other legal experts defending free speech and Internet law

We are optimistic that the new balance struck today will be an acceptable compromise from the perspective of these constituencies, and for the diverse US communities that value and rely upon craigslist.

Note: Our announced intention to contribute 100% of net revenues for the "erotic services" category to charity has been fulfilled, and will continue to be fulfilled, notwithstanding criticism questioning our good faith in this regard. However, in light of today's changes, and to avoid any future misunderstanding, we are making no representation regarding how revenue from the "adult services" category will be used. Our commitment to philanthropy remains however, and craigslist will continue to develop its charitable initiatives.

Is Craigslist's new "adult" category just a name change? "We're very encouraged that Craigslist is doing the right thing in eliminating its online red light district with prostitution and pornography in plain sight," said Connecticut attorney general Dick Blumenthal. "We'll be watching and investigating critically to make sure this measure is more than just a name change." Craigslist will cancel all existing Erotic Services ads in seven days, and start up the new category. In other words, it's just a name change.

There is one critical difference: Craigslist employees will be reviewing ads for tell-tale prostitution-friendly phrases. (For example, if your escort asks for a "donation" of "roses," she's actually talking dollars, and it's not optional.) Of course, this just means that the sex workers will go to other, less-monitored areas. Craigslist Missed Connections will never be the same! Or they'll go to other websites altogether.

The only highlight in this silliness: The image of hypernerdy Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, who constantly reminds everyone that his only role at the site is as a customer-service rep, manually reviewing sex ads. We reached Newmark on the phone. As we started to ask him how his customer-service department would handle the new workload, he reminded us there were other Craigslist customer-service personnel, and then referred calls to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and PR rep Susan MacTavish Best. Come on, Craig: At the very least, this new assignment should give you something to talk about at parties besides how terrible newspapers are.

The petitioners are echoing media pressure in calling for Craigslist to shut down its Erotic Services section, thereby preventing the likes of Markoff from contacting 25-year-old "masseuses" through the site. Craigslist does charge for erotic listings, but donates the revenues from the category; Casual Encounters is free. The only way the site makes money is from job and apartment listings; Craigslist doesn't make a dime when you unload your old couch on the site. Frankly, Craig Newmark would make more money and have fewer headaches if everyone not looking for a job or a place to live went elsewhere.

And of course, if Craigslist banned Erotic Services, that's exactly what its clientele would do — buy and sell the same services elsewhere online. That's a far easier route to take, and would save Craigslist a lot of headaches complying with vice-squad subpoenas — which is why most websites ban the sex trade altogether.

"Craigslist is the largest source of prostitution in America," Cook County sheriff Tom Dart told ABC News. Nonsense. Horny, desperate men are the largest source of prostitution in America. And Dart should be happy that they're visiting a website which rolls over so easily when the police call.

What no one is saying: Laws banning prostitution, which makes women engaged in trading sex for money vulnerable to predators, are the real problem. Western Europe's boring brothels suggest that legalizing prostitution is a danger to sexual excitement but not public mores. Sure, boycott Craigslist! It's an easy move to stop spending money with a site that costs nothing — one that changes exactly nothing about the dynamic that got Julissa Brisman killed. Meanwhile, Newmark, the lazy millionaire, will keep doing his humble-nerd act all the way to the bank.

Maybe you are new to this so I will < explain_the_game > 06/24 16:11:07

You will post an ad under Erotic Services that really does not belong because you are offering a Happy Ending, which is illegal.

You will try to be clever in your ad so that it is not too flagerant but still communicates your willingess to use your 38 inch chest for the gratification of your client's sexual desire.

The readers will read your ad. Some will call you and give you money for porviding the illegal service you are offering and that they desire. Others will flag your ad and it may be removed. Then you post another ad.

This is how the game is really played in Erotic Services. It is not according to the tou, but that is how it works.

Complaining here will not help because 99 44/100 percent of Erotic Services doesn't follow the tou

With the post being gone now, it's impossible to say that this came from an actual Craigslist moderator. That said, the community rising up to lay down the law like this, on what's allowed in Erotic Services, is maybe the only apropos way to trot out all those "Wild West" metaphors the cops adore when talking whores on the internet. It was all those Gold Rush Working Girls who were the first women to do business in San Francisco — and plus ça change, the more escorts will buck the rules of any advertising system.