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.”
Good for CL, Mr McMaster is just a media whore, hoping this will attract votes from the gun toting bible thumpers, I think he will be shocked when he learns more of his people care about free speach than they do removing a few escort ads.
we’re all media whores. some are just nicer looking than others and get paid differently. welcome to the internet.
HumanLocator.com – sell yourself
JerkoffLocator – find yourself
USA = Police State.
Only allowed to Jerk Off.
Sex is illegal in this USA Police State.
I suspect you have nothing to worry about, good sir.
If I was CL, I would put a donation link on the front page to collect money to defeat Mr. McMaster. I know I’d chip in.
What a tool. Next step: removing Al Gore’s Internet Tubes from South Carolina entirely.
Craigslist is crap. They should shut it down and also crap sites like http://www.anonboard.com
*cough* you know posting an image with “Jerk” and an arrow probably constitutes defamation….?
Not if it’s true
yeah..it’s more an “annotation” than a “defamation”.
‘jerk’ is not a ‘fact’ but ‘opinion’ , and defamation only is from ‘fact’ , for example, if you say someone is a thief when he is not , it is a defamation. Calling someone ‘jerk’ is an opinion and it doesn’t constitute a defamation
(I know this because I asked this question to my law prof)
Well I only intended it as a joke but…
your wrong (or rather he is semi-wrong). It is to do with fact – but the important thing is implied fact. Implying he *is* a jerk (as a fact) is defamation.
Think of it in spoken word: “I think your a jerk” is fine but pointing and shouting “jerk” is slander. The image is an example of the latter (libel)
@oldprefesser below: that was the opinion of one judge and isn’t enshrined in law. It would be up to whoever was on the bench: who could decide differently
Ditto on the opinion.
What’s more, because he is a public official, McMaster would have to show “actual malice” to prevail. That would mean showing that TechCrunch had actual knowledge that McMaster is not a jerk, and called him one anyway. That may explain why they called him a jerk, and not a douchebag, since literal minded judges and juries in South Carolina might have problem with things like metaphor and simile.
McMaster is a gift to people who don’t like South Carolina. He makes the whole state look stoopid.
NICE!
Have an awesome day!
Dan
The real question is what we can do to help Craigslist. I know you have some ideas Mike…
JERK! Lol, funny!
The Craigs request that the jerk ‘positively affirm’ was foreshadowing.
I never use this, but the word “PWNED” seems to fit here…
This should be a warning that thinly veiled attempts to gain votes and popularity by targeting websites & social networks just will not work.
The words back and fired spring to me.
Please remove “Jerk” from the photo!
AND REPLACE WITH “JERK OFF” or “NOT SO HAPPY ENDING”
“Jerk” can be construed as a verb. “Douche bag” is a label that comes to mind,though…
Letssue that fuck out of him… I fucking hate Attorneys that think they are god!
We have a “McMaster” in Illinois too.
Her name is Lisa Madigan.
An empty headed party tool.
Michael Leigh
Stupid move. Stupid ‘article’.
McMaster must have confused CRAIG’S LIST with LARRY CRAIG’S LIST.
Of course, if Craig’s List is tracking IP addresses of people interested in sexual services, you don’t need to be a genius to figure why a politician would want the service shut down AND THE DATABASE WIPED????
Craigslist is insane. Dumbest move ever. You NEVER ever aggravate a prosecutor. Want to bet he can find several other criminal offenses committed by Craig?
Craigs List gets a lot of traffic for being free and simple. However, I do agree that there is probably a lot of illegal transactions going on with the site. How many more people have to die!
I’m glad CL is not following this advice.
Go CL!
He is crazy…. look at his website…..
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.”
thanks, updated
Sounds like Craigslist largely did what they were asked to do. Aren’t there bigger, less-compliant fish to fry?
Evidently not..
http://wcbstv.c....2.1014204.html
“7 Arrested In NYC Craigslist Prostitution Ring
Cuomo: Unless More Is Done, Site Will ‘Continue To Be Environment Where Criminal Operations Thrive”
Geebo is excited to offer up three cheers of gratitude, thanks and appreciation for South Carolina’s strong stance against the illegal practices of Craigslist. Hip, hip, hurray!
Ignore the nay-sayers, such as Michael Arrington of TechCrunch, who seem more concerned over the past than the future. South Carolina has given Craigslist an opportunity to redefine who they are. I am sure Mr. Arrington has made a few poor decisions in his life that he would not like to define himself by. If the main concern is slavery, perhaps Arrington should do some more research as to Craigslist’s links to human trafficking. If Craigslist can be forgiven for 21st century slavery practices, than Geebo trusts Arrington could find it in his techie heart to ease up on his South Carolina history lesson.
Taking a stand of solidarity against Craigslist’s recent suit for declaratory relief and a restraining order against Attorney General Henry McMaster, Geebo would like to offer their support and dissection of the turn of events. South Carolina Attorney General McMaster should not apologize for protecting the rights, property and lives of his population. It was what he was voted into office to do. Often, politicians fail to live up to their responsibilities, in McMaster’s case he has gone above and beyond, though still within Constitutional limits, in the name of citizen safety. All McMaster has done is point out that the value of Craigslist does not lie in the ability to freely post, with marginal monitoring. For those that believe that this limits, inhibits or trespasses against Craigslist’s Constitutional freedom, I’ve got news for you…Geebo manually monitors every post, every day to ensure that the only content appearing on the Geebo site is in the best interest of our users.
Conversely, Craigslist has openly admitted, “We don’t think of ourselves as do-gooders or altruists. We are trying our best to be run with some sense of moral compass”. Their moral compass must have been purchased on their site.
Though Craigslist’s above the law mentality and sense of entitlement is laughable, the issue as a whole is no laughing matter. Craigslist’s Craig Newmark has remarked that, “There’s no genius behind it. It is persistence and listening to people,” when it comes to Craigslist’s conduct. The people of South Carolina are saying “Change your ways or get out”. Though the message doesn’t require any algorithm translation, it seems pretty clear.
Craigslist founder, Craig Newmark, has stated before that “We don’t have much in the way of a business strategy”. Geebo is proud to share the sentiments of disgust and disdain for Craigslist’s shortcomings and irresponsible behavior with the citizens, law enforcement and government of South Carolina. It is true, great minds do think alike!
Hat’s off to you, South Carolina! We at Geebo are impressed by your Craigslist ultimatum and are pleased to lend our support. It is our hope that other state’s follow your exceptional lead.
So did you have to take a course to achieve this level of sycophancy or do you just naturally drop to your knees for anybody who abuses their power by harassing your competition?
Do you have any idea how purely self-serving this circle-jerk of a comment looks?
You probably don’t understand Adam Smith’s invisible hand, Google’s Pagerank, or Wikipedia, do you?
I don’t think I’ve seen stupidity displayed at this level by a company ‘executive’ in quite some time.
you sir, in my humble opinion, are a douche.
Fine if you have a different opinion on this than most sane human beings. But considering you’re an executive at a Craigslist competitor, Greg, I’m afraid I’m going to have to agree with ‘coldbrew’ and say that this is unprofessional on many levels.
“Their moral compass must have been purchased on their site”. priceless!
it is well written, isn’t it, Robin.
Apparently Greg Collier is a two-faced hypocrite or should we just call it a more common name – republican?
Greg Collier IS a Geebo.
Why don’t you fuckers leave him alone and just give him some candy, for christ’s sake?!
I hate it when people pick on retards.
Wow, Democrats aren’t hypocrites? That is news…
“The people of South Carolina are saying ‘Change your ways or get out’.”
Wrong. AG McMasteris saying change your ways or get out. Based on usage of CL, most South Carolinians are quite supportive of the site. Just because he was elected doesn’t mean they agree with every position he has taken.
Let’s teach this self-promoting tosser a lesson. Go to google and search for geebo and click the “X” next to it. This will remove it from your search result. It will also remove some google juice.
You can also search online classifieds, geebo result is on page 7.
I didn’t realize Geebo was so fond of letting government bureaucrats redefine free speech. You’re “pleased to lend your support”? How self-serving and facist can you be? Sounds like Geebo is the one “taking this opportunity to re-define who they are”.
Thanks for letting us know!
“The people of South Carolina are saying “Change your ways or get out”.”
No, they are not.
“We say just go ahead and shut off South Carolina from Craigslist.”
Screw you Robin!
You have a massive vacuum writhing in your skull.
Wauters is correct. CL SHOULD, in fact, disallow SC from accessing their site.
As a matter of fact, if McMasturbate really wants to serve his Holy Ghost imbibing constituents he should put the entire state under a wickedness filter.
Run the entire net through a SC government hub with Pollyanna and Raggedy Ann removing every last scrap of satanic filth.
http://wcbstv.c...30;..14204.html
“7 Arrested In NYC Craigslist Prostitution Ring
Cuomo: Unless More Is Done, Site Will ‘Continue To Be Environment Where Criminal Operations Thrive”
It will be interesting to see what New York does in regards to this. It’s pretty obvious that there is a problem with Craigslist. Is law suits the right way to fix it? I have no idea.
I think Craig’s List should just pull out of SC entirely. Let the voters have at this guy when he runs next.
I think the SC gov’t acted in the best interest of their constituents. It may not be the popular move, but it does call into discussion the very conduct that is in question on the CL posts: solicitation of prostitution and the dissemination and posting of graphic pornographic material. Both solicitation of prostitution and unrestrained dissemination of pornographic material are against the law in that state. Just as Google is now complying with different localities regarding their street views now blurring faces and plates, there is probably a technical solution to the problems CL has inadvertently allowed.
This is a win for both CL and law enforcement. It is a win for CL because this is one hurdle that both puts them in a light as responsive to criticism and allows for further development and refinement of their web application to meet a number of scenarios. For law enforcement, this is a win because they are meeting their mission for the community and hopefully preventing crime within their locales.
The ad hominem attacks against McMaster are nothing more than unreasonable or illogical persons venting without looking at the larger picture. My $0.02.
What is the larger picture? Prostitution doesn’t exist in a void. If this jerk actually wanted to do something about the crime, he would be spending his time and effort arresting every “john” in South Carolina. Without demand there would be no supply advertising their goods on craigslist.
“I think the SC gov’t acted in the best interest of their constituents.”
Your comment will only be proved correct when ALL sites within the state of SC that display advertisements for prostitution and disseminate and post ‘graphic’ pornographic material officially cease and desist from doing so.
If they really wanted to do some good for their constituents, as you blindly state, they would put the entire state under a filter.
You have no clue what is occurring here do you?
We have a political AG like that here in Illinois. When there is indignation among the lower, vindictive, mob classes over some incident, she is always there with some sort of trumped up charge, investigation, or vow for new laws.
Why doesn’t someone just open up a Craigslist for hookers on servers out of the country….. Specifically for South Carolina and then get listed in 1st place for this jerks name in google.
I am sure a couple developers on here working together could google bowl his name within a week.
People, let me tell you why this story is just ridiculous.
The main problem in prosecuting these types of offense is: you need to FIND them.
Now, here’s the bird’s eye view of the story:
This AG has a TOOL (named CL) to find every prostitute, criminal ring, whatever ON Craig’s List!
Open the page, read, go there, identify the people who are soliciting prostitution, arrest them.
Instead of that he just wants to CLOSE the precious source of leads FOR HIS JOB !
What does it tell us about his professionalism? It tells us that he’s NO professional and DOESN’T WANT TO DO HIS JOB!
That’s it, people, the guy’s just lazy and doesn’t want to do his job.
He doesn’t want to do what you suggest because actually stopping prostitution is not his goal. His goal is to get on tv.
That is an awful lot of assumptions for someone who doesn’t work in law enforcement.
You mean, for someone who don’t get his cut from the prostitutes, right? Is that what you mean?
It is amazing how the fires have been fueled. We will see outcome in the next 5 years.
Screw You. I’m from SC. You think your opinion is more important because your from CA or wherever. Well you can stick your long patrician nose where the sun don’t shine. My response isn’t about who is right or wrong but about jerks like you who have a superiority complex.
umemployment is at 11.4 percent in South Carolina and he’s spending all of his time thinking about Craiglist?
No, it looks like he wants to squeeze prostitutes in his state, for a completely humane purpose of course, not bribes, god forbid.
Craigslist didn’t spawn any of these vices, they were already occurring and will continue long after craigslist. I understand the SC people voted him in the clean up the state but attacking craigslist isn’t going to solve anything.
Interesting spin McMaster put on it — I think they should add the section back with some minor changes just to make him angry.
It is funny that an Attorney General doesn’t use a spell checker for an official statement.
“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”
You know, in proper English, you are supposed to use a “PERIOD” to terminate a sentence. I thought an Attorney General should know about it.
Fact: CL enables prostitution.
Fact: Prostitution is illegal
It follows: CL is enabling an illegal activity.
Going after CL is not a bad move.
Anyone who has a problem with this, should see a psychiatrist.
Exactly. And the fact is CL is a headline generator. It’s popular. So where do you think the criminals are going to advertise? In the least popular place? Of course not. They want to advertise in the most popular places. And this is the most popular place to put an ad and actually get away with it.
So anyone who says the AG is going after CL because it generates headlines is exactly correct. That’s exactly what the AG should be doing.
Craig must be thinking, "Thanks for the PR, South Carolina!"
Attn: Henry McMaster -
Good Lord! Don’t you have better things to do than chase around Internet porn? Gang related crimes are out of control all over our state, drug use continues to creep higher, and you are worried about people reading possible cyber-sex ads on a website? Are you going to block ALL possible pornographic web content in the state?
As a father, a business owner, an avid technologist, and a resident of South Carolina I am saddened by your decision to pursue such a non-critical issue simply because a company is making headlines these days and you want your name in the big print. Time to re-visit your priorities and start worrying about the real problems we are facing in this great state of ours instead of looking for issues that will put your name on the evening news.
Isn’t all of this state legal action against Craigslist (including NY) really about defending newspaper classifieds revenue?
Follow the money… who would benefit with no CL in South Carolina, or really, any state?
We care about this because we’re social voyeurs, be it good or bad. Though BAD is more of an attention getter. If this wasn’t so blown out of proportion in the, “You’ve gotta be f-ing kidding me for trying this McMasters!”, then we’d always find something else to be up in arms about. But at the moment, I say to you McMasters, “Jog On!”
You simplify reality which serves only the slight purpose of amateur-level social codification.
To relegate this issue to voyeurism is a mistake.
McMaster spits in the wind and then claims he waters the garden.
What are his goals? Is he seeking to save prostitutes from denigration? Does he see every John as evil? Is he saving SC society from the ravages of satan and rank immorality?
His goal is to enforce the law? He hasn’t and he cannot.
If the laws he posits on the SC AG site ARE TO BE ENFORCED, FULLY, the internet in SC MUST be seized and filtered through law enforcement servers.
Newspapers and media of ALL stripes, sizes, and styles must come under strict enforcement and possible lawsuit and seizure if so much as one ad for erotic services is listed- do you see this occurring? No.
Ask yourself, why?
Dumb Shit McMaster has achieved NOTHING! Except for making himself look like a total ass to people intelligent enough to resist looking at issues through the tiny keyhole of ideology.
Catapulting one’s career on the sweaty backs of whores seems to work because society is chock full of those who enjoy the jackboot of brute morality in spite of its perpetual ineffectiveness and their own rank hypocrisies.
I never cease to be amazed by the internet’s ability to bring people together in discussion and dissent. The ability to speak your mind freely, unabashedly and without fear of repercussion is a right that I wish more people would exercise. The dialogue we are exchanging now is what needs to be perpetually done. It is through debate that progress is made and the world becomes a better place.
Whether you agree or disagree with the Attorney General of South Carolina or Craigslist, the important thing is that you have an opinion. Your opinion proves that beneath it all, our population still cares about one another’s safety and security, whether in the form of their personal well-being or ability to access business opportunities. The concern for those around us, in South Carolina and elsewhere, is humbling.
Continue standing up for what you believe in!
This isn’t much of a surprise to me; SA’s and GSA’s have been going after craiglist like there is no tommorow lately. Mostly for their erotic services section, but hey if you remove it from craigslist it will just pop up somewhere else.
this is not surprising,