back to article Martial law planned for Craigslist's red-light district

Craigslist's free-wheeling red-light district is about to get a lot tamer under strict new measures announced Thursday designed to rein in prostitution and other illegal services. The website, where 40 million Americans turn each month to find jobs, tennis partners and the occasional dominatrix, has quietly rolled out new …

COMMENTS

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  1. Tzvetan Mikov

    At last some consistency

    Personally I am for fully legalizing prostitution, but given that it is currently not legal in most places, it makes sense to not be able to post prostitution ads easily. Perhaps when lawmakers can no longer easily find cheap prostitutes on Craigslist, they will finally make some changes in the law? (Yeah, right)

  2. Wokstation

    "Craigslist has also agreed..."

    "...to turn over registered phone numbers to law enforcement officials with a valid search warrant."

    Um... if they have a valid search warrant, it doesn't matter if you agree or not...

  3. tuna
    Paris Hilton

    Whoop-Dee-Doo

    Considering ~90% of posters/repliers are scamerms, spammers or bottom-feeders(not just in the red-light district), this should really polish up that turd nicely.

    Paris, she wants to meet you tonight. Check out her ad in CL personals today!

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Must be a reaction to...

    ...the fact that San Francisco refused to pass the proposition that would "de-criminalize" prostitution.

    Sorry I couldn't resist.

  5. Lou Gosselin

    faulty phone verification

    "Buckmaster saw a similar drop shortly after the implementation of telephone verification, which requires people registering accounts to enter a valid landline or permanent cell phone number"

    When I went on craigslist to advertise IT services this year, it would not accept either my Landline or my cellphone for the account registration. The forums on the website are full of others who have the same problem, their answer: borrow someone else's phone. Nevermind the hassle it makes for legitimate users, doesn't this defeat the point of using phone verification?

    It seems incompetence is not a barrier to success.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    GFE?

    Must be I'm a prude, but I had to google that. Options include:

    -GNU Font Editor

    -Good Faith Estimate

    -Grantmakers for Education

    -Generic Fundamentals Exam

    -Girlfriend Experience

    Now I just have to figure out which one it is...

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Alien

    Is it just me...

    or does the 'sample' ad at the end of the article sound a bit like aManFromMars?

  8. Anonymous Coward
    IT Angle

    So -

    How does Craigslist make money??? Is this a case of more eyes - each one causing a loss of $ - will eventually cause profit? I thought that the 90s were over.

    There is no IT connection but I needed the "?".

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    @ GFE?

    Genital Frolic Experience?

    Grateful For Everything?

    Grant Fresh Erotica?

    Girl Flash Ejaculation?

    I have no idea either...

    But if it was a PHE I would go for

    Paris Hilton Emulation

  10. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    How can they exist ?

    A company that officially proposes 24-hour phone numbers. Is there any legal reason for such a service to exist ?

  11. Name
    Paris Hilton

    "GFE"- @AC

    I saw Genital Frolic Experience at The Forum last april, they were playing support for Coldplay.

  12. Eduard Coli
    Black Helicopters

    Craigtard?

    As long as BB is satisfied so should Craig be.

  13. Jacob Wrangler

    This Will Do Little To Curb Prostitution

    While Craig’s List is definitely a major resource for escorts to advertise their services, there are a number of other sites out there that provide free adverting to escorts. The only thing that will happen if the government sinks its teeth into Craig’s List is that sexual providers and those that use their services will move increasingly to other sites that provide something similar. As a supporter of prostitution myself, I would point you all towards such sites as http://www.naughtyreviews.com, http://www.cityvibe.com, or http://www.mpreviews.com, just to name some of the better known alternatives out there. These sites allow sexual providers to post ads for free and for “customers” to contact them directly. Prostitution is the oldest profession because there has always been, and there always will be, a demand for it. The internet simply provides too many ways for prostitutes to stay in business and these latest attempts to thwart it will simply cause a movement in traffic from poor Craigslist to the sites I mentioned earlier.

  14. happy endings?

    Prostitution and Craigs list

    Prostitution is legal in Rhode Island, how will they go after people advertising for a legal activity?

    Check out"happy endings" a doc film on Asian massage parlors in RI where prostitution is legal. Check the blog and youtube channel and leave comments. Sign up on the website to get updates on the release.

    www.happyendingsdoc.com

    http://happyendingsdoc.wordpress.com

    http://www.youtube.com/happyendingsdoc

    www.myspace.com/happyendingsdoc

    What is interesting is the RI Attorney general signed the agrement and prostitution is legal in RI, and other states where prostitution is illegal didn't sign the agreement.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    cheap?

    Tzvetan I think you'll find lawmakers prefer expensive prostitutes...

  16. Inachu
    Unhappy

    sad

    every ad i reply to is fake.

  17. tony trolle

    fake pics too

    some just get lifted off of 'myspace'.

    Bit odd seeing your daughters friends picture and some naughty messages on craigslist

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