Craigslist sues South Carolina attorney general

by Steven E.F. Brown

Classified ad business Craigslist Inc. filed a suit against Henry McMaster, attorney general of South Carolina, who threatened criminal charges against the business over sex ads.

San Francisco-based Craigslist's suit seeks declaratory relief (a clarifying ruling that doesn't include any damage award) and a restraining order over the criminal charge threats.

McMaster called the suit "good news" in a Wednesday statement. "It shows that Craigslist is taking the matter seriously for the first time."

The dispute between McMaster — who is considering a run for governor of the Palmetto State — and Craigslist concerns ads on the site's "erotic services" section, which McMaster said constituted prostitution. That section of Craigslist has now been eliminated and a new, more strictly regulated "adult services" section has been added.

"If they keep their word, this is a victory for law enforcement," said McMaster. His statement didn't directly address the criminal charges, saying only, "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."

Two weeks ago McMaster sent a letter to Craigslist and its CEO, Jim Buckmaster, threatening "criminal investigation and prosecution" of Buckmaster, founder Craig Newmark, and other company employees if those ads weren't removed.

In an undated statement on his office's Web site, McMaster said his office "had no alternative but to move forward with criminal investigation." His letter to Craigslist, dated May 5, gave the business 10 days to remove its ads.

Craigslist has long maintained that its site puts up the same type of ads long allowed in newspapers, the yellow pages, and on many other web sites, all of them legal. Direct solicitation of sex is not permitted in any ads, though many of the postings do use code phrases like "sensual massage" to convey their meaning.

The company sued McMaster because, it says, it is complying with all applicable laws, it has responded promptly to requests from law enforcement agencies, has offered to meet with McMaster to hear his concerns, and because its has "far fewer and far tamer adult service ads than many mainstream print and online venues operating in South Carolina." McMaster has not threatened those other venues for their ads, Craigslist says.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2009/05/18/daily47.html#