SC to Craigslist: Kill Sex Ads or We Prosecute

AG hails it as a win for his state

(NEWSER) - Craigslist has filed federal suit against South Carolina’s attorney general to stop him from charging company executives with breaking state prostitution and obscenity laws. AG Henry McMaster called the site’s move a victory, saying “it shows that Craigslist is taking the matter seriously for the first time,” the State reports. “Overnight they have removed the erotic services section.” More»

(NEWSER) - Craigslist is due an apology from South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, the site’s CEO writes on his company blog, after threatening “unwarranted and unconstitutional charges against us that are clearly barred by federal law.” What’s more, Jim Buckmaster charges, Craigslist isn’t the only outlet running the “adult services” ads McMaster targeted—asking if he’ll go after the CEOs of AT&T, Microsoft, and the South Carolina newspapers he’ll need in his next campaign. More»

Site doubled the price, stopped donating profits to charity

(NEWSER) - For a free site, Craigslist is doing all right: The classified-ad behemoth's profit is projected to climb 22% over last year, reports the New York Times —driven almost entirely by its controversial sex ads, which have been connected to prostitution, human trafficking, and one murder charge. In response to crimes linked to the site last year, Craigslist began manually reviewing sex ads—but it also doubled the price and stopped donating the proceeds to charity. More»

(NEWSER) - Sure, the ads in Craigslist’s new “Adult Services” section are tamer than those that appeared in the old “Erotic Services” category, shuttered after the firestorm surrounding the “Craigslist killer” case. But read between the lines and the meaning is still the same, Chris Matyszczyk writes for CNET. “This is little more than a dance, a dysfunctional Argentine tango between those who advertise sexual services on Craigslist and those who have sought to pursue the site.” More»

Surprisingly, it's not always about sex...

(NEWSER) - In the wake of Craigslist’s “adult services” shutdown , Sudhir Venkatesh refutes five myths about the world’s oldest profession, in the Washington Post :

• Men aren’t always looking for sex: In fact, while studying high-end sex workers, Venkatesh found that many men who hire prostitutes simply end up talking or having dinner together. Approximately 40% of such transactions are actually sex-free. (For lower-end sex workers, that number is around 20%.)