How the Government Turned Craigslist Into the Web's Biggest Pimp

Back in November of 2008 Craigslist made a deal with 40 U.S. attorneys general to clean up their business in classified sex ads, many of which were used to facilitate prostitution. But as a new report reveals, these regulations actually transformed the illicit ads into Craigslist’s fastest growing source of revenue . . .

The AIM report has provoked a reaction from some of the AGs involved in the 2008 agreement. Richard Blumenthal, AG for the state of Connecticut, wrote in a letter that he was “deeply troubled” by the fact that Craigslist was earning a significant portion of its revenue from what he described as “posts that are clearly for illegal prostitution” and the fact that the company had reneged on its charitable agreement.

When it comes to the charitable giving, Blumenthal has a point. But Craigslist didn’t charge for this kind of advertising before the attorney generals raised a stink. In a certain sense, Blumenthal and his colleagues have no one to blame for Craigslist’s booming business in online prostitution but themselves . . .full text