May 5th, 2009
State AGs to meet with Craiglist over sex ads
Attorneys general from three states - Missouri, Illinois and Connecticut - are expected to meet today with executives from Craigslist in an effort to bring an end to the solicitation for illegal sexual activities being advertised on the classifieds site.
“It is blatant. It is irresponsible. It is illegal,” Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster said in a statement. The group will meet today in New York, according to an AP report.
Craigslist has been under fire lately over the ads, which solicit or offer sexual encounters - often for money.
Last month, the New York Times published an in-depth story about the dark alleys of the online world where people recklessly seek sex and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a news account about how child prostitution continues to flourish on craigslist, despite law enforcement efforts to curtail it. And then, there’s the high-profile case of Boston medical student Phillip Markoff, who has been accused of killing a woman he reportedly met in the erotic services section of craigslist, earning him the nickname “The Craigslist Killer.”
Also see: Craigslist rival uses Twitter to expose dangers of CL’s red-light district
Sam Diaz is a senior editor at ZDNet. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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