Yesterday at 5pm Craigslist entered the profiting from prostitution business. As part of an agreement with a coalition of 40 attorney generals across the nation they begin charging for ads in their erotic services section.
lets break this down.. in order to cut down on illegal ads they decided to charge for such ads, to the tune of 5 bucks per ad. CL has required a phone number to place in ad in erotic services for months now and has clearly stated their TOS and they they WILL comply with a subpoena and provide an ad posters information to law enforcements when presented with one. That’s all old news CL has ALWAYS complied with law enforcement.
So whats the difference here?… charging for ads, and collecting your credit card info. They state that if you violate their TOS in posting an ad that you will be ineligible for a refund if your ad gets removed. And if presented with a subpoena you’re CC info will be handed over.
I did a quick scan in Los Angeles, and found in less then 24 hours there were approximately 400 erotic services ads. Do the math at 5 bucks a pop were talking 2k in less then 24 hours in LA alone.
I don’t get the logic here, they think when you have to PAY for an ad that you will then no longer advertise? Have they not noticed the many mall sites where people advertise escort services and pay for such ads? like Eros, City vibe, etc? Or is the goal really to make as much cash as possible while making it prohibitive to any real independent sex workers to advertise therefore making it only available to large agencies and AMP’s (they largest violator of trafficking) who can afford to flood the board with ad after ad of rip offs, scams and in-servitude providers. Hardly looking out for the craigslist end user or solving the trafficking problem they claim to care so much about.
When i looked over last nights ads i saw a disproportionate number of “agency” ads using stolen pictures of porn stars, and models. This morning its flooded with AMP, I also saw NO difference in the wording or direction of ads. Basically the only thing that had changed was the independent sex worker was locked out and the tone of the advertising was just as it was the day before, only craigslist pockets are a lot deeper this morning.
According to their own blog “The company intends to donate 100% of net revenue generated from these ads to charity, with net revenue to be verified by an external auditor.” The key word s here are “INTENDS” and “NET REVENUE” they will not be donating 100 % of all ad revenue but the NET revenue not the gross, so craigslist will be profiting from the collection of monies from escort advertising.
Which makes them the largest profiteer from prostitution in the U.S. of A. welcome to the game Craigslist. Only you’re the worst kinda player in the Ho game because you’re in denial about your role and position. You pretend you’re not a pimp all the while bitch slapping your advertisers like crack hos who need to get out on the street and get you your money.
Its clear Craiglist never spoke to anyone from the sex worker side nor do they really understand their OWN business. All the did was find a way to look like they were being tough on “crime” while really what they are doing is “Profiting” from it, in a very BIG way.
I saw news report after news report from yesterday to today on this story and the spin was “Craigslist is monitoring prostitution” or “prostitution crack down” Not one of them mentioned Craigslists making money off this deal. Maybe they Deal Craigslist really brokered with the collection of attorney generals was that crisgslist wouldn’t be prosecuted for pimping or pandering or profiting from the business of prostitution.
I wonder what your pimp name will be Craiglist.. maybe something with “Huggy” or “Silky” in it
http://blog.craigslist.org/2008/11/joint-statement-with-attorneys-general-ncmec/
10 Responses.
You mean they actually get to keep a PORTION of the profits they generate on their own website?
THE HORROR. Where do they think we live? America or something?
well of course they can profit .. but they are profiting from prostitution.
couple of points:
Since CL is owned by Ebay now, they could essentially use the erotic services section to fund the entire operation and then there would be no “Net revenue” How convenient.
they also do not provide any customer service and therefore no recourse in dealing with them if there are issues. also how convenient.
Do legit girls still advertise on there anyway? I always find that the creepiest ones come from there, at least down here.
I secretly think it’s another way for them to ‘collect’ CC info, billing info, address and phone number info from the ‘Pimps’ and AMP’s who advertise on there. The $5 is a paper trail fee for when they are asked for said information from the local LE. Clearly not thinking about the customers, most of the CL ladies are rip offs. (Which is not illegal-right?)
Great reporting Jenny. I think you are right on the money, with this. Soon, men will go back to Eros and Cityvibe to find their women.
Pop: yes legit girls all across the country advertise on CL as well as non pros, agencies and everything in between. i don’t know where you are so i cant comment on your reign.
its a joke really, crime fighting by profiting from it. laughable really.
That's really…frightening…Craigslist being the UberPimp of the internet…ick.
Anyway, you never stopped by my blog or email to claim a prize for your wonderful post-it. Don't forget!
http://sinssecret.blogspot.com/2008/10/and-winners-are.html
<3
Sin
Darling, I’ve just read your entire blog.
I think we’d have lots to talk about.
We should chat sometime. I know you’re a very busy lady, but I’d love a chance to pick your brain for twenty minutes.
a.
We don’t use craigslist or anything on the internet to advertise The Business. We rely on the weekly entertainment rag which basically does the same thing to us.
They charge a small fortune for anything in the “adult entertainment” section, which is several times more than their standard ad rates. Why? Because they know they can get away with it. What else are we gonna do – put coupons in the Sunday paper?
But I never thought of it as another form of pimpin… Wow!
CJ
love the pimp chalice
It’s a felony called “pimping” to take money from the earnings of a prostitute. CL knows these ads are for prostitution – doesn’t that make them guilty of a felony by taking money for these ads now? As for the “charity donation” – I know of a group that helps sex trafficking victims. I suggested to CL they consider donating a portion of that money to help that cause http://www.tapsdirectory.org – and they didn’t even respond back to me about it. So it makes you wonder if they even intend on any of the money going to a charity at all?