Craigslist Gets Restraining Order Against A.G.

by Wendy Davis, May 22, 2009, 3:46 PM

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After weeks of bluster about Craigslist, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster agreed today to a temporary order preventing him from bringing criminal charges against company executives.

"Until the court rules on the merits of craigslist's claims, defendants and their attorneys and staffs shall refrain from initiating or pursuing any prosecution against craigslist or its officers and employees in relation to content posted by third parties on craigslist's website," states the order, which was signed by U.S. District Court Judge C. Weston Houck in Charleston.

The restraining order shouldn't be a surprise, given that the law was so clearly on Craigslist's side. The federal Communications Decency Act says that Web sites aren't responsible for posts created by users that violate state law.

Nonetheless, McMaster spent the last two weeks publicly threatening to prosecute CEO Jim Buckmaster and others for facilitating prostitution because of ads on the site.

Craigslist had already agreed to make changes to its site -- even though it wasn't legally required to do so. Last week, the site said it would close its "erotic services" section and replace it with a new, monitored "adult" category. As of today, some of the ads in the "adult" section still appeared to be for prostitution, but with more ambiguous language than in the past.

The site always said that the "erotic services" section was supposed to house ads for services like erotic massage and dancing. But law enforcement officials have complained for a while now that Craigslist carries blatant prostitution ads. The criticism gathered steam in recent weeks, largely because of the murder of masseuse Julissa Brisman. She was allegedly killed last month by a Boston University student who answered an ad she placed in Craigslist's former erotic services category.

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0 comments on "Craigslist Gets Restraining Order Against A.G. ".

1. Clint Dixon from Sem Advance
   

   commented on: May 22, 2009 at 7:10 p.m.

   Given the unfortunate analogy that a murder occurred because of an ad posted online... most newspapers should be shut down as well, as almost every paper carries a personals section where a killer could find their ad.

   Are most Americans that uneducated as to believe a website is responsible for a murder???

   And with shuttering craigslists erotic ads section... just what percentage of the US murder rate will this reduce?

   The so called sheriff, should get his butt on the street and put an end to the crime committed daily in his area in the real world... and worry less about whats online....

   Makes you question what he was doing in the erotic services section to "think" he knows so much,....

   or maybe the truth is he was looking for a girl for himself and got burned....

2. Jeff Cole from JJC Communications LLC
   

   commented on: May 22, 2009 at 8:10 p.m.

   It's about time someone stood up to this boob. H.L. Mencken nailed this kind of person 70 years ago, naming them members of the Great American Boobocracy.

   This AG is a prime example. Apparently, he doesn't want to deal with real crimes, just the fake ones.

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