One former Craigslist sex worker not a fan of the “Adult Services” ban

Read a little. Learn a lot. • Tightly-written news, views and stuff • Follow us on Twitter • Be a Facebook Fan • Tumble us!

For all the “victims” of the “adult services” section of Craigslist.org, I would venture there are a considerable number of individuals like myself – free thinking, entrepreneurial human beings with choices and responsibilities – whose real-life experiences, not to mention sources of income – are being stifled by our so-called advocates.
Former Craigslist sex worker Melissa Petro • Criticizing those who pressured Craigslist to take down the “Adult Services” ads. Petro made the choice on her own accord, and wasn’t forced into anything. When she didn’t want to do it anymore, she stopped. “I found the lifestyle physically demanding, emotionally taxing and spiritually bankrupting, and so I made a decision to desist,” she wrote. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

06 Sep 2010 10:04

So why are government and media going after Craigslist? The same reason, I think, that media and government in, for example, Germany are demonizing Google (even as the German people give Google its biggest market share anywhere in the world). They’re going after the disruptors, the biggest disruptors in sight.
Jeff Jarvis • Explaining his reasoning about the whole Craigslist “Adult Services” thing, which sounds like a fairly original angle on the whole thing. Craigslist has cost the newspaper industry billions in revenue by simply being able to provide a once-expensive service (classified ads) for free. With a decline in classified revenue of $13 billion across the industry, which might make the media more apt to give this controversy a little extra coverage. “I’m not suggesting conspiracy; I rarely do,” Jarvis writes. “But I do see old power structures huddling together against the cold breath of technologists bringing change.” Remember creative destruction? This is how oid dinosaurs can react to it, if it’s necessary. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

It certainly appears to be a statement about how they feel about being judged in the court of public opinion. It’s certainly the law that they’re not liable for it, but it’s another matter if the attorneys general are saying change your ways.
First Amendment lawyer Thomas R. Burke • Regarding the Craigslist “Adult Services” situation. It’s probably worth noting that Craigslist has thus far let the “Censored” bar speak for itself, suggesting that they’re trying to encourage discussion about what the whole situation means as a first-amendment discussion. Or as a safety net. Craigslist needs a little leverage. They’re getting savaged right now. source

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

cause After years of pressure which recently hit a head, Craigslist finally got rid of its monitored, for-pay “Adult Services” section. They put a “censored” bar in its place.
reactionWith “Adult Services” out of service, users just moved over to the loosely-monitored “Casual Encounters” section. Great job, watchdogs. source

» To emphasize: Craigslist had to take down a service which provided tracking and monitoring of all purchases because regulators were concerned about what was on the site. Now, those users are going to go to other places, such as Backpage.com, which DO NOT provide the kind of tracking and paperwork that Craigslist did. Why is Craigslist getting crap here? Simple: Because they’re an easy target. This kind of stuff is going to happen anyway. Deal with the root problem, authorities.

Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

$122
million expected revenues for the no-frills classified site in 2010 alone; at least 70 percent of that is pure profit (and mostly from employment ads)
$39
million in revenue will come from
the controversial for-pay “Adult Services” section, made in the wake of the Craigslist Killer source

» Printing their own money: The site has a small staff for what it is, but despite that, it’s a total gold mine. For every employee Craigslist has (around 30), the company makes $4 million in revenue and at least $2.9 million in profit, a level so high you simply won’t find it anywhere else in the industry. We wish we made $3 million in profits per employee.

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink