After Cook Co. sheriff's suit, Craigslist to pull 'erotic services' ads

Following bad publicity from an allegedly related Boston murder and a lawsuit from Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, Craigslist shut down its 'erotic services' Web pages Wednesday and started monitoring new 'adult services' postings to weed out prostitution ads and nude photos.

The decision to start actively monitoring adult ads before their posting came just before the first court hearing Wednesday on Dart's lawsuit, which seeks $150,000 and the site's removal.

"It appears as if we have been successful," Dart said at a news conference in Chicago Wednesday, adding that he is "cautiously optimistic" the new policies will reduce prostitution ads on the site.

Dart has not dropped the lawsuit. A new court date has been set for June.

"We will see what happens between now and then," he said.

Dart had argued the Web site was effectively partnering with pimps and prostitutes by allowing nude photos and obvious solicitations.

Craigslist officials, however, said it was doing nothing different from newspapers and magazines had allowed for years. Users could flag unseemly postings for removal, site officials argued.

In announcing the changes Wednesday, Craigslist officials issued a statement thanking state legal and law enforcement officials for there "helpful input."

"We are optimistic that the new balance struck Wednesday will be an acceptable compromise...," the statement said.

Hundreds of apparent prostitution postings would appear on Craigslist in the Chicago area alone every day under different erotic services categories such as women-seeking-men and men-seeking-men.

"It was so blatant to any moron ... that this was prostitution," Dart said.

The reversal by Craigslist was also praised by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whose office had sued the Internet site earlier, winning some concessions.

"We think it may make a dent" in Chicago area prostitution, Madigan said of the changes.

But both Dart and Madigan said there likely would still be thinly veiled prostitution ads on Craigslist under the new 'adult services' category even with pre-emptive monitoring. But they said that is better than the current anything-goes 'erotic services' pages.

"The ones who are blatantly holding hands with people committing crimes - that can't happen," Dart said.

Controversy has embroiled Craigslist in recent weeks since the arrest of a man accused of tracking a 25-year-old female masseuse and killing her in Boston through a Craigslist ad.

Under the new policy described by Dart and Madigan, the erotic service pages stopped taking new ads Tuesday and will let them run for a week before dropping the section. In the adult services section Wednesday only three new ads appeared in the Chicago area making references such as "Let's make the SUN SHINE for you today" and "Look No More Your Paradise Is Here!!!"

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