State AGs Now Targeting Backpage After Forcing Craigslist To Stop Helping Them Pursue Lawbreakers
from the how-backwards-can-you-get? dept
We've already explain how the political grandstanding campaign against Craigslist, that got the company to shut down its "adult services" section based on no legal reason, does plenty to harm the people the various state attorneys general think they're "helping." Craigslist has been highly active in working with police to use the site to find and arrest those actually responsible for dangerous exploitation of children. But by shutting off that tool, the ads simply migrate to sites that are more underground and less willing to work with law enforcement. Apparently, though, the AGs are stuck on the political headlines, and don't care at all for anyone's actual safety.So they've moved on to their next target: 21 state attorneys general have kicked off a grandstanding campaign against Backpage, the online classifieds arm of Village Voice Media (the same company that was just sued over the same issue). Once again, Backpage is one of the companies that has worked closely with law enforcement -- and the AGs even admit that in their announcement demanding the company shut down the tool.
This is incredibly dumb and frustrating. In the pursuit of headlines falsely claiming that they're "protecting" children, these AGs are only serving to attack the companies who help them track down those actually responsible for child exploitation and child prostitution. All they're doing is making the problem worse. Those who are exploiting these kids in the worst possible way won't stop doing it -- they'll just use other means to do so, in a way that's harder for police to track them down and to capture them.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: grandstanding
Companies: backpage, craigslist, village voice
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
This is incredibly dumb and frustrating
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Easily Ignored
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
1) "They simply want to be able to ignore the problem more easily ... not actually fix anything." ... they want people to believe they are doing something about the problem.
2) The poor judgement of people in power.
3) Funding for political campaigns and exposure.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Response to: Alan Gerow on Sep 21st, 2010 @ 2:13pm
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
You're missing a closing parentheses.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Shazbot!
How can you say that?
After all, look at how successful drug enforcement laws have been...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
GET A LIFE
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: GET A LIFE
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: GET A LIFE
Another public school failure.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: GET A LIFE -- Flagging this points up remarks in #2 and 3.
By the way, your hiding mechanism doesn't work without javascript enabled.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The AGs gestapo-like policies have no place in a proper democracy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Main Stream Media
The headline could read
"21 AG caught with their Pant Down"
going after the wrong people, then state that Craigslist and Backpage work with lawenforcement
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
cowards
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
AGs are against UN-organized crime.
And for anyone who doesn't think that pedophilia is rampant among the organized elite, I have just two words: Catholic Church.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Today our websites, tomorrow our libraries.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
If they attacked a company whose sole source of revenue was escort ads, they company could justify spending every last dime on their defense since they have no other revenue stream without the ads.
I dare them to go after MyRedbook.com, it is the best escort ad website anyway.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Cleanternet for your safety.
They are using proven methods(ignore it) to combat this evil.
Can't you people see all the good that this will generate?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Are there other sites on the internet?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
This is hypothetical, but...
For example, Craigslist could counter-sue the AGs for restraint of trade, misuse of authority, or somesuch when, after a two-year test period, there's no reduction in the specific crime at issue.
With the crime rate is unchanged, or even increased, the Attorneys General would have to reimburse the company for the revenue it lost (with interest), as well as repaying the state treasuries for the money spent on both sets of lawsuits.
Yeah, there would have to be trustworthy, independent statistics – a complete impossibility in this situation. But it's hypothetical. The point is there's no accountability, plus the perpetrators control the statistics.
If Craigslist et al have truly committed crimes, just charge them as such and let juries sort it out. Of course we all know that would morph into the AGs pushing state legislatures for new laws moving the goalposts. But maybe the whole thing would come to a quick end once a state was held liable for false or malicious prosecution.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
There's your problem! They're just being nice to all of the law enforcement community by ensuring a high demand for their services.
ALL law enforcement agents will lie, even in court, if it furthers their aims. "To Protect and Serve" is only the first part of the "mission statement" the rest should read "our interests at all costs."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
step 1. remove all easily available "bad things" from the internet
step 2. demand harsh laws and internet "wire tapping" and recording of everything that everyone does "because we can't find the evil people otherwise...they're hiding"
step 3. complete control of the internet which is then given over to big media
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
NPR on CL and child trafficking
One of the guests commented on how CL was promoting child trafficking and how the Georgia police had made 2700 arrests based on CL postings in a single year.
Unfortunately, neither the commentator nor the other guest pointed out how this seems like CL is lining up these sons-of-bitches for plucking by law enforcement.
Her other statement was (paraphrasing) "The AGs and police are all for shutting CL sex boards down," to which no one even leaned anywhere near, "So who cares what they think?"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Makes me wonder...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
exact same post on a different thread great savings at .25 per key stroke
At least prior to the AG's making Craigslist take cash for the ads, Craigslist had no no prior involvement with the add prior to posting. With backpage that has never been true.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
AGs and abuse of power
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Story Update
Backpage told the AGs that they were engaged in a legal activity, and the AGs could piss up a rope.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]