Amid calls to curb ads for illegal sex, Craigslist CEO defends status quo:
Finally, I get to use that picture again. Thanks, Jim.
Anyway, craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster is again saying things to the media that make my mouth stand agape. Let’s go to Mr. Buckmaster’s latest…
“I would not describe any section of our site as ‘sex related,’ ” Buckmaster wrote in response to a series of e-mailed questions from the Globe.
He acknowledged that Craigslist offers an “erotic services” section that should not include more than “legitimate escort services, sensual massage, exotic dancers, etc.,” but said that offers to exchange sexual favors for money are “strictly prohibited” and removed from the site.
“Roughly one percent of ads posted on CL are in the ‘erotic services’ section,” he wrote.
First I have to congratulate Megan Woolhouse of the Boston Globe for actually getting a direct response from Mr. Buckmaster. When she tried contacting Craig Newmark, according to the article, Mr. New mark referred her to his PR people who in turn referred her to Mr. Buckmaster.
Now let’s get back to his statement. Craigslist not sex related? That’s like saying the Mustang Ranch in Nevada isn’t sex-related. I would also go as far to say that craigslist is rape, robbery, murder, human trafficking and scam related but that’s just me. And the fact that you say the erotic services section should not include more than “legitimate escort services, sensual massage, exotic dancers, etc.,” doesn’t make it so obviously. Some would even argue the legitimacy of those services. Lastly, erotic services may only be 1% of the ads on craigslist but from what I’ve been told it generates the majority of the traffic for craigslist and in the internet business, which is, in fact, serious, traffic means money.
Jim Buckmaster reminds me of a dictator who refuses to accept that his country is burning around him.
Real Crime with Trench Reynolds 
While I have found both of my current part-time jobs on craigslist (and no…none of them are in the sex industry as I can’t survive on .50 a month), I am always amused when guys like this want all the reward but NONE of the responsibility. Personally, I know that I couldn’t sleep at night nor look at myself in the mirror if I knew that MY business was being used to rob and murder people and I did nothing to change or stop it. I think it’s called a soul or a conscience…..Eventually, someone will sue and win and that will be the end of that.
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What the hell is wrong with our media today? Do they not have access to the internet or Google? How can they let this scumbag LIE! Lazy reporters! I think instead of pimp his picture should say Child Slave Dealer or Child Abuser! 2,800 kids pimped out is an insane number! I don’t understand why congress has allowed this Craigslist legal loophole to go unaddressed! Perhaps you could start a petition Trench to get congress to update this 1996 broken law. Do you know who to write about changing this law? I have written most of them already but I sure would like to know the right ones to call and write more frequently. Thanks!
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Craigslist is a sesspool of crap. That is THE SEX site!
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I will never use craigs list to find a job, I prefer to find imployment to old fashion way, I make resumes and send them Directly to the employer, where I seek to be an employee. Less, for want of a better word Scumbags.
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Not to get too liberal or rational or whatever, but if you shut down craigslist that only leaves a spot for another company to start a website with the exact same services. How about we stop looking for band aids and start looking for long term cures. I have never in my life paid for sex, nor do i plan to, but if prostitution was legalized it would be alot easier to regulate and make taxes off. And seriously, whats the big deal, its just sex, its animalistic, natural, normal, awesome, and just because you think its sacred doesnt mean anyone else does.
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BS! Craigslist IS a Sex Hook Up Site….PLAIN & SIMPLEI write to you as a woman, married for over 27 years only to find that “Craigslist Personals” has nearly destroyed my marriage. The personal ads on Craigslist have turned into an all out sexual exploitation and hook up site. I am sure there are other sites as well but right now the Craigslistings are what have hit home for me.I thought my marriage was strong, wonderful I believed that I was married to a man with incredible morals and faith. The end of September 2008 by world would come shattering down around me and I discovered something that I believe MANY other innocent women (and men) need to be aware of. Sex is rampant on the internet. One post can lead to numerous replies and nondescript hookups with total strangers – no strings attached. Married men hooking up with married men, married women, singles….you name it. My husband tells me that at least half of his hookups (and there were a lot) were with other married men, all looking for non-committed sex. Also there is the Video cam sex with up to 50+ viewing at a time!It’s heart breaking to learn these things. I honestly thought that this stuff was not real it couldn’t happen to me. How WRONG I was! It happens and is happening more and more with more people. It can happen to ANYONE! Had this site required registration & payment to post (like they have done for jobs listings) my husband would have been less likely to subscribe since I manage the checkbooks and finances for the family. Granted there are ways around a person keeping financial secrets from a spouse/partner but I feel it would cut back on some of the postings and potentially spare some innocent, unaware spouse/partner of the pain and heartache that I have experienced. I know this wouldn’t fix it for everyone but it would stop some from posting. If personal ads of ALL kinds required registration with ACTUAL names, addresses and phone numbers and payments for each and every post it would cut down on some of the postings. I realize that there will still be those willing to pay to play/post but at least it might cut down on some of the postings. Right now it is too easy, post, email back & forth, hook up and then go on their merry way…so to speak. Its fast and easy, literally drive through sexual exploits! Personally it should cost a lot to post on these sites significantly!In taking a test to determine Sexual Addiction (http://www.sexhelp.com/sast.cfm ), we determined that my husband is a sex addict and is seeking treatment for such. He is in a 12-step program for sex addiction and it is tough. Sexual pleasures are so easily obtained out there with the help of the internet and sites like Craigslist are not helping. SHUT THE SITE DOWN!
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Oh, and for those that try and say that it’s not a “Hook up site” I have the Craigslist postings and additional correspondance printed out (and in a safe-secure place) that DEFINATELY say otherwise.
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So what is a “legitimate escort”. This guy is totally full of it. and the casual encounters section is full of ladies looking for afternoons together for grocery money or $50 roses.
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