Craigslist safety questioned after slayings:

I was also interviewed by the San Francisco Chronicle last week and I thought I would just post a quote from the article…

Patrick Black, who operates CraigsCrimeList, a blog that tracks crime on Craigslist, said that lax policies on the Web sites are to blame for the violence. On some days, he posts links to several articles about various illegal activity, under what he calls the “Craigslist crime blotter.”

“Ultimately the responsibility is with the criminal, but Craigslist makes it so easy to facilitate these crimes,” Black said.

Black’s advice is for Craigslist to eliminate “the perceived notion of anonymity” by introducing a ratings system that would highlight more reputable users. He also said the company should place prominent messages on the site warning users that their IP addresses are being tracked and that any crimes can be traced back to their computers.

Firstly, I was told my real name wouldn’t be used if I gave it to them. Luckily I was one step ahead of them and gave them another fake name I haven’t used in a while. If you’ve been with me since the beginning you’d know that Patrick Black was the name I used between being TheTrenchcoat and Trench Reynolds. The sad thing is now I have to come up with a new fake fake name.

Secondly, the rating system was suggested to me by the reporter. I said that would work in conjunction with user profiles. Other than that the rest of the quote is spot on.