A Federal court has dismissed the prostitution lawsuit brought against Craigslist by Chicago’s Cook County Sheriff’s Department and Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart. Sheriff Dart had argued that because the Craigslist erotic services section helps to arrange meetings between hookers and johns, and steers people to places where they can pay for erotic services, Craigslist is in violation of laws against prostitution, and that it should be shut down. Dart added that “the sheer number of daily postings has made it impossible to stymie Craigslist generated prostitution.”
However the judge didn’t see it that way, and dismissed the case based on, among other things, the
Communications Decency Act (CDA) and the protection which the CDA affords a publisher of Internet content.
The CDA is generally held to protect Internet site owners from legal action over content which has been generated and posted by the site’s users.
As such, wrote US District Judge John F. Grady, “Craigslist does not ‘provide’ that information, its users do. ‘Facilitating’ and ‘assisting’ encompass a broader range of conduct, so broad in fact that they include the services provided by intermediaries like phone companies, ISPs, and computer manufacturers. Intermediaries are not culpable for ‘aiding and abetting’ their customers who misuse their services to commit unlawful acts.”
To the Sheriff’s claim that the Craigslist erotic services section was simply a prostitution service, and nothing more, the Judge observed that ads for a woman who will provide erotic dancing services for men “is an adult service that isn’t prostitution.”
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That said, a quick review of the “adult services” section this evening reveals ads that are predominantly like this one, lifted directly from the page:
5’7 135 34A …. ?Take a break from the norm and meet with a delightful lady with charm.?A beautiful Girl Next Door Type, You will enjoy my sweet and friendly attitude, allowing you to relax and enjoy our time together.I am available for Gentlemen who appreciate a Gorgeous lady like Myself. REAL PICS.NO DRAMA AND NO GAMES NO TEXT OR BLOCKED CALLS!!!!**100% INDEPENDENT
(( 970-930-0050 )) CHECK MY REVIEWS ON TOB. AVAILABLE MONDAY THRU FRIDAY 7AM TO 7PM (80 = 15MIN)(125 =30MIN)(175=60MIN) (Sic)
Regardless of how one views the various services being offered in the erotic services – or, as it’s now known, the “adult services – section, the bottom line is that Craigslist cannot be held legally accountable for the ads of their users.
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