By Andy Owens
aowens@scbiznews.com
Published May 20, 2009

S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster says he welcomes a lawsuit from Craigslist.org in a national dispute over the publication of erotic services on the online classified service.

On his blog this morning, Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said the company had filed a lawsuit asking for a restraining order against McMaster and a declaratory ruling to define the scope of authority for the attorney general’s office.

Earlier this week, Buckmaster asked for an apology from McMaster after receiving a threat of criminal charges of promoting prostitution in the Palmetto State.

“Mr. McMaster’s repeated threats of criminal prosecution should we refuse to shut down Craigslist for South Carolina have left us little choice but to seek declaratory relief before the court,” Buckmaster wrote.

Related documents
Lawsuit filed in Charleston against McMaster by Craigslist
Request for temporary restraining order

In a letter sent to Buckmaster on May 5, McMaster ordered Craigslist to remove within 10 days the portions of its S.C. pages that deal with the solicitation of prostitution and the posting of pornographic material.

“The defensive legal action Craigslist has taken against the solicitor’s and my office is good news,” McMaster said in a statement. “It shows that Craigslist is taking the matter seriously for the first time.”

McMaster also said that, overnight, Craigslist had removed the erotic services section from its Web site, just as he asked them to do in his letter.

“And they are now taking responsibility for the content of their future advertisements. If they keep their word, this is a victory for law enforcement and for the people of South Carolina,” McMaster said.

The whole dispute has created a buzz in national media and online about the role of state government in regulating what happens online. A Facebook page has been created to pressure McMaster to back off, and online publisher TechCrunch conducted a poll asking its readers, “What’s more important: Craigslist or South Carolina?”

In March, Craigslist was hit with a $75,000 wrongful death lawsuit by the Cook County, Ill., sheriff, who accused the Web site of being “one of the largest sources for prostitution in the country.” In April, Boston police arrested Philip Markoff, a 22-year-old medical student, and accused him of killing a New York woman he met on Craigslist.

Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart said the company should be considered a public nuisance that causes damage to children directly and indirectly. The 100-page lawsuit has pages and pages of examples taken from the Web site.

The lawsuit says that “authorities across the country have found Craigslist’s erotic services to be popular with sex traffickers.” Atlanta vice officer Kelleita Thurman was quoted in the lawsuit as saying “Craigslist and similar sites” account for 85% of sexual liaisons men arrange in Atlanta with boys and girls.

In its response to the lawsuit, Craigslist denied, point by point, assertions that it facilitates prostitution and denied opinions cited in the Illinois lawsuit from authorities around the country.

McMaster, who has said he’s interested in running for governor of South Carolina, added that it was unfortunate he had to use possible criminal charges to get the company to respond. He said state agencies would continue to watch Craigslist.

“We trust they will now adhere to the higher standards they have promised,” he said. “This office and the law enforcement agencies of South Carolina will continue to monitor the site to make certain that our laws are respected.”