Craigslist shuts down adult services section under US legal pressure

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Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, one of the 17 attorneys general who pressed for the change, said in a statement that he welcomed the change and was trying to verify Craigslist's official policy going forward.

In an Aug. 24 letter, the state attorneys general said Craigslist should remove the section because it couldn't adequately block potentially illegal ads promoting prostitution and child trafficking.

Authorities point to the case of 24-year-old Philip Markoff as a prime example of the dangers posed by Craigslist services. The former medical student was accused of killing a masseuse he met through the hugely popular classified advertising site, which was founded by Craig Newmark. Markoff committed suicide in the Boston jail where he was awaiting trial.

If Craigslist has left the adult services business for good, it won't likely diminish the online market for sex acts, said Steve Jones, a professor of communication at the University of Illinois in Chicago who has studied Internet culture.

The business will likely shift to other adult sites, perhaps based outside the United States. “I bet there are people today who are registering domain names and saying: 'Business opportunity for me,'” he said.

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