Afternoon:
14°c
It's become something of a perfect PR storm. Back in March, Craigslist was sued by a Michigan sheriff for knowingly promoting and facilitating prostitution, just the latest US law enforcement official to blame the site for the prevalence of prostitution in his or her jurisdiction.
Tired of the aggravation, Craigslist said it would replace its free "erotic services" section with a vetted "adult services" area (which it did this week) and hoped that would be the end of it. But last month, Philip Markoff, a Boston medical student, allegedly attacked two women he met via Craigslist, killing one of them. The media immediately rehashed the whole prostitution controversy and dubbed Markoff "The Craigslist Killer." "Share your Craigslist crime story," invited the San Francisco Chronicle in the aftermath.
Indeed, there's a palpable "get Craigslist" bandwagon abroad in the US. The Securities and Exchange Commission, for example, titled a recent press release: "SEC brings emergency charges involving fraudulent securities sold on Craigslist," when in truth the fraudsters were working across multiple sites and print publications.
It's not as though you can't find escort ads anywhere else. Frauds, robberies and bad hook-ups occur regularly as a result of ads placed in other media, where the offending parties can be much, much harder to trace than those who find their victims on Craigslist. But for now Craigslist is getting it in the neck - quite unfairly, most people here feel.
That the site has helped destroy the traditional news business probably isn't winning it friends among sensation-hunting print journalists. But the negative attention is also a measure of how far the little guys have come. The site now runs about 40 million classifieds a month, making it one of the world's largest classified advertising organisations.
Such success brings riches, for sure, but it also places a great fat target on your head.
* FACEBOOK is moving offices across town and into my neighbourhood this week. Trying to allay fears that our streets will be taken over by boy racers barreling through on their way to work, the company held an open house the other night and treated us all to wine and sushi. Most neighbours are still wary but appreciated the gesture.
* SOME local kids soon may be attending the Larry Ellison Elementary School. The Belmont-Redwood Shores School District board has decided to ask Ellison, whose Oracle Corporation is based in Redwood Shores, for a donation to the district in return for having his name on the school.
