"Erotic service" Craigslist ads no longer free

SAN FRANCISCO — Craigslist, the famed pioneer of free online classified advertising, announced Thursday that one type of advertising will soon no longer be free: those for erotic services.

Instead, the San Francisco-based Craigslist soon will begin requiring those placing ads for massages, strippers, escort services and the like to pay a fee with a credit card — fees the famously profit-averse company plans to donate to charity.

The move is part of a voluntary deal between Craigslist and more than 40 state attorneys general to crack down on prostitution ads. Washington is one of the states.

"It raises the accountability for people posting to the category," said Craigslist Chief Executive Officer Jim Buckmaster. "Our well-intentioned users don't want to see illegal activity on the site, either."

Craigslist, which posts 30 million ads every month in hundreds of cities, will also begin using new search technology in an effort to help authorities find missing children and victims of human trafficking.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who brokered the agreement, said his office contacted Craigslist after receiving complaints about photographs depicting nudity on the site.

Craigslist already requires that people listing erotic services provide phone numbers, and has begun taking legal action against software companies that help people get around that and other restrictions, Buckmaster said.

Craigslist is not legally required to take such steps — existing law provides immunity to services for actions taken by their users, said Kurt Opfahl, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. However, law-enforcement officials can subpoena such companies for user information.

"Requiring phone numbers, credit cards and identifying details will provide a road map to prostitutes and sex traffickers — so we can track them down and lock them up," Blumenthal said in a statement.

Requiring phone numbers has already reduced the volume of erotic-services ads by 80 percent, Buckmaster said. Charging an as-yet-undetermined fee is expected to reduce the volume still further.

The deal brought accolades from groups such as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which joined the agreement.

The policy attracted a handful of angry reactions on the Craigslist blog, and criticism also came from Maxine Doogan, founder of the Erotic Service Providers Union.

Doogan said Craigslist had provided a place where sex workers could safely connect with clients — and vice versa.

"They always end up further pushing into poverty the class of workers who don't have access to those tools of capitalism," she said. "Back to the streets — that's what's going to happen."

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.