One giant pet peeve of mine is when Internet news sources mention things happening online and yet never provide any links. So here’s a link-rich summary:

Anyone who’s really explored Craiglist knows that it sometimes has a seedy underbelly. There are sometimes-flagrant ads for prostitutes, and sometimes-flagrant posts about people in the marijuana market. Craigslist seems to do the best it can in taking down egregious violations, but it’s not capable of having a human review every post. The Philip Markoff case surely brought this to a head, and Craiglist made some changes, like changing is “Adult Services” category to be more heavily-moderated.

South Carolina’s Attorney General, Henry McMaster, has been grandstanding by threatening to hold Craigslist criminally liable for the illicit postings on the site. (McMaster just so happens to be positioning himself for a gubernatorial race.)

Today, Craiglist’s CEO, Jim Buckmaster, fired back, pointing out that the charges are completely baseless, and that McMaster (the SC AG) himself praised Craiglist’s earlier policies on cracking down on illicit material. I’m not doing the post justice; it’s really a must-read for anyone interested, because it really hammers home the point.