Prostitution, Craigslist and Internet Freedom

A New York Times article this week details a law enforcement crackdown on prostitution ads posted on popular Internet community site craigslist.org. Where's the real estate connection here? (Hopefully it's indirect.) It's another discussion about online liability, and the potential problems with user-generated content on Web sites.

Craigslist has played a role in assisting law enforcement investigations over users' fraudulent real estate ads, for-sale stolen goods and illegal drugs, and prostitution ads.

That site and other Internet sites accepting user-generated content rely on protections offered by Section 230 in the U.S. Communications Decency Act passed in 1996.

The article states, "Law enforcement officials have accused Craigslist of enabling prostitution. But the company’s president, Jim Buckmaster, said its 24-member staff cannot patrol the multitude of constantly changing listings -- some 20 million per month -- and counts on viewers to flag objectionable ads, which are promptly removed."

There are a range of real estate industry sites that accept user-generated content, such as discussions and ratings of specific homes, real estate agents and neighborhoods, and there are some very different approaches to monitoring and screening this user-generated content.

Michael Erdman, a Chicago lawyer who publishes the Real Estate, Real Competition and the Law blog, addresses online liability issues in his Online Liability Blog. Referencing the New York Times article in this blog, Erdman states that if the prostitution ads posted at craigslist "were to expand to promote/offer additional illicit activities (drugs, weapons, etc), there again remains the possibility that craigslist's involvement -- albeit as an intermediary -- could trigger federal criminal liability."

Craigslist has been placed on a legal hot seat by a Chicago lawyers' group, which charged that the site violated the federal Fair Housing Act because of discriminatory housing ads posted at the site by its users. A U.S. District Court judge found that craigslist is considered an "interactive computer service" by the Communications Decency Act and is not considered a publisher by law, though the lawyers' group filed an appeal in January 2007.

All rights reserved. This content may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this content without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.