Craigslist attempting to crack down on e-hookers

Craigslist is one of the most dazzlingly useful websites on the Internet, but as with most things, it has a seedy dark side. Specifically, it's a mecca for "sex workers," who flood its "erotic services" listings with come-ons promising -- in loosely veiled terms -- sex for money.

In an attempt to upgrade its growing reputation as a wretched hive of scum and villainy, Craigslist is taking additional steps to crack down on these listings. In March it began requiring a phone number -- followed by an automated verification call -- before listings would be placed. Yesterday the company said it would take the additional step of charging up to $10 per ad placed, requiring that a credit card be used for payment. The money collected will be donated to charity, including those that fight human trafficking.

Observers, including Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal, think the mere act of requiring personally-identifying information like a credit card number will on its own be enough to send sex workers packing... or at least to friendlier websites. In the linked New York Times story above, he's quoted as shrewdly noting, "There are very few prostitutes who want to be called by Craigslist and asked to give additional identifying information."

But others are critical of Craigslist, going so far as to accuse Craigslist of now acting as a sort of pimp in this arrangement, and that by inserting itself into what was once a largely anonymous system, Craigslist is putting its users at direct risk of legal prosecution, deportation, etc. And of course, this doesn't really stop prostitution, it just moves it somewhere else -- conceivably even back to the streets.

Is Craigslist's move -- a concession to immense pressure from 40 states who've been pushing to get these ads removed -- a good one? The Internet will always have its Red Light Districts, but how far into the back alleys of the web should they be located?

LINK: Craigslist Agrees to Curb Prostitution Ads