These are controversial days for online classified ad service Craigslist. First up: A lawsuit in Illinois,
where the Cook County sherriff is calling the service “the largest
single source of prostitution in the nation” (and here we are thinking
the largest source of prostitution was, well, prostitutes) because of
the advertising under its “erotic services” category.
Then came suspicions that alleged med student/serial killer/wack-job Phillip Markoff (none
of these adjectives has been proved in a court of law) may have stalked
at least one of his victims through ads in the online service.
Now, a Wisconsin woman has been convicted of disorderly conduct for
posting her ex-boyfriend’s work telephone number and photos under the
“casual encounters” section of Craigslist, encouraging men to “talk
dirty to me.”
The 20-year-old has been ordered to write an apology and perform
community service for the misdemeanor charge, and should consider
herself lucky. She was originally charged with identity theft, a felony
that would have entailed time in an unflattering orange jumpsuit.
Which begs two questions: A) Does that really qualify as identity theft, and 2) What are you wearing?