The best little whorehouse on Teh Internetz

Craigslist is apparently not only the king of classified Ads, but its beating off all the competition for being the Pimp of The Net. CNet:

Chicago Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart on Thursday sued the popular Internet classified service, accusing Craigslist of being one of the largest sources of prostitution in the country.

In an interview with CNET News, Dart said that the kind of sex services being advertised on Craigslist frequently involves minors as well as people forced into prostitution against their will. The federal lawsuit filed by Dart's office claims that Craigslist's erotic section is a powerful marketing tool for pimps and prostitutes and makes it easier for criminals to elude police.

The real lesson is that the Net is just the latest distribution system for one of the oldest occupations of mankind - Craigslist just being the current most efficient manifestation:

At the same time, however, this is a story that underscores how one of the world's newest technologies has become a vital part of one of the world's oldest occupations. For the majority of Craigslist users--the millions who sell sofas, rent rooms, or find Spanish tutors every day--a steamy online brothel juxtaposed with Craigslist's plain-wrap classified pages may seem unlikely. But with the emergence of the Internet as a vital communications medium, it was only a matter of time before sex for hire infiltrated the listings on Craigslist as well.

Given it was ever thus, it will also be inevitable that the authorities will seek to impose national laws on the Net, and already some countries are mandating that ISPs monitor for the parts of the trade that are totally illegal and abhorrent, eg child porn. Craigslist won't escape:

Craigslist has pledged to implement new measures designed to discourage people from using the site's erotic services section for prostitution. The privately held company responded in November to complaints from state attorneys general that the site's administrators were allowing users to post ads for prostitution in violation of its own terms of service.

Craigslist managers said they would adopt new measures, such as requiring anyone who posted an ad in the exotic services section to provide a valid credit card and phone number. The idea is that anyone planning to break the law will be reluctant to identify themselves.

Next they may ask them to pay...a business model that makes money. I wonder if one could move that plan to Twitter (Twatter?)