I Post Huckabee?

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The plug is being pulled on the radio talk show of  former GOP Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, but Mediaite.com today reports the failed GOP presidential candidate may be taking a page from Arianna Huffington.

Mediaite cites a Craigslist ad looking for reporters to provide content for the Huckabee Post, which the ad claims has offices in New York and Washington DC. Huckabee has not commented on the possible news aggregate site, but has expressed interest in the 2016 presidential race. Huckabee has trouble separating church from state at times, so "TUOL" suspects he's keeping an eye on the current Pope should that position become available.

Fed Judge Grants Backpage.com Injunction Against Tenn. Sex Ads Law

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United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Judge John T. Nixon last week granted an injunction sought by classified ads Web site Backpage.com against a Tennessee statute aimed at online sex ads, The Tennessean's online edition (www.Tennessean.com) reported.

Backpage.com last June sued Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper and the Volunteer State's 31 district attorneys, alleging the law violated its First Amendment rights and ran afoul of the
Communications Decency Act of 1996 [47 U.S.C. sec. 230(c)(1)], which states: "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." The Tennessee statute, which sought to curb sex trafficking of minors, imposes fines of at least $10,000 and subjects violators to a maximum 15 years in prison.

Backpage.com, which employs roughly 100 persons to track classified ad submissions, features an adult services section that boasts ads for strippers and escort services, among other adult-related ads. Craigslist.com stopped running adult classifieds in 2010, which has boosted Backpage's revenues.

According to The Tennessean article, Judge Nixon said the offending statute violated the First Amendment and interstate commerce laws. Backpage.com secured an injunction last July against a similarly worded statute passed by the State of Washington.

Canada to Craigslist: Drop the Adult Ads, Eh?

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Hopeful that online classified advertising giant Craigslist's decision last month to discontinue accepting adult services ads under pressure from several states' attorneys general might be replicated, three Ontario, Canada cabinet ministers sent a letter to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster urging Craigslist to stop accepting ads for prostitutes in Ontario, according to a story in The Globe and Mail.


The ministers' September 14 letter praised Craigslist for its decision in the U.S. and said it was "a matter of fairness" that Craigslist stop running the adult services ads in Canadian cities. 

AGs Have Backpage.com Adult Services Ads in Their Sites

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Buoyed by Craigslist's decision earlier this month to discontinue accepting adult services ads, attorneys general from 21 states are pressuring Village Voice Media-owned Backpage.com to follow suit.


According to Dallas Morning News and Associated Press stories, Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal and Texas AG Greg Abbott both signed on to a letter urging the company to oversee their personal and paid classified ads for suspicious listings and to discontinue free adult online listings. Blumenthal alleges Backpage.com has pocketed $17.5 million from "prostitution ads."


Thus far, Village Voice Media is defiant, claiming only 6 million of its 58 million ads over the past two years involved adult services and that Backpage.com has only testified in five cases involving the alleged abuse of underaged individuals.


"TUOL" believes the AG pressure tactics mask a First Amendment battle the authorities suspect they cannot win. More to the point, the exercise of chasing adult ads from Craigslist to Backpage and beyond is akin to picking up watermelon seeds from a freshly waxed floor--a difficult task that accomplishes little in the end.

Craigslist Not a Pimp; Federal Judge Tosses Sheriff's Suit

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A federal court has sided with Craigslist, the online classified advertising colossus, by dismissing a lawsuit brought by Cook County (Ill.) Sheriff Thomas Dart that accused the forum of promoting prostitution in its erotic services listings.

Judge John F. Grady of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois relied on a provision of Title V of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, better known as the Communications Decency Act (47 U.S.C., sec. 230(c)(1)) in ruling for the defendant in Thomas Dart, Sheriff, v. Craigslist, Inc. (Case No. 09-C-1385).  Specifically, Section 230(c)(1) states that "no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."

Sheriff Dart alleged many of the ads appearing in the erotic services section use code words that in fact involve payment for sexual services. Craigslist expressly warns users that soliciting prostitution is prohibited and has begun charging posters of erotic services ads.

Congress enacted Section 230(c)(1) to encourage Internet Service Providers to police themselves by shielding them from liability for content they did not create. Without such a provision, online speech could be chilled.