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May 8, 2009
Craigslist declassified
Seattle Weekly has a well written thought piece on the hubbub around Craig’slist and the many “killers” recently in the news.
While I agree with Craig and the EFF that web services are tools and good services can be used by bad people, there is room for judgment here. CL has the liaise faire slider WAY over to the left into total anarchy. That is the kind of marketplace it is. People know what the are getting. Buyer be ware. People looking for a different experience should go to a different marketplace. The fact that weird stuff happens in the “erotic services” category should surprise no-one.
There are different marketplaces out there whose creators have set the liaise faire slider in a different place. At Kashless.org for example, we do not allow anonymous posting through our site and do not have an erotic services category. There are many features that drive toward greater transparency in the transaction between individuals. In a free economic transaction that usually includes an in-person meeting, we believe transparency and user authentication is very important. We have built features to support members sharing as much or as little about themselves as they are comfortable. With more options relative to transparency, members of the marketplace have more tools with which to make their commerce decision. You may still decide to deal with someone who you know nothing about, but at least you have some tools to make a more informed decision if you want to.
Of course CL could add features that drive transparency in transactions as well. I am sure their servers already have all the data (in fact CL created over 127 pages of documentation of on-line activity of Michael Andersen for the court trial). The fact that they have decided to not expose any of that activity to the CL community is reflective off their far left slider on the liaise faire meter. I understand that decision. I have made a different decision. In the end users of the marketplaces will figure out their preference.
In the meantime I hope the politicians do not go too crazy on this one. It is tempting for politicians at a time like this to propose sweeping regulation or vast new transfer of liability from users to network service operators. This would be the WRONG reaction to this. There is no way to legislate against criminals doing bad things. We already have enough laws preventing people from killing others. Regulation and shifting liability would crush the development of marketplaces and the related commerce. If you hear your politicians talking about such programs, tell them you would rather have the great web sites and want the police to enforce existing laws.
Posted by Martin at May 8, 2009 9:56 AM
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