Because "Classified Ad Killer" Doesn't Have the Same Ring

The latest indictment of the Demon Internet comes in the form of the so-called "Craigslist Killer" who allegedly trolled the online community's adult-services listings to find his victims. Sadly, a young woman is dead and others victimized at the hands of a clearly psychotic individual. However, if tradition holds, this tragic incident will become yet another rallying cry for those who'd like to curtail freedom and openness on the Internet.

What if the criminal in question had lured his victims using newspaper classifieds? Would we be calling this the Boston Globe Killer? Or better yet the Boston Phoenix Killer, which has numerous ads for massage services? Would the news networks be hosting a parade of talking heads calling for sweeping new content and usage restrictions for newspapers?

I think we all know the answer to those questions.

Newspapers classifieds are not a mystery to people. Most see classified ads as useful tools for buying and selling goods and services. They understand implicitly that they must exercise caution when dealing with strangers and take appropriate precautions.

After more than a decade as a regular facet of our day-to-day lives, it's time for us to start treating the Internet with the same clear-headedness.

A great many of the tragic incidents that tangentially involve the Internet have little or nothing to do with the Internet itself. The Craigslist case is the latest example of that phenomenon. Craigslist is an innovative and valuable resource, which frankly, is being unfairly smeared because it is an Internet site.

In scanning adult services ads, the perpetrator in this case was clearly seeking out vulnerable victims. Whether on the streets or online, women in that business have been targets for violence since long before the advent of computers. From Jack the Ripper, to the Green River Killer to the so-called "Craigslist Killer," evil men have targeted culturally marginalized women. That the most recent criminal to follow this violent pattern used Craigslist to find his victims may be novel, but it does not make the crime unique, or deserving of special regulatory focus.

The danger of this alarmist, tabloid response to all-things-Internet, is not only that it needlessly frightens people away from using safe, effective Internet tools, but that it undermines the tremendous social and economic value that innovative Internet communities like Craigslist, MySpace and Facebook have created for users around the world.

It is clear that bad people will continue to abuse these networks, but it is equally clear that the net impact of these tools on our society and economy has been overwhelmingly positive. To maintain that balance, it is vital for users to take precautions when interacting with strangers online; for Internet companies to establish and enforce effective safety policies; and for law enforcement officials to aggressively pursue the criminals who abuse these tools.

What is counterproductive is the predictable clamor for newer, more restrictive laws every time one of the Internet's billion users does something illegal.

Lost in the hubbub, is the extraordinary value that Craigslist provides to millions of Internet users everyday, and the significant, voluntary changes that Craigslist has already made to increase the safety of the people using adult postings. Craigslist requires customers who post adult ads to provide their names, addresses and credit card numbers as a condition of posting on the site. The digital paper trail created by these policies has significantly cut down on adult ads, weeding out illegal services while providing law enforcement with enough verifiable information to track down bad actors

It will be a good thing for the Internet when its longstanding novelty finally wears off. It will help us all be a little more critical about the good and bad online, and about what actually constitutes a unique electronic threat, versus a real-world problem with an inevitable online analog. On the bad side, the media may have to find a new villain.

Comments

[JLRoberson]

I wonder if anyone's noticed that the news media have seized on this issue right at the same time Craigslist is losing them lots of classified ad revenue. What a coincidence! They couldn't be trying to destroy their competition at all.

[blood1]

I understand how the media thinks it is doing their job, but when a singular event takes over the news, then they must take some responsibilty for raising the profile of this case. When the media somehow tries to make CL or any other information sharing media the focal point of the story, then they are distorting the facts.

This facination with any unique and individual murder is a distortion of what is going on in the world in which we live. If the media wants to play a role in the facination, then let it do so, as it is their time and money. But to put this on national TV by all the networks as the most important event of the day, seems off-centered.

Each time I see this, I think: slow news day! Surely there is something more worthy of a network broadcasts. Tabloid news, that which the main stream media had historically have so soundly rebuked in the past...is now part of their bread and butter....I always ask: Who Cares what some "so and so" did? Does that affect me? If the answer is NO, then I either turn off the TV or watch PBS!

[oldandintheway1]

Lets see shall we change it from"Guns don't kil People", People with guns kill people",to "The Internet Doesn't kill people", Bad people using the internet kill people"???

[RickO]

It's pretty stupid to blame Craig's List. We feel safe in our little cocoons mere feet away from neighbors we probably don't know and we forget that the world is not a very nice place.

Imagine someone placing an ad anywhere that essentially says "I am a young naive and vulnerable person whose circumstances have led me to the desperate decision to offer my only asset, my body, to someone I don't know who would care to meet me alone in a dingy hotel room at 2 AM to do things to me that I would never report to the police because they are illegal and, by the way, I have no family or friends who care too much about me which is why I am here in the first place so if anything bad happens, it will go unnoticed for several days or until someone notices a foul odor."

What do you think is going to happen?

[WilliePilgrim]

There must be a psychological word, or some sociological jargon that identifies this very basic set of simian responses where whenever something terrible happens we jump up and down and insist it's due to "fill in the blank with whatever new thing is on the horizon that one associates with what one doesn't like".
Therefore, since I have a strong dislike for Susan Boyle, Simon Cowell, Somali Pirates, Lobbiests, Billowing plumes of gasses coming out of smokestacks, traffic, ugly architecture, small dogs and celebrities, homeless beggars and Fox News, I'm blaming all our misfortunes on those.
The criticisms over craigslist invariably end with the critic telling us that they are either sex negative on anything that doesn't conform to their rather limited perspective on sexual activitiy (missionary only , withing a commited relationship, and only for reproduction), and/or they've been the vicitim of biting into a nice juicy scam and the old phrase a fool and their money are soon seperated only makes them madder.
When do we begin taking a scientific and medical exploration of sociopathic killers and look for a solution to begin with early identification and treatment for a behavior that is destructive not only to the "innocent" but to the perpetrator as well. Failure to do so prevents our having trust in our social environment and burdens us with an expense that keeps us from acting responsibly in addressing the shortcomings inherent in our civilization.

[booksnmoreforyou]

Well, it was craigslist on the Internets where the killer met his victim. So it is precise to call this the Craig's List Killer Case. So what's the problem?

[S1m0n]

It's not exactly "Classified Ad Killer", but similar media excitement was generated over the so-called "Lonely Hearts Killers".

[jade7243]

Gee, if the killer was using a newspaper classified ad section to scope out his victims sure he might be called the "class ad killer." But he found his victims on one site -- Craigslist. I suppose if a the victims had all been real estate agents wearing vivid mustard colored blazers all employed by the same corporation, the crimes might acquire a moniker reflective of that connection.

But I am more concerned about the laissez faire manner the company this crime is named for has reacted.

Although I only used Craigslist once, in search of moving boxes, I won't ever use it again.

[booksnmoreforyou]

They MUST react that way or lose protection under the DMCA.

[surfcitysteven]

Or how about "The Gun Owning Killer". Or the "Gun Using Killer".

[CalvinistHobbesian]

The problem is not the venue where the killer found the prostitutes (or quasi-prostitutes) he victimized. He could just as easily called an ad in the paper or the yellow pages, or picked one up on the street. The problem is that prostitutes are ready-made victims due to their legal status. He thought he could get away with robbing them because he didn't think they'd go to the police. Legalization, along with licensing and mandatory medical check-ups, would go a long way toward making these transactions safer for both the sex workers and their clients.

[Nomadius]

A luxury tax indeed, but definitelly a legal scope in the benefit of health control, pimping & abuse eradication, public safety and fair status for the rest of the tax payers. Not even the Spanish inquisition was able to put them out of work no wonder why they call it "the oldest profession"

[NASCARLiberal]

And, why did this person become the "Craigslist Killer" when the psychotic killer of newsman George Weber last month wasn't given that name. Maybe it is because Weber's killer was known to be weird, was out there on the web showing he was a knife fanatic and wanted to kill someone. I guess he didn't earn this title because his victim, a newsman, didn't do any research about him before inviting him over. In short, the news coverage did in fact blame the victim.

It is because this "future doctor" seemed the epitome of "all American" and wholesome. We can accept deviant behavior from someone who is openly dangerous, but it is more shocking, more open for "labeling" when the perpetrator is someone we think we would like and trust.

[raker]

From the first time I heard Craigslist Killer I thought there must be an element of revenge by MSM against the newspaper ad revenue killer, craigslist.

On the other hand, the simpletons of media world love any story with an Internet-related component: cyber-this, and cyber-that is their preferred cliche. Killers don't kill people, web sites do. Will The Freecreditreport.com Strangler strike next?

[Balzac]

Thank you.

[Dan Sweeney - Huffpost Blogger]

Is it weird that, when I read the "Classified Ad Killer" headline on a story about Craigslist, I immediately assumed that this would be a piece on the death of newspapers?

[GrainOSand]

Abstraction

From a virtual place real intent executes. Abstraction is never to be confused with real intent. Robbery is taking that which is not yours. So it is in the abstract. The intent remains, to rob. Only the methods change. Semantics, syntax, nomenclature, bogging us down. Words are heard, they produce a sound. What is the intent of the words, what is the meaning? A killer looking to have a good time intends to dominate. Watch him, he’s scheming. How is one to detect this in the abstract? How is one to know fiction from fact, in the virtual world? Do not go down a dark alley at night. This is prudent advice, it may save the life, of boy or girl. Do not, in the abstract, “hook up” with an intent that puts you in a vulnerable position with someone you really do not know. Stay away from those virtual dark alleys! This is wise, this is prudent, this is real life weighed, lived, and tallied, in the constant flow.

We have real needs. They tell me cash is king. When cash becomes so exalted concerning ones’ needs, it forces one to jeopardize his or her very life in pursuit of it...well, perhaps, you need to be real and step away from that abstraction (pursuit of cash) of what life is intended to be. The innocent are not guilty but they do die. Protect yourself from real evil intent brought to you by virtual illusions and lies.