A young woman posted her massage services on-line. A young man then contacted her and a few hours later she was dead in a hotel room. Predator meets prey.
The woman was Julissa Brisman of Boston.
The man was Philip Markoff.
The on-line listing service was Craigslist.
Then it started... the clamor over shutting down the adult services on Craigslist. Soon, the rallying cries were loud and righteous: Stop prostitution! Protect all women’s rights! Stop the subjugation of women! Prevent crime!
But is the Craiglist story about women’s rights, public safety, or internet resources? No, It is only about one thing.
It is all about M O N E Y
Massachusetts State Attorney, Martha Coakley (yes, that Martha) jumped in a few days ago. She and 16 other states attorney generals said:
"It certainly highlights an increased risk by [using] that kind of communication by some folks who don't realize how dangerous it is, and while we can't always prevent the activity, I think we certainly owe it to do our best with a public discussion about what the public can and will tolerate around public safety," said Coakley. "I think that Craigslist taking down this site indicates that they heard not just the attorneys general, but they heard the public sentiment that this was not an appropriate use of Internet resources."
Let us think about this rationally for a moment. Prostitution is something that needs to be decreased in society. It is usually a one-way street: women sell their services to men. The bulk of these encounters are between people who do not know each other. That one fact alone makes current prostitution risky for both sides. Men may be there as predators, the women may be there simply to rob. Sexually transmitted diseases are another two-way risk. The case of Ms. Brisman massage service was a robbery by Markoff that escalated to murder.
Prostitutes are murdered all the time. (Search 'prostitutes + murders' to see the near endless list). It has always been a vulnerable position to be in. But why the racket over Craiglist?
Craigslist has disrupted the marketplace of prostitution for the last few years.
Howzat?
Craigslist is free. The competing lists are pay per ad.
Who are Craigslist competitors?
• the Yellow Pages (Escorts)
• the Boston Phoenix. (and its ilk in every larger town and city)
• The Washington Post (buy one and take a peek in the back)
• The local pay dating pages (No strings attached!! Friends with Benefits!)
• ...and a million other places to find and contact people for sexual services.
So why hasn’t Martha Coakley called on the Yellow Pages and all the hundreds of other vendors of lists to do as Craigslist has been hounded into doing? In the case of the Boston Phoenix, the owner is a very progressive and very rich man (whose wife is a controversial Boston judge: Maria Lopez). They vote and give out campaign contributions, as do the Yellow Pages, and all the other newspapers that carry these ads.
Let us face it; it is very hard to compete with free.
The Attorney Generals are not protecting ‘women from abuse’ or ‘ending prostitution’; they are bulldozing and silencing a market disruption for their friends.
Your mileage may vary