Interesting legal action has been commenced against online classified business Craigslist by a Chicago fair housing group. Get the Chicago Tribune take on the story here. Craigslist is not alone in publishing ads unvetted. Here in Australia there are many classified sites where this happens including at least one site run by a newspaper.
This story interests me for two reasons: how the newspapers run with the story and how regulators react. The story suits newspapers because it taints Craigslist and similar online classified businesses. This helps their main competitor – newspapers. Some newspapers have recently run hard with beat up stories demonising Craigslist and postings to the site. The internet is an open and rampantly viral place. People approach the space differently to the more regulated space of newspaper pages. One would hope that this is the view the courts will have otherwise consumer will have expensive gatekeepers (publishers) to pay for access which, today thanks to Craigslist, costs less.