Now they want to ruin craigslist

[Thespis]

Here's a thought, if you don't like a landlord's policy, don't rent from them.

Craigslist sued over housing ads

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Craigslist, the do-it-yourself online classified listing that many investors hope will soar to Google-like proportions if it ever gets around to issuing stock, is being sued for discriminatory housing ads and asked to police its content the same way newspapers must, according to a report Thursday.

The Web site, where users can post free, unlimited-length ads for anything from apartments and jobs to activity partners and dates, is being sued by the Chicago fair housing group for violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the New York Times reported.

Ads the housing group cited contain language such as "African-Americans and Arabians tend to clash with me" and "No kids allowed," the Times said. Others were screening tenants with phrases like "single occupancy only" or "no minorities."

"We would like Craigslist to be under the same obligations and resulting factors as all other publishers, be they newspapers or magazines, that they do what is necessary and appropriate to make sure that classified ads comply with the Fair Housing Act," Stephen Libowsky, a lawyer for Howrey, the law firm in Chicago that is assisting the group with the lawsuit, told the Times.

But Craigslist chief executive Jim Buckmaster told the paper that monitoring two million free housing ads each month, a number he said was greater than that received by all U.S. newspapers combined, would be counterproductive.

"Craigslist is absolutely a different animal," Buckmaster told the Times. "It's a user-controlled commons where users submit, at this point, eight million ads of unlimited length. So when the lawyers group says they want Craigslist treated exactly as if it were a newspaper, on the face of it, that doesn't make any sense."

The Times said Craigslist has a staff of 19 employees.

But its popularity is growing and it has taken a big chunk of advertising dollars from traditional newspaper classifieds, the article said. A victory for the housing group would likely be good news for newspapers, and it was unclear how exactly Craigslist would comply with such a demand or how it would impact its business model.

[KBCraig]

Craigslist should be absolutely free to allow discriminatory advertising (as should newspapers).

But am I the only one who finds craigslist utterly useless, horribly ugly, and the most awful user interface there is?

Kevin

[Thespis]

When I was apartment hunting last year, craigslist was very useful to me.

I agree that the interface could be better.

[Fluff and Stuff]

Craigslist should be absolutely free to allow discriminatory advertising (as should newspapers).

But am I the only one who finds craigslist utterly useless, horribly ugly, and the most awful user interface there is?

Kevin

Roommmates.com is much better and also always discriminatory advertising.  Anyway, I also love Craigslist.

[Dreepa]

Ebay owns part of Craigslist now.

In SF.. you can't live without it.

(Interface does suck)

[free55]

  Best thing about craig's list is it's free!!!

[Pat McCotter]

Craigslist has appeared to compromise with these folks. This link was on a real estate listing:

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Stating a discriminatory preference in a housing post is illegal - please flag discriminatory posts as "prohibited"
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