The first link included in his tweet takes you to a post he wrote over on his blog at craigconnects:

People have asked me about the whole SOPA thing, how bad a law it could be.

Sure, SOPA and PIPA are really destructive, potentially damaging US competitiveness and genuinely killing jobs. However, there’s some good news associated with the reaction to the bad law, news that we’re missing.

As an industry, we’ve been able to rationalize that bad laws and politics don’t matter, but now we’re waking up. More importantly, this has also gotten the attention of “the Internet,” meaning a lot of the people who use the Net. That includes some really smart Hill staffers who believe in the democratic potential of the Net.

It’s taken some really bad potential laws, but it’s roused the sleeping giant, both the people who build the Internet, and people in general who comprise the Internet community.

Maybe a mixed metaphor, but this might be a genie that can’t be put back into the bottle. I’m hoping that we’re seeing an Internet Spring leading to an Internet Awakening.

So that may be it: The Internet Spring. The Internet Awakening (although that’s a little too similar to The Great Awakening, so I vote we stay away from that one). Anybody else got any suggestions for what to call this movement?

STOP PIPA (Senate 968) & SOPA (HR 3261)

Imagine a world without craigslist, Wikipedia, Google, [your favorite sites here]…

News Corp, RIAA, MPAA, Nike, Sony, Comcast, VISA & others want to make that world your reality.

80 Members of Congress are in their sway, 30 against, the rest undecided or undeclared.

The landing page links to a SOPA resource page that includes educational links, lists of SOPA supporters and opponents, as well as links to petitions and “contact your congressperson” tools.

The SOPA landing page displays for a minimum of 10 seconds, after which you can continue on to the normal Craigslist site. You can then go about your normal buying and selling for the day, but with this little reminder:

At midnight, Wikipedia, Boing Boing, and WordPress all went dark as well. Google made a smaller effort to protest the legislation by blacking out their logo and linking to SOPA / PIPA resources.

I contacted Newmark about some of the details of this donation drive and why he feels its an important cause (other than the obvious reasons). As for his primary motivator for the #perfectgift campaign, Newmark explained, “People everywhere need a hand and I want to help. One great way to do that is to support very effective, boots-on-the-ground groups like the Red Cross.” The cause couldn’t have a more noble mission as the money will go towards purchasing comfort kits for members of the military.

The fundraiser runs throughout the month of December, but as of the middle of this month Newmark says they’ve tracked 1,741 tweets and 200 Facebook comments so far about the #perfectgift. Roughly equating $2K raised so far, that’s not a bad sum at all.

To help get out the word about the campaign and to explain a little more about the donations, Newmark headed over to the American Red Cross to chat with Gail McGovern, president and CEO of American Red Cross, about #perfectgift:

As I said, the campaign is active throughout the rest of the month so there is still time to contribute to #perfectgift on Twitter and Facebook. Seriously, it couldn’t be easier: just tweet or comment what you think the perfect gift is, tag it with #perfectgift, and another dollar goes to the American Red Cross.

Now’s your chance to show your appreciation.

Craig Newmark, the eponymous founder of craigslist, has chosen a unique way to observe his birthday this year. Instead of the self-congratulatory ritual of celebrating one more year he didn’t die (like the rest of us do), Newmark has decided to ask for something considerably different this year:

Folks, yesterday was my 59th birthday, and I decided to celebrate by asking for a unique kind of gift – a tweet on Twitter about what someone considers the perfect gift this holiday season. Each time someone responds and tweets using the hashtag #perfectgift, I am giving a $1 contribution to the American Red Cross, up to $10,000 to purchase military comfort kits for our troops. It’s amazing because 91% of every gift goes to people in need.

Newmark, who has a little over 45,000 followers on Twitter, says that following the aforementioned hashtag will help him keep track of how many support his humanitarian cause and, subsequently, how much money he will donate to the American Red Cross. He also hopes that the 585K followers of American Red Cross, who retweeted his original post, will help spread the word and get more people involved in his campaign. The promotion is also active on Facebook but actual donations will only be calculated through Twitter.

I implore anyone reading this to head over to Twitter and tweet a quick post about what you think the perfect gift is in order to contribute to Newmark’s campaign (I posted that my perfect gift is a world with no pepper spray). It only takes a minute and, like the clickable awesomeness that is craigslist, doesn’t cost you anything. You’ve got through the end of December to do your part. Just think of this as an easy way to say thanks to Newmark for all of those Missed Connections that have kept you entertained over the years.

But Craigslist, like most of the internet, is also a place for scams, manipulation and other seedy activities. We’ve heard stories of jilted lovers trying to hire hitmen on the site as well as oblivious drug dealers trying to liquidate product. And of course let’s not forget about the infamous Craigslist Killer.

This unbelievable story begins on Craigslist and ends with two shallow graves in the woods. Hold on, everybody. This is a weird one.

In Caldwell, Ohio, a 16-year-old high school student and a 52-year-old Akron man have been arrested in conjunction with a shooting that occurred back on November 6th.

According to the shooting victim, a South Carolinian, he had come to Noble county Ohio in response to a Craigslist ad for a general labor job on a 688 acre cattle farm. He said that he was told he’d be living on the farm, and thus was instructed to bring all of his belongings with him. He reportedly met two men for breakfast in a nearby city and they set off together, supposedly for the farm.

The men eventually pulled over, explaining to the victim that they would have to take the rest of the journey on foot due to the impassable roads ahead. As they were walking through the woods, one of the men pulled a gun on the victim, who was able to deflect the barrel aimed at his head and begin running away. As he was fleeing, he was shot in the elbow.

The victim waited hours in the woods until he felt the coast was clear, and he eventually made it two miles to a residence where he was taken in. The authorities were then notified of the situation.

Authorities think that this was all part of bigger scheme that involved phony Craigslists ads. The suspects are thought to have placed the ads with the intention of getting unsuspecting workers out to their farm where they would rob them of all their possessions and kill them.

This is the working theory because shortly after the shooting incident, authorities found a shallow grave in woods nearby, which they think was meant for the South Carolina man. A day later, they found another shallow grave near the first – but this one was occupied.

It’s thought that the dead man could be a Florida man, who was reported missing by his twin sister after he also responded to a similar Craigslist ad. Autopsies have yet to determine this, but authorities suspect that there could be more victims. They don’t really know if this phony ad killing scheme is limited to these two, or extends to others. We don’t know much more right now because today a judge issued a gag order.

What have we learned here? Well, for one, that people are f*cking crazy.

I’m sure that once everything about this comes to light, the Lifetime movie is not far behind. I don’t know, can it be as compelling as a film about a med student that kills hookers he find on Craigslist escort ads? I don’t know – it’s a pretty sinister story.

Is Billy Baldwin available?

Reuters reports that it has obviated a copy of a grand jury subpoena as an old civil dispute turns into a criminal investigation. Reuters quotes an eBay spokeswoman as saying in an email, “EBay believes that Craigslist’s allegations against eBay are without merit. We will continue to vigorously defend ourselves, and we will aggressively pursue our claims against Craigslist.”

She also said eBay would cooperate in any inquiry related to the dispute. Bloomberg reports:

The Sept. 7 grand jury subpoena of Craigslist seeks information pertaining to “incidents where EBay employees engaged in alleged criminal activities and misconduct focused around the misappropriation of proprietary/confidential information from Craigslist.”

The incidents include a February 2005 request by Pierre Omidyar, EBay’s chairman and founder, for information about Craigslist’s approach to adding new cities and advance notice of plans to launch new cities, according to the subpoena.

eBay’s rival site would be eBayClassifieds.com.

eBay purchased a 28% stake in Craigslist all the way back in 2004.

Craigconnects isn’t intended to be any sort of side project or hobby for Newmark.  In a video introduction, Newmark mentioned his ties to Craigslist, then stated, “Now I’m starting something even bigger, which I’m calling Craigconnects.  Its long-term purpose is to help connect everyone of goodwill across the entire world for whatever they feel is the common good.”

Also, as the screenshot below shows, Newmark said in a tweet that Craigconnects has become “the biggest thing in my life . . .”

Unfortunately, not a whole lot more information is available right now, as all the official material is a little vague.  One other problem: the Craigconnects site is experiencing server issues.

An official announcement (linked to in Newmark’s tweet) was clear that the program isn’t a fundraising or grant-giving organization, however, and Newmark indicated that – while he will support it in every way – he’s open to the idea of letting more qualified individuals join or perhaps take the reins.

Given what Newmark achieved with Craigslist, it should be very interesting to see what happens here.

Craigslist has removed the censored box, and the adult section is just gone entirely.

Original Article: As you may have read by now, Craigslist has censored its "adult services" section. This appears to stem from a combination of pressure from numerous state attorneys general and negative media exposure. The issue at hand:  prostitution and human trafficking being solicited through the site. 

The situation brings to mind the conviction of Google execs over content uploaded to Google-owned YouTube, which led us to asking if social media sites should be held accountable for user actions.  Should Craigslist be held responsible? Comment here.

Craiglist opted to display a "censored" bar over the "adult services" category, caving to the pressure to remove it, while also making it obvious that its not really what they wanted to do. They could’ve simply removed it. Craigslist clearly feels attacked. Some have even suggested that the move was made to influence public opinion. 

Some are coming at the story raising questions about free speech, and while that is one issue, not even all supporters of online free speech find this to be the real issue at hand. Microsoft Research Senior Researcher Danah Boyd wrote a lengthy editorial on the subject for the Huffington Post in which she comes to Craigslist defense (as a service provider, not for censoring the section). Boyd, who claims to be a victim of abuse herself, makes the case that censoring Craigslist does more to add to the problem than to help solve it, saying that it helps the abusers. 

"The Internet has changed the dynamics of prostitution and trafficking, making it easier for prostitutes and traffickers to connect with clients without too many layers of intermediaries," she writes. "As a result, the Internet has become an intermediary, often without the knowledge of those internet service providers (ISPs) who are the conduits. This is what makes people believe that they should go after ISPs like Craigslist. Faulty logic suggests that if Craigslist is effectively a digital pimp who’s profiting off of online traffic, why shouldn’t it be prosecuted as such?"

"The problem with this logic is that it fails to account for three important differences," Boyd continues. "1) most ISPs have a fundamental business — if not moral — interest in helping protect people; 2) the visibility of illicit activities online makes it much easier to get at, and help, those who are being victimized; and 3) a one-stop-shop is more helpful for law enforcement than for criminals. In short, Craigslist is not a pimp, but a public perch from which law enforcement can watch without being seen."

Boyd elaborates on each of these points in the article. Despite the censoring, Craigslist appears to agree with Boyd.  

"The law is on craigslist’s side – websites are not liable for content posted by users under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. But craigslist has given up anyway," says Adrianne Jeffries at ReadWriteWeb. "It’s not because its owners want to prevent sex trafficking – craigslist has maintained that it does more harm than good because law enforcement agencies can use it just as easily as pimps can."

There has been a lot of criticism about how the media has covered the story in general, with Craigslist itself probably being the harshest critic. CNN’s Amber Lyon recently interviewed Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, apparently catching him off guard on the subject. In a post at The Faster Times, Newmark says:

Amber approached me after an event where I had just spoken about stuff like getting real support for our troops and veterans — a cause I care about and support whenever I can. She said because “I’m the Craig in craigslist,” she expected me to have all the answers on the spot about anything to do with the company. Well, I don’t. Jim Buckmaster, our CEO, has been running craigslist for the last 10 years. I am a customer service rep, and I still love being connected to our users and trying to help people. But I have no role in managing the company’s operations because basically (a) I suck as a manager, and (b) while overall company direction matters to me as founder and a board director,  the deal was to hire good, trustworthy people and then get outta the way. If Amber had done her homework, she would have known ambushing me with questions I am not qualified to answer, or even the right person to ask, would not get CNN’s viewers the accurate information they deserve.

Buckmaster also posted a letter to Lyon on the company blog, criticizing her approach. In this clip, Lyon says Craigslist isn’t living up to its promise of filtering ads, and offers a rebuttal to Craigslist accusations that  she "ambushed" Newmark (though doesn’t mention the part about him not running the company).  Since the Newmark interview, there has been no shortage of media coverage of Craigslist, though as Jeffries and Lyon both note, Craigslist itself is no longer talking. 

Craigslist had another blog post up recently criticizing the notion that alternatives to Craigslist are any better for preventing human trafficking. The post was a response to a Facebook Page based on that notion, indicating that eBay was such an alternative. The post goes on to discuss examples of ads that would contradict that notion.  In Boyd’s piece, she compared the whole thing to a game of whack-a-mole, suggesting that if you censor one site, the content will simply pop up on another one. 

Is censoring Craigslist the answer? Share your thoughts.

MG Siegler points to a humorous Twitter account from his personal blog, Parislemon. The account "translates" the tweets of rapper 50 cent into English, providing retweets of 50′s original post for context. 

Jorgen Sundberg has an interesting post about how to make Google love your Twitter profile. I haven’t tested his tips, so I can’t vouch for the accuracy of his post, but it’s worth checking out. 

Greg Sterling points to a speech from Eric Schmidt this week in which he says, "One in three queries from smartphones is about where I am."  

MacDailyNews reports that Notre Dame has launched paperless iPad courses: 

Geek.com reports that the Yosion Apple Peel 520, which lets you turn an iPod Touch into a smartphone that can send and receive calls and texts, is coming to the U.S. It’s apparently coming now that jailbreaking is legal. 

According to comScore numbers, Gawker Media and the Huffington Post both get more monthly unique visitors than any major newspaper site, except for the New York times. That’s more than USAToday, The Washington Post, The LA Times, or the Wall Street Journal. More at The Awl. 

MobileCrunch looks at the release of Yahoo’s open-source User Interface library,

According to Asymoco, app downloads on iTunes are on pace to surpass song downloads this year. On a related note, Cnet reports that Apple doesn’t have all of the licenses it needs to expand the length of iTunes song samples.  

The EFF weighed in on the topic of Craigslist censoring, talking specifically about what it means for free speech. Meanwhile, the Huffington Post has an article called "Thoughts From a Former Craigslist Sex Worker".  

Microsoft Advertising announced that it is launching third-party ad serving for mobile in the U.S. "Our solution enables agencies and advertisers to use trusted third party ad servers such as Microsoft Atlas and Google’s DART to serve mobile display ads on all of our premium Microsoft Mobile Media properties including MSN Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Windows Live Hotmail and Messenger, MSNBC, FOX Sports, CNBC and Wonderwall," says Microsoft’s Raj Kapoor. "Advertisers and agencies will now be able to centrally manage their ad campaigns and reporting using trusted and proven third-party systems." 

I see you’ve now gotten around to requesting an interview with me or a company spokesperson, 90 days after you ambushed our namesake and founder, Craig Newmark, following his May 20th talk on veteran’s affairs and other issues unrelated to craigslist, at a conference in Washington.

You knew Craig was not in management or a company spokesperson, but setting CNN’s ethical code aside, you sidestepped company channels in favor of ambushing our semi-retired founder, complete with a misleading "set up" for your surprise questions. Now that CNN has aired your highly misleading piece dozens of times, mischaracterizing your stunt as a serious interview on this subject, and you’ve updated your "bio" to showcase this rare jewel of investigative journalism, you’re ready to try actually interviewing the company itself on this subject.

According to a New York Times piece, most people still decline to use location services. The article says these services (like Foursquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places, etc.) are mainly being used by "young, technically adept urbanites." They cite Forrester Research data, claiming that 4% of Americans have tried location-based services, and 1% use them weekly.

Microsoft’s Hotmail now supports push email, calendar, and contacts with Exchange ActiveSync. Microsoft’s Aviraj Ajgekar calls this "another milestone fore Windows Live Services."

Google showed off some of the products of its "Googley Art Wall" contest, which asked its product management teams to design their own walls:

AOL’s MapQuest launched some new updates to its recent relaunch. These include a "pick your language" features, embedded maps, and "send to GPS".

Twitter announced Site Streams, a new feature on its Streaming API, which lets services receive real-time updates for a large number of users. It streams events like direct messages, mentions, follows, favorites, tweets, retweets, profile changes, and list changes.

Samsung announced that it has sold over a million Samsung Galaxy S smartphones in the U.S. in 45 days.