There's a raging battle over what sort of ads should be allowed on Craigslist. The more Craigslist attempts to comply with the demands of prosecutors and various self-appointed monitoring groups and advocacy organizations, the louder their demands. First it was demanded that they monitor the "Erotic Services" section. Then they had to take it down. And the latest is the demand that they remove the "Adult Services" category:

In November 2008 the site began requiring a phone number and small fee to place an advertisement in the Erotic Services section.

In May 2009, after coming under further fire from state and local law enforcement from around the country, Craigslist replaced the Erotic Services section of its regional sites with the new Adult Services section. All advertisements in this section, according to Craigslist, would be screened by the site's employees before being posted and cost $10, rather than the previous $5 cost of an Erotic Services advertisement.

State attorneys and law enforcement have remained unsatisfied with Craigslist's efforts to curb illegal activity.

"In our view, the company should take immediate action to end the misery for the women and children who may be exploited and victimized by these ads," last week's letter stated. "Because Craigslist cannot, or will not, adequately screen these ads, it should stop accepting them altogether and shut down the Adult Services section."

In fact, I would be willing to bet that in a lot of communities (whether real life or online), the word "ADULT" alone is a red flag.

If you doubt me, try putting a neon sign in your front window with nothing more than the word "ADULT." A Bud or Corona sign is one thing, but neighbors would call the cops at the sight of that filthy word, and something would be done.

ADULT has come to mean filth, raunch, sex. So I guess if the censors get their way, Craigslist will have to stop allowing all things adult. Craigslist does not have as many defenders as it should, and I think that's because it's seen as a giant company.

And giant companies exploit victims! That's something all activists can agree on, right?

I don't know where the ACLU stands, but the EFF is concerned that whatever rules are concocted for Craigslist could be applied to all ISPs, meaning the entire Internet:

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy group, describes the various complaints against Craigslist as "increasingly bellicose rhetoric." The site, the EFF notes, is protected by the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which shields providers of "interactive computer service" against criminal liability for content posted by outside users.

"The notion that Craigslist and [its] officers should be held responsible for third-party content on their site because they didn't do enough to satisfy the individual whims of respective state attorneys general is wholly inconsistent with the law," says EFF senior staff attorney Matt Zimmerman.

The implications, Zimmerman suggests, are enormous: By flexing their muscles against an entity such as Craigslist, state leaders are paving the way for a vastly regulated Internet that could be void of many of its current freedoms.

"If site operators were forced to screen all third-party contributions under risk of civil or criminal penalty, the Internet would lose many of the vibrant services that have made it so dynamic," Zimmerman says.

"Under such a radical re-envisioning, the Internet would ultimately become the province of rich and cautious media companies who would actively serve as gatekeepers to decide whether and how users could engage with the world."

While Craigslist's move may have a come as a result of its own internal decision, the company's willingness to cave under pressure still sends a troubling message about the power of states' legal threats. The conclusion of this battle, in more ways than one, is anything but a happy ending.

But I don't mean to end this post on such a sour note, and my inner conspiracy theorist is wondering whether there might be other factors behind the demonization of Craigslist. Might some of its ads be upsetting people in high places?

For example, those mean, filthy, Craigslist ads caused Poetess Extraordinaire Maya Angelou (as American as apple pie and the Fourth of July) to look ridiculous after she was forced to read them through a surrogate.

I kid you not.

Here is "Maya Angelou," with her poetic rendition of a Craigslist passage titled "Crazy Contortionist":

And here she solemnly reads from a Fourth of July Craigslist passage titled "My Face, Your Ripe Feet"

And finally, she reads "Two Chubs To Make Me Their Midnight Snack"

My theory is that people in high places might very well have decided that the above is inappropriate material for White House readings, and that's what's really behind the crackdown on Craigslist. This real reason, of course, is being systematically covered up.

I find it hard to believe that the crackdown is based on "individual whims of respective state attorneys general."

There are whims all right, but I think they're emanating from the penumbra of a much higher authority.

If we could save just one adult!

UPDATE: Many thanks to Glenn Reynolds for the link, and a warm welcome to all.

Comments welcome, even from those who don't think "adult" is dirty.