Posted on 03/24/2008 9:55:48 AM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
Oregon man's property ransacked after Craigslist hoax
Monday, March 24, 2008
Associated Press
JACKSONVILLE, Ore. -- A pair of hoax ads on Craigslist cost an Oregon man much of what he owned.
The ads popped up Saturday afternoon, saying the owner of a Jacksonville home was forced to leave the area suddenly and his belongings, including a horse, were free for the taking, said Jackson County sheriff's Detective Sgt. Colin Fagan.
But Robert Salisbury had no plans to leave. The independent contractor was at Emigrant Lake when he got a call from a woman who had stopped by his house to claim his horse.
(Excerpt) Read more at kgw.com ...
Ok, ok, I'm sorry. I didn't know it was a free site. I was thinking of the liability businesses like Amazon and Ebay have. You know I'd give to the legal fund if it came to that.
<gratuitous sucking up> Thanks for your dedication to this great forum. </gratuitous sucking up>
I am being very serious. The man who posted the 'ads' is primarily responsible, but any site that makes a single dime posting such ads (even through side advertising) has a responsibility to vet those ads. Again, I ask, if the owner's of Craig's list didn't know this was an invalid ad, how could individuals visiting the site be held responsible for not knowing?
Sounds like a good thing you didn’t live with him!
>>The victim ought to sue for millions. People are cruel and vindictive. But CL ought to be held liable for their own stupidity in allowing the ad to be put up without review.<<
You forgot the sarcasm tag.
Craigslist is community reviewed. It is a bulleting board - you know, like the ones you find in some stores with business cards and ads. They can say anything untlil someone walks by and notices profanity, etc. and then takes them down. In the meantime, those that see them should have the sense God gave an apple and consider the source before they do something stupid - for which they will be held accountable, not the store who owned the bulletin board on which their instructions were posted.
Maybe instead of going to the house, the same people could have flagged the ad to get it removed. If I had seen it, I would have.
God-given common sense.
So you're saying that no one should assume any ad placed anywhere is valid? What about the responsibility of the ones placing the ad? How about those who are making money off the site?
If you passed a house in a neighborhood that had a sign up that said “take what you want. Everything is free.”
Not quite the same thing. The operators of Craig's list are making money off running the site. One could easily assume the ads placed are being vetted.
>>Could be placed by your old girlfriend or boyfriend.<<
That is not lost on me. They could also key your car or poison you dog. But I am not going to sue the anti-freeze manufacturer or key manufacturer.
/mark
It is free to people who use it, but it makes $$ for Craig. Ergo, along with profits comes responsibility.
I believe courts have already laid this as precedent.
Was your Dad’s name Billy Sol?
Heh, heh. You remind me of me. I’ve had to do that a few times here.
Actually, one of the reasons Craigslist does NOT edit the ads is that once they do, they become responsible for all content. With their official “community monitored” policy, they are completely legally protected. So far...
ALL computers are tracable. And if they used a public library, cameras most likely caught them on tape.
I met my wife on Craigslist.
Why is CL less liable than Ebay would be for selling vaporware?
Answer: It isn’t.
So you're saying that no one should trust any ad posted on the internet, and the operators of such sites are absolved from any responsibility for ensuring that what is posted on their sites is valid.
Got it.
Let me have your address and when you will next be out of town and I’ll explain it to you...
;^)
(obscure literary reference for 10 vanity points)
There is plenty of precident for Craigslist not being legally responsible for this stuff (thank God). The laws could change, of course, what with the constitution being a living document and all, but so far, when someone posts or says something inflamatory, they and they alone are responsible. If it causes damages, it is up to law enforcement to find the responsible party, not just jail the company that made the getaway car.
Craigslist has NO legal responsibility here, nor should they. It ALL falls on the shoulders of the person who ran the ad and the people who actually took stuff. It may be a hard case to solve, but that is why we have police and neighborhood watch groups.
Come on...the Lord of the Rings:FOTR isn’t that Obscure. NOw if you had gone off and staarted quoting Tom Bombadil
Free woman at 123 Maple Street. Just pick her up and she's yours!??????? :^)
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