05/22/09

            It looks like Craigslist was smart to file its preemptive lawsuit against South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster, who was threatening to prosecute the company over its publication of "erotic services" ads. McMaster has agreed to a temporary order that he not take any action against Craigslist until a court rules on the merits of the case.

            And unless federal law is turned upside down, McMaster's plan to prosecute the company had no merits at all.

            After McMaster threatened to prosecute Craigslist, the company sued in federal district court in Charleston, S.C., to block prosecution. Today, the AG's office agreed to defer any action.

            "Until the court rules on the merits of Craigslist's claims, defendants (McMaster) and their attorneys and staffs shall refrain from initiating or pursuing any prosecution against Craigslist or its officers and employees in relation to content posted by third parties on Craigslist's Web site," the order states. It was signed by senior judge C. Weston Houck. (We learned about it initially from MediaPost.)

            The federal Communications Decency Act clearly protects Craigslist from any prosecution, or even liability for, postings to its site made by others. So the bluster by McMaster has widely been considered political posturing in advance of his race for governor. Even so, the court has at least temporarily halted prosecution, if not more intemperate remarks.

            (We called McMaster's office for comment; no one was available, and no one's returned our call.)

           More of our coverage here, here and here. (Or just search the site for Craigslist.)