Judge nixes suit

COLUMBIA -- A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Friday filed by Craigslist against South Carolina's attorney general, who is investigating the Internet company for carrying ads for prostitution.

The judge said in his ruling that no one at Craigslist has been charged with a crime and that it was premature to decide whether its activities were exempt from prosecution.

The company "requests an advisory opinion based on a hypothetical injury," Judge C. Weston Houck wrote.

Craigslist has denied knowingly carrying ads for prostitution. Phone and e-mail messages left Friday for the San Francisco-based company's CEO, Jim Buckmaster, an attorney and a spokeswoman were not returned.

Attorney General Henry McMaster said the order is a victory for law enforcement. He said he plans to continue investigating Craigslist's connection to prostitution cases in the state.

"The investigation is ongoing. It's a very serious matter," McMaster said. "We have seen reports in the news about prostitution operations using Craigslist. In fact, there have been several of them since this case began over a year ago."

Earlier this month, police arrested 15 people in Oregon, accusing them of running a prostitution ring they advertised on Craigslist. In July, a man pleaded guilty in Washington, D.C., to two sexual offenses involving women he met on Craigslist through ads they were running for adult services.

McMaster launched his inquiry in 2008 after the arrest of a former Boston medical student charged with killing a masseuse he met on Craigslist.

McMaster and 39 other attorneys general wrote to the company asking them to stop allowing the advertisement of prostitution services. The company created a category called adult services and started screening ads placed there to block illegal ads.

But McMaster said that wasn't good enough and wanted all adult services ads removed from the section of the website that advertises goods and services in South Carolina. That's when the company sued, saying Craigslist is protected from prosecution because it is not advertising for those services, merely providing a forum for advertising. The judge did not rule on that issue.

Craigslist says more than 40 million classified ads are placed on its website each month.