Craigslist has long been known as the free place (in most locales) to post your ads for whatever - stuff, relationships, services, whatever. I have used Craigslist several times and it always surprises me how this extremely CRAPPY looking website performs so well. For example, I have (several times) posted job openings on just the Tampa section on Craigslist and have gotten multiple applicants. Not bad.

Well, Craigslist has launched a blog.

The blog is, well, ugly as sin. It has that usual Craigslist look and feel - you know, the kind of 90’s web design that could have been done (almost) by my computer newbie wife. They don’t even offer an RSS feed. That, right there, makes this thing to where it is hardly even a real blog. The posts are in chronological order, making it a real blog. But, not having an RSS feed is naive.

It is almost as if they decided to be contrarian and program their own blog rather than use the infinitely more powerful (and free) Wordpress software.

I guess Craigslist likes to run minimalist blogs, similar to that of Dave Winer.

As Craigslist launches their sorta-kinda blog, they have decided to go after the unofficial Craigslist blog, run by Tim White This blog is much better than Craigslist’s official blog, but Craigslist CEO sent them a C&D letter which was posted to the web:

Tim,

We need you to stop using the infringing domain CRAIGSLISTBLOG.ORG immediately, and arrange for tranfer of it to us asap - using/selling/transfering infringing domains is illegal, and penalties up to $100,000 per domain can be applied.

Regardless of your efforts to find a new domain, you must stop using this one.

Tim then responded to Craigslist with:

Jim,

Thanks for your message. I think you have received bad legal counsel and that this is potentially a really bad PR move for cl. We will make some modifications to our “Best of” section to not include any of your content; just our take and a link to the actual post.

Are you going to ask these folks to shut down their websites, too?

http://craigscrimelist.org

http://www.craigslistmap.info/

http://crazedlist.org/

et al…

Regards,
Tim White

Personally, I think the letters from Craigslist seem REALLY unprofessional. Typos (assuming Tim indeed posted them unaltered) and really, really rude. The unofficial blog is great promotion for Craigslist. I can clearly see that the legal potential for name confusion is real, but I can imagine that there should be MUCH more constructive ways of dealing with the situation than the Craigslist CEO sending childish threatening letters.

Tim, the name you chose definitely puts you in legal hot water. But, Craigslist is ignoring an opportunity by going after one of their evangelists.

I don’t know if Tim can withstand the legal onslaught of Craigslist, but this kind of bullying is sure to piss off a lot of the internet’s rank and file. And deservedly so.