I first heard about Craigslist a number of years ago in an article in Details magazine. The article was heralding Craigslist as “the place where you could get anything.” The writer exemplified this with a little gonzo-journalism act where he posted an ad saying that he wanted to meet a Japanese girl in a bookstore at a specific time and pay her $20 to receive her underwear. This noble task was completed with improbable ease and left me feeling shaken, a little disturbed, but clearly wanting to learn more about this lawless cyber corral.

I went to the site myself to see what lewd and lascivious acts were transpiring in the personals depot. Naïve to think that there would be some sort of regulations on the site, I was a little taken back when I opened a man-seeking-woman-ad and was greeted with an enormous penis, accompanied by a message that said “this can be yours.” I then realized that Craigslist plays for keeps. After consoling myself from the phallical folly that I had encountered, I carried on only to find each ad more reprehensible than the last. A wealthy man wanting three women to surprise him at his hotel room where he would pay them each a thousand dollars for sex, a woman who would be alone, bound to her bed, blindfolded and waiting for a stranger to enter her unlocked apartment door at 4 p.m. to fulfill her wildest fantasy, or my personal favourite: “extremely ugly man wanting to lose virginity.”

So after my early research it came as no surprise to read the articles that have been popping up left and right these days about Craigslist being “unsafe.”

Has it crossed the line with postings for child sex rings, ads soliciting hit men, listings for prostitutes, uncensored pictures of genitalia?

Recently in Canada five girls under the B.C. children’s ministry care were found soliciting sex on Craigslist. In the United States, Craigslist crime has become so prevalent that it has spawn a dedicated blog from one person warning about the dangers of the site. He posts a story or more a day at www.craigscrimelist.org.

It seems that the site may be trying to clamp down on crime a little bit. It has recently launched new screening procedures for erotic-services ads and has “additional improvements under way,” according to company spokeswoman Sandra MacTavish Best.

But with 40 million users posting 30 million ads to the site every month, it is a daunting task to not let anything slip through the cracks.

It’s nice to be able to “get anything you want” on the site. But if you’re not careful you might go in looking for an apartment and come out with an eastern European three-way.

Maybe it’s time for Craigslist to clean up its act a little.

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