DECLAN MCCULLAGH: Craigslist faces new wave of political attacks.

UPDATE: A reader emails:

It might be instructive to ‘follow the money’ – buying and selling on CraigsList keeps a lot of folks out of stores for lots of things, and the stores probably aren’t too happy about it. Case in point, two years ago we furnished our rental house in a week off CraigsList, for a nominal $800, couches, chairs, desks, filing cabinets, everything except a new mattress. Later, I replaced the kitchen stove for $125 (and half a day cleaning it up, it was from a repossession…) We’re moving now, and I’ve sold everything in three weeks for a paper profit. The only caveat to this story is that I own a ¾-ton pickup, so can haul stuff. This sort of thing has got to have all sorts of commercial enterprises grinding their teeth and wondering how to get rid of it. Using CraigsList is so easy, and the price is certainly right – I can’t believe newspapers even bother to publish want ads any more.

Good point.