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Comment by awolf | Hacker News Reader

I see what you're saying and that may technically be true.

I'm not really arguing the legality of the issue though. I'm just talking about the spirit of what the content authors were trying to accomplish which I believe is: have some random person on the internet see their post and, subsequently, arrive at some sort of mutually beneficial arrangement with that person.

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There's any number of places on the net where someone could post content and "have some random person on the internet see their post" ... but they continue to choose Craigslist because it's got the audience. If they want more-broad usage rights for what they want to post, they're free to chose an alternative platform on which to post.

This argument is what the monopolist uses when they are faced with regulation. It isn't correct, because the user _isn't_ really going to be able to post on another forum.

This is just like if telcos say 'go to some other provider if you don't like my terms and conditions'. except, they have a monopoly.

Just because CL has a large user base doesn't make it a monopoly. CL can go the way of MySpace if a better competitor comes along. There isn't any barrier to entry to create your own CL + Padmapper type listing site that requires some sort of monopoly break up.

The hard part for you is creating a compelling enough competitor 15 years too late and also to make it worth people's while to start using your site vs. CL.

> The hard part for you is creating a compelling enough competitor 15 years too late and also to make it worth people's while to start using your site vs. CL.

which is essentially why CL has a defacto "monopoly" - there is no way someone can come and make a different CL.

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