Craig Newmark

Craig Alexander Newmark (born circa 1952 in Morristown, New Jersey), is best known for being the founder of the San Francisco-based internet website known as craigslist. Various boards link up people for discussion groups, activities and romance, and everything from cookware to the latest computers and accessories can be bought and sold on craigslist. Except for employers posting help wanted ads, all the site's ads are free of charge, benefiting many people who would otherwise have to pay for newspaper charges.

The SF Chronicle castigated his eponymous website [1], and many animal activists single out Craig, for providing a free venue for breeding and selling animals, including pit bulls, that unfortunately fall into the hands of breeders, criminals and professional dog fighters. A typical ad [2] that Newmark permits for free would cost the poster a large fee at the Chronicle, which, by no means prohibits the sale of animals, and doesn't falsely claim to.

Newmark, to the dismay of concerned citizens, claims to believe in allowing the "Craigslist Community" to define the mores of craigslist, and so if animal sales and breeding ads appear on his website, it is not his responsibility to remove them. Newmark carefully spells out his policy regarding the the sale of animals [3]. It directs the reader to find out what is legal and illegal to sell, and that is Newmark's policy. Dogs are legal to sell and breed in his adopted state of Califoria, and for that reason, Newmark, a firm believer in laissez-faire business policies, steadfastly refuses to remove such ads. This directly causes a surplus of unsold and unwanted animals. To counterbalance that, Newmark, who likes to be thought of as a humanitarian, points out that his site does assist in the rehoming of unwanted pets, with adoption fee. Interestingly, no other single institution in the SF Bay Area has had a hand in rehoming so many unwanted pets as craigslist. [4]. Ironically, no other single institution or person creates so many unwanted pets.

Newmark likes to be close to the powers-that-be in his adopted city of San Francisco. He was on the inauguration committee when the city's mayor-elect Gavin Newsom took office.

Newmark attended Morristown High School, in Morristown, New Jersey, and upon graduation attended college at Case Western Reserve University.

He resides in San Francisco's Cole Valley.

As of 2005, Newmark is an aspiring actor.

Notes

1. ^ Usborne, David. Entrepreneur taps mistrust of media for new venture The Independent

External links

• craigblog, Craig's personal blog
• Interview with Craig Newmark, Craigslist Founder
• Interview with Craig Newmark, Craigslist Founder