The US classified ads website Craigslist says it will remove its erotic services category, following claims it promotes prostitution.

美国分类广告网站Craigslist将除去性爱服务目录，声明这项服务会促进卖淫。

Craigslist recently toppled MySpace as the most visited site

Law enforcement officials have said prostitutes and clients use the site for illegal sexual encounters.

In place will be a new adult services section that will be closely monitored.

"We are optimistic that the new balance struck will be an acceptable compromise," Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said.

"Sued"

In recent months the spotlight¹（照明灯，公众注意中心） has been turned on the San Francisco company, following a series of high-profile cases.

The one that gained national attention involved Phillip Markoff, 23, who has been charged with killing² a young woman who offered her services as a masseuse（按摩女） on Craigslist.

Julissa Brisman, 26, was found shot dead in a hotel room in Boston last month.

The was widely convered in the media, with Mr Markoff being dubbed³ the "Craigslist Killer⁴."

Earlier in the year, the site attracted the attention of a number of law enforcement officers.

One of the most vocal⁵ critics of the erotic（性爱的，性欲的） services adverts⁶ was an Illinois sheriff who sued（要求，控告） the site in a federal court.

Sheriff Thomas Dart⁷ said Craigslist was failing to block offers to trade sex for money. He called the site "the single largest source of prostitution in the nation."

He said this latest move by the site is "a major step in the right direction".

Last week South Carolina's Attorney General Henry McMaster threatened the management of Craigslist with prosecution⁸ if it did not remove the local erotic services posting within 10 days.

Last November Craigslist announced a deal with 40 state attorneys general that said it would charge for erotic services ads and require advertisers to user a credit card for payment.

This was seen as a way for authorities to track them down.

Tom Dart said he will still keep a close eye on the site

"Monitor"

Existing adverts in the erotic services section will remain for the next seven days.

The new adult services category has now opened for postings by "legal adult service providers".

In a blog post, Craigslist said each post would be manually reviewed before appearing on the site to ensure compliance⁹（承诺，顺从） with the company's guidelines and terms of use.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who had called the section "nothing more than an internet brothel", said authorities would monitor these new ads.

"I'm encouraged Craigslist has agreed to fundamentally change how they operate and monitor their site," said Ms Madigan in a statement.

Craigslist, which donated all of the profits from "erotic services" ads to charity, has insisted all along that the site is relatively¹⁰ safe.

"Contrary to some of the sensationalistic（感觉论，追求轰动效应） journalism¹¹ we've seen these past few weeks, the record is clear that use of Craigslist classified is associated with far lower rates of violent crime than print classifieds, let alone rates of violent crime pertaining¹² to American society as a whole," said Mr Buckmaster.