May 19th, 2012

Announcement:

On May 18th 2012, CraigsPal received Cease and Desist letter from legal counsel of Perkins Coie who represents Craigslist.org. I have thought about this letter for a while now and have come to the unfortunate conclusion that I’m going to run down craigspal.com.

While I could consult a lawyer and fight the most egregious of the claims within the C&D, I’ve decided that the upside in conducting a legal battle is just too small. Despite the claims in the C&D letter, I have never really profited. That’s right. While Craigslist attempts to cast me as some kind of evil profiteer, they’re making an estimated $25 million per employee.

This for you is important to read.

I’m glad Craigslist makes money though. I just wish they would reinvest their profits in innovation. Instead of paying lawyers to shut down innovative ideas, they could be searching for ways to make Craigslist better. And there are thousands of people who would say that CraigsPal made Craigslist a lot better. Please DON'T any of this: fight CL forum, argue CL forum, brag about CraigsPal, spam CL, offend CL. 

Zip radius (nationwide is others business, let's focus on local, 100-200 miles, mash those results, offer), mappers, digest, flagging (groups of people with pre-defined interests AKA saved searches in CL my account, serve it daily or regularly, the same group is your best Flagging squad that will keep the niche clean if you do not have any other solution, team);  efficiently connected local resources is important now. You don't need to go in the other city, you'll have them in yours, if you setup saved searches under your CL account, that's the point. This is not to be done by third-party , this must be done by CL, anything can be coded. There's a need to efficiently connect people, that's the matter.

This year I picked up some great vintage surfboards thanks to Craigspal. It’s also helped thousands of other people find collectibles, jobs, gigs, cars, and even a lost pet. In fact a few forward thinking police departments were using Craigspal to find stolen property being sold on Craigslist. To my knowledge Craigslist doesn’t provide any tools for law enforcement officers to monitor their listings for illegal activity.

If you are a current Craigspal member, this means, it was fantastic experience, but it's over. You won’t be able to re-subscribe nor will any current free subscribers be able to use it. I am deeply touched with waves of feedback, support and praise about the CraigsPal project you may still send to info@craigspal.com. I am greatly thankful for helping so many people to find their dreams and make them happy, this is my biggest reward.

On a personal note, I can’t help but feel that I let down my most fervent supporters, especially my wife and children who has supported me during the thousands of hours I spent developing, refining, and supporting this software and members.

Sincerely,

Craigs Pal.


May 20th, 2012

Announcement:

What About GRACE?

....from NY

HELLO,

First, let me express my sympathies to you, your family and your employees.
I just found out about the demise of the program. Let me explain:

First, I brought my neck in 1977 at the young age of 16 years old and have
been a C-4 paralyzed from my neck down in wheelchair since. My will to live
is so strong and my desire to walk again is stronger than ever 34 years in.
While disappointing, I understand your reluctance to waste your effort in a
noble cause performed upon you merely for lousy money. Such is the world we
have created thus far.

I found so many things using your program that help me, it is hard to list
them: a wheelchair, a simulation device for my muscles, weights, etc. I
found my family and many other items and where possible I did relay the
existence of your program. To me I do not understand what they want from
you. Your program was merely a conduit that did not respect borders, that
is all . I am able to buy a device in Texas and I live in New York without
taking a difficult if not impossible trip. To do this all from my keyboard
is simply amazing. What a gift you gave to the world. May you and your
children and family someday reap rewards of such karmic goodness. And you
personally have my highest form of respect.

Good luck in your future to all involved,

...from FL

Thanks very much for a great app - and sorry they've decided to shut you down.  
Your announcement was very well put - it's incomprehensible that they'd want to
shut down an app which makes their business better.  In lieu of shutting you down
they should have bought you out or at least offer you a job, since you show you
are tuned into efficacy, user demand, and future development of UI.

What always starts as a great idea becomes successful and then a profit machine
which loses all common sense.