eBay’s bought 25% of CraigsList.org. Craig blogs about it here, and set up a forum to talk about it here.

I love CraigsList both as a service that I use and as an example of what’s so damn right with the Web. And I have complete faith in Craig Newmark as someone who has put years of labor on the line to build a place that benefits the community.

I have slightly mixed feelings about eBay. It, too, is a service I use all the time, and they’ve innovated in some really useful ways, especially with regard to reputation systems. I do, however, still hold against them their lawsuit against BiddersEdge, an auction aggregation site. But, then I balance that one assaholic legal crusade against the good that Pierre Omidyar, its founder and chairman, has done.

Craig says in his blog and repeatedly in the forum that things are not going to change. There is a tone in his blog posting that the eBay relationship was forced on him, although he’s ambiguous on the point. And that actually makes me feel a bit less worried about Craiglist’s future: If it was against his will, we have Craig’s will — and his 75% ownership — working in our favor.

Plus, I’m really happy that Craig will make some money out of this. There’s no reason heroes of the Web can’t earn a buck, too.

Categories: Uncategorized dw