[The following is an email received by Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross from William C. Powell, a government relations officer for Craigslist, during ABC News' "20/20" Recall Roulette investigation.]

Brian,

Your request for an interview with [Craigslist founder] Craig Newmark was forwarded to me.

Craig has not been involved in management at craigslist for many years, and has no role in government relations. He has never spoken to the CPSC [U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission] about craigslist policy to my knowledge, and I have been managing government relations at craigslist for several years.

On the other hand, I did have a conversation with CPSC folks this spring, including Ray Aragon, Marc Schoem, and Dennis Blasius.

As we discussed at the time, craigslist (1) prohibits the sale of recalled items; (2) notifies its users that posting recalled items for sale is prohibited; (3) deploys automated systems to help prevent posting of recalled items; (4) provides a system whereby users can flag postings advertising recalled items for removal; and (5) removes recalled items that come to its attention.

Based on what I learned in conversation with CPSC personnel, craigslist has further minimized the posting of recalled items by craigslist users. A very positive result, and one that the CPSC seemed to appreciate.

We have not heard from the CPSC since the conclusion of these productive talks 6 months ago. As always, our door remains open.

William C. Powell

Government Relations

craigslist