HARTFORD, Conn. -- Craigslist should remove its adult services section because the website cannot adequately block potentially illegal ads promoting prostitution and child trafficking, attorneys general in 17 states demanded Tuesday in a joint letter.

"Only Craigslist has the power to stop these ads before they are even published," Kansas attorney general Steve Six said in a statement. "Sadly, they are completely unwilling to do so."

The joint letter acknowledged Craigslist faces the prospect of losing revenue if it were to remove the adult services section...