Section 230

Social networking sites and online message boards are an integral part of the Internet. Those websites are able to provide unfettered forums for the exchange of ideas because they enjoy certain legal immunities. But, those immunities are eroding. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provides immunity from copyright infringement, and 47...

[caption id="attachment_18800" align="alignright" width="145"] Kevin Bollaert[/caption] Founders of the revenge porn site You Got Posted, Eric Chanson and Kevin Bollaert, have been ordered to pay an Ohio woman $385,000, including $75,000 in punitive damages, for distributing child pornography – photos of her when she was underage. (judgment) The plaintiff, represented by...

SLAPP suits are never pretty. This one is particularly troubling. A couple of members of the Steubenville, Ohio Big Red football team were accused of kidnapping and raping a 16 year old girl at a party. (source, source) A blogger, Alexandria Goddard, wrote about the incident. Naturally, she was outraged. She wrote another...

Anonymous has now targeted Hunter Moore. In a release published today, Anon writes: Greetings citizens of the world, We are Anonymous. This is a call to all Anonymous worldwide, you have a chance to make a real difference in the lives of hundreds of bullied teenagers and protect them from...

A court in the Northern District of Illinois recently concluded that accusations that an internet service provider might have falsified an account in order to leave comments anonymously cannot survive a motion to dismiss. In Hadley v. GateHouse Media Freeport Holdings, a county board member filed a complaint against the publisher...

This blog often features articles on developments in § 230 of the Communications Decency Act, or the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, but the significance – and nuance – of such rulings may not be immediately appreciable to many readers.  Hopefully such posts are helpful to lawyers.  However, they are important...