Section 230 Free Speech Savior or Shield for Scoundrels? An Empirical Study of Intermediary Immunity Under Section 230

As many of you who read this blog know, we spend a lot of time thinking about -- and sometimes debating -- section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

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United States

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Section 230

T&J Towing v. Kurtz: We've Got The Court Documents

Last Monday, the New York Times ran an article about T&J Towing's lawsuit against a college student, Justin Kurtz, over a Facebook group page he started called “Kalamazoo Residents against T&J Towing.” Several other

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Michigan

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Brazil Fines Google Over Dirty Jokes on Orkut; Brazilian Lawyers Weigh In

Techdirt first drew our attention to Google's recent legal

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Brazil

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Will Italy's Conviction of Google Execs Stick?

I've no doubt that CMLP blog readers, fellow netizens that you are, are well aware of an Italian court's conviction last week of three Google executives for invasion of privacy of an Italian teenager.

Jurisdiction:

Italy

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Video

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Philly, Don't Blame Facebook for Missing the Snowball Fight Invite

I understand you're upset, Philadelphia. Plans for a "flash mob" snowball fight last week got out of control. Scores of teenagers stormed a local mall and nearby streets

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Please Sue Me: Is "Please Rob Me" A New Test for Section 230?

Just over a year ago, the rumormonger—and some would say defamatory—website JuicyCampus.com shut down. At the time, I wrote "there's one (and only one) downer to Juicy Campus' shutdown . . . a lawsuit against Juicy Campus could have served as a very interesting test case for the limits of Section 230 immunity."

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Just Say No to the Sewer: Section 230 No Obstacle to Editing Comments

If you're a fan of high-tech gadgets or Internet drama, you might have noticed the brouhaha brewing at Engadget this week. Long known for its comment sections ranking just above the YouTube level on the scale of man's inhumanity to man, the site prompted a new wave of bile last week with its coverage of Apple's iPad announcement.

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The Cartman Technique: How a Fraud Exception will Mine the ISP Safe Harbor

[A]ll it takes to kill a show forever, is to get one episode pulled. If we convince the network to pull this episode for the sake of Muslims, then the Catholics can demand a show they don't like get pulled . . . and so on and so on, until Family Guy is no more - it's exactly what happened to Laverne & Shirley.- Eric Cartman, South Park , Cartoon Wars I

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Yet Another Plaintiff Faceplant, Thanks to Section 230

I am constantly impressed with plaintiffs' hapless charges against the nearly impenetrable immunity that is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“Section 230”). Time and time again, angry plaintiffs bring suit against websites because some unknown third party posted questionable, if not illegal, material. And time and time again, those claims are stymied by Section 230, which grants the websites immunity from liability for those third-party postings. Seriously

Jurisdiction:

Illinois

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Finkel v. Facebook: Court Rejects Defamation Claim Against Facebook Premised on "Ownership" of User Content

Back in February, Denise Finkel, a 2008 graduate of Oceanside High School on Long Island, sued four of her former high school classmates and their parents after the students created a private Facebook group called "90 Cents Short of a Dollar," which allegedly contained false and defamatory statements about her.

Jurisdiction:

New York

Digital Media Law Project

Legal Resources for Digital Media

Section 230

Free Speech Savior or Shield for Scoundrels? An Empirical Study of Intermediary Immunity Under Section 230

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T&J Towing v. Kurtz: We've Got The Court Documents

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Brazil Fines Google Over Dirty Jokes on Orkut; Brazilian Lawyers Weigh In

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Will Italy's Conviction of Google Execs Stick?

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Philly, Don't Blame Facebook for Missing the Snowball Fight Invite

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Please Sue Me: Is "Please Rob Me" A New Test for Section 230?

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Just Say No to the Sewer: Section 230 No Obstacle to Editing Comments

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The Cartman Technique: How a Fraud Exception will Mine the ISP Safe Harbor

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Yet Another Plaintiff Faceplant, Thanks to Section 230

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Finkel v. Facebook: Court Rejects Defamation Claim Against Facebook Premised on "Ownership" of User Content

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