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California Court Ruling Favors Online Speech

Posted by timothy on from the road-to-the-court-of-appeals dept.

isomeme writes: "A California court has ruled that posting another person's libelous text online is not a separate act of libel. See this article for the full scoop. One interesting twist is that the decision was justified in part by provisions of the much-denigrated Communications Decency Act (CDA). I'm not sure if this ruling is a good thing or not; as the opposing attorney pointed out, it seems to provide a loophole for libel, protecting online speech more than other varieties."

4 comments

  1. If you can't quote it, how can you report it? by rthille · · Score: 2


    Why should online be different from print? Can you report on a libel case and reproduce the libelous statement in print? If so, then why should online differ?

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  2. Interesting... by camusflage · · Score: 2

    Where does it end?

    By that, if I post in a /. article that someone told me RobLimo likes goatse.cx, am I protected, or need I be a "real" journalist? What if I am a real journalist, and I report that "an anonymous source" told me that RobLimo visits goatse.cx every day? In order to constitute libel, would I need to report that the anonymous source told me RobLimo visits goatse.cx, and that I'm sure he likes it?

    The mind reels from the possibilities for mischief and mayhem.

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  3. Re:CDA by isomeme · · Score: 2
    Wasn't the CDA struck down though?

    Certain sections of it were. Others remain in force.

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  4. CDA by polychronopolous · · Score: 2

    One interesting twist is that the decision was justified in part by provisions of the much-denigrated Communications Decency Act (CDA).

    Wasn't the CDA struck down though?

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