IP: ISP not liable for customer's messages
From: "Peter J. Celano" <celano@ic.net> Subject: IP: ISP not liable for customer's messages Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 13:25:31 -0400 To: ignition-point@majordomo.pobox.com INTERNET PROVIDER NOT LIABLE FOR MESSAGES OF ITS CUSTOMERS An appeals court in Florida has ruled against a woman who sued America Online because one of its customers, a convicted sex offender, used an AOL chat group to try to sell the woman's 11-year-old son a pornographic video. The court said that federal law protects online services from being held liable for the messages transmitted by their members sell the videotape of the boy. The defeated lawsuit, which is being appealed to the Supreme Court, tried to characterize America Online as "a home shopping network for pedophiles and child pornographers." (AP/Washington Post 15 Oct 98) -- Peter J. Celano petec@iname.com pgp key on request <http://ic.net/~celano> member SPECLUSA < >< Ready to DO something? Try <http://ic.net/~celano/ip/> Always remember - LIPS SINK SHIPS!!! ********************************************** To subscribe or unsubscribe, email: majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com with the message: (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address ********************************************** www.telepath.com/believer **********************************************
An appeals court in Florida has ruled against a woman who sued America Online because one of its customers, a convicted sex offender, used an AOL chat group to try to sell the woman's 11-year-old son a pornographic video. The court said that federal law protects online services from being held liable for the messages transmitted by their members sell the videotape of the boy. The defeated lawsuit, which is being appealed to the Supreme Court, tried to characterize America Online as "a home shopping network for pedophiles and child pornographers." (AP/Washington Post 15 Oct 98)
As I recall, the individual was trying to sell a pornographic video featuring the woman's 11 year old son, which is another thing entirely. -- Eric Michael Cordian 0+ O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"
On Fri, 16 Oct 1998, Eric Cordian wrote:
An appeals court in Florida has ruled against a woman who sued America Online because one of its customers, a convicted sex offender, used an AOL chat group to try to sell the woman's 11-year-old son a pornographic video. The court said that federal law protects online services from being held liable for the messages transmitted by their members sell the videotape of the boy. The defeated lawsuit, which is being appealed to the Supreme Court, tried to characterize America Online as "a home shopping network for pedophiles and child pornographers." (AP/Washington Post 15 Oct 98)
As I recall, the individual was trying to sell a pornographic video featuring the woman's 11 year old son, which is another thing entirely.
Not really. If the service providor is to be held accountable for what its members post/say/etc., they would have to monitor *all* traffic in order to police their members. In addition, even if the providor *were* monitoring, they can only be reactive - do you expect them to monitor and censor all traffic before releasing it? Looks like an attempt to bring in a "deep pockets" defendant. -r.w.
Mr. Wombat writes:
As I recall, the individual was trying to sell a pornographic video featuring the woman's 11 year old son, which is another thing entirely.
Not really. If the service providor is to be held accountable for what its members post/say/etc., they would have to monitor *all* traffic in order to police their members. In addition, even if the providor *were* monitoring, they can only be reactive - do you expect them to monitor and censor all traffic before releasing it?
I was merely correcting a factual error in the prior post. Clearly, a parent is likely to feel more outrage towards AOL if pornographic videos of their 11 year old son are being openly sold online by the child's victimizer, than if some random person tries to sell said 11 year old a piece of mainstream erotica. Pointing out why this parent is so bent out of shape over this is not the moral equivalent of suggesting that servuce providers should be held accountable for content they do not originate, which I do not support. -- Eric Michael Cordian 0+ O:.T:.O:. Mathematical Munitions Division "Do What Thou Wilt Shall Be The Whole Of The Law"
participants (3)
-
Eric Cordian -
Rabid Wombat -
Vladimir Z. Nuri