Lawyers for the Backpage executives charged with pimping a minor, pimping, and conspiracy to commit pimping demanded that charges be dismissed on the grounds that the prosecution violates the First Amendment and is preempted by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. First Amendment Davis Wright Tremaine’s letter to Attorney General Harris contended that: The State cannot…
The growing presence of ISIS and other terrorist groups on social media has triggered lawsuits and sparked debate over what steps should be taken by the government and/or social media companies to restrict this growth. I just returned from a dialogue hosted by the U.S. Holocaust Museum and Loyola Marymount University on “Fueling Extremism on…
The Subcommittee Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations began its bipartisan investigation of human trafficking on the Internet in April 2015. The Subcommittee explains that With estimated annual revenues of more than $150 million, Backpage is a market leader in commercial sex advertising and has been linked to hundreds of reported cases of sex trafficking, including the…
As outlined previously, Santa Monica had been a goldmine for Airbnb generating $9.3 million a year in revenue; making it one of the top 10 revenue generators for greater Los Angeles. Short term rentals, however, already were illegal in Santa Monica, but enforcement is rare. Nonetheless, on May 12, 2015 the City of Santa Monica adopted…
CDA 230 and Preserving Free Speech Online Today I will be chairing the 2016 IP and the Internet Conference in San Francisco on behalf of the California Bar Intellectual Property Section; and will be moderating the first panel which will be a discussion of CDA Section 230 in the Age of Cyber Civil Rights…
Terrorist Social Media Cases Test Scope of CDA § 230 Three recent cases against involving Twitter, Facebook and Google seek to hold social media platforms liable to the families of terrorist attacks by ISIS and/or Hamas since they provided material support to their cause. While this would appear to be barred under Section 230 of…
Yelp Loses Challenge to Removal Order In a major victory for defamation plaintiffs, a Calfornia Court of Appeal has upheld an order requiring Yelp to remove defamatory reviews. Dawn Hassell and the Hassell Law Group (“Hassell”) obtained a judgment holding defendant Ava Bird liable for defamation and requiring her to remove defamatory reviews she posted about Hassell on Yelp.…
9th Circuit: Failure to Warn Not Preempted Under Section 230 In 2011, model Jane Doe went to Florida for an audition with a talent scout who contacted her via the website Model Mayhem. At the “audition” Doe was drugged, raped and recorded. Model Mayhem’s parent is alleged to have had prior knowledge of similar conduct…
Australian State Supreme Court Grants Individuals the Power to Censor the Internet Australian Dr. Janice Duffy, was unhappy with the services of psychics offered by the website Kasamba and expressed her dissatisfaction through posts under various alias on RipOffReport.com (“ROR”). The psychics responded in kind, with ROR posts accusing Duffy of stalking and harassing psychics. Duffy…
RipOffReport Loses Another Section 230 Case On August 19th, a federal court in Iowa rejected a RipOffReport (“ROR”) claim for immunity under Communications Decency Act Section 230, explaining There is substantial evidence suggesting that the plaintiffs materially contributed to the alleged illegality of the information at issue.As noted above, there is an undisputed connection between Magedson and Meade concerning…
Section 230 Setback For Backpage.com Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) shields websites for liability for third party content with limited exceptions. This is seen by many to be the equivalent of the Magna Carta for free and unfettered debate on the internet. Backpage.com has been targeted for years for its perceived role…
Magistrate Gives RipOffReport Split Decision, Still May Be Prosecuted In January, Xcentric Ventures, LLC, operator of RipOffReport.com (“ROR”), filed a federal lawsuit in Iowa seeking to block further investigation of its activities by Sac County, Iowa District Attorney Ben Smith. Smith had indicted one ROR operative, Darren Meade, for witness tampering and other charges. …
Second Circuit – GoDaddy Immune under Sec 230 For Defamation Claim The Second Circuit, for the first time addressed whether a webhost has liability for defamatory content on sites it hosts and held it enjoyed immunity under the Communications Decency Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. § 230. In Ricci v. Teamsters Union Local 456, 2015 WL 1214476…
Cyber Report 