COURT RULINGS PROVIDE GUIDANCE ON

IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY

FOR CONTENT POSTED BY OTHERS

The recent court rulings by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roomates.com, LLC¹ and the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law, Inc. v. Craigslist, Inc.² provide specific guidance regarding the scope of immunity under Section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act for providers of interactive computer services for liability arising from content created by third parties.

The Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. § 230(c) (Section 230(c)) has become a critical defense for e-commerce businesses and other interactive computer service providers (which include ISPs, websites, online services, search engines, and others) respecting claims arising in connection with content provided by others. These cases, involving the hot button issue of housing discrimination, offered both circuits the opportunity to cut back on the broad immunity provided by Section 230. However, the decisions did not do so, and are largely consistent with the body of Section 230 case law that recognizes broad immunity for interactive computer services under this statute.

For our readers, we have prepared a brief overview of the basic immunity rules emanating from the Roommates and Craigslist decisions.
Please read it here.

¹ 2008 WL 879293 (9th Cir. April 3, 2008)
² 2008 WL 681168 (7th Cir. March 14, 2008)

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