Law 897: Assignment for October 25, 2010

Law 897: The Law in Cyberspace

Assignment for October 25, 2010

Internet Service Provider Liability

Congress has enacted two statutes limiting the liability of Internet service providers for their subscribers' posts. Section 230 of the Communciations Decency Act limits service provider liability in defamation and other tort actions; while Section 512 of the Copyright Act limits service provider liability for copyright infringement. Why take two different approaches? Does one approach make more sense than the other?

Section 230 of the Communications Decency act

Read 47 U.S.C. § 230
Read Doe v. Myspace.com, 528 F.3d 413 (5th Cir 2008)
Read Fair Housing Council v. Roomates.com, 521 F.3d 1157 (9th Cir 2008)(en banc)
Read either Susan Crawford, More on Section 230, Susan Crawford Blog (April 3, 2008) or Thomas O’Toole, Five Post-Roommates.com Decisions Confine Immunity Exception to Narrow Circumstances, BNA ECommerce & Tech Law Blog (May 28, 2009).
Read Barnes v. Yahoo, 570 F.3d 1096 (9th Cir 2009)

Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Read 17 U.S.C. § 512
Read Perfect 10 v. CCBill, 488 F. 3d 1102 (9th Cir 2007)
Read Viacom v. Youtube, 95 U.S.P.Q.2d 1766 (SDNY 2010)
Read either Thomas Sydnor III, Grokster Redux: Why the Summary-Judgment Ruling in Viacom v. YouTube Should Be Reversed, PFF Progress on Point( Aug. 2010), or Eric Goldman, YouTube Gets Decisive Win in Viacom/FAPL Case, Technology & Marketing Law Blog (June 23, 2010).

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