ISP's liable for usenet posts?
ISP's seem to be liable for usenet postings made by their subscribers. I could see how this could relate to message board posts also. It could also be used as another way for people to get rid of posters, by complaining to their ISP. Right now they just try to use TOS violations to quiet people. One guy in a newsgroup kept threatening to kill me so I sent the messages to his ISP and they kicked him off. He got another ISP within a day but at least he knocked off the death threats.
Demon Settles Usenet Libel Suit, Sets Legal Precedent 03/31/00.(Company Business and Marketing)
Author/s: Sylvia Dennis
Issue: March 31, 2000
LONDON, ENGLAND, 2000 MAR 31 (NB) - The sound of UK lawyers sharpening their teeth could be heard last night, after a long-running lawsuit came down against Internet service providers (ISPs) over who is responsible for Usenet postings.
Demon Internet Services, now a subsidiary of Thus (formerly known as Scottish Telecom), shelled out 15,000 pounds ($25,000) in damages, plus around 250 million pounds ($400,000) in legal costs, in the libel case, which reached the appeal courts.
Demon apologized publicly and settled the lawsuit against Laurence Godfrey, who had accused the ISP of failing to respond to his complaints over false postings to the Internet. Godfrey had previously offered to settle the case for 2,500 pounds ($4,000).
However, the case sets a UK precedent that ISPs are now responsible for the Usenet postings of their subscribers. Industry experts are now predicting that UK ISPs will either have to set up monitoring systems for the Usenet postings, or move offshore, or simply not offer Usenet posting services at all.
Nick Braithwaite, one of Godfrey's lawyers, told BBC TV news last night that the case firmly sets a precedent that the Internet is now a medium on which the laws of libel now apply.
Godfrey, who has taken legal action against ISPs in the US for ignoring his requests for removal of allegedly libelous Usenet postings, complained to Demon in early 1997 about an apparently forged message on a Usenet Thailand newsgroup.
Gordon Bishop, another of Godfrey's lawyers, said that the message "was squalid, obscene and defamatory of Dr. Godfrey," adding that Godfrey sent several faxes to Demon asking that it be removed.
Demon, meanwhile, did not act on the complaints, apparently reasoning that it had no responsibility for its subscriber's and their postings.
Then, in July 1998, another posting on a different newsgroup made defamatory allegations about Godfrey, Bishop said. Again, Demon failed to respond to complaints, he said.
The case may yet set a precedent in the US courts, Newsbytes notes, since Godfrey's previous lawsuits against US ISPs resulted in out-of- court settlement. This makes the UK case precedent all the more stronger, should other cases reach the US courts.
Reported by Newsbytes.com, newsbytes.com .
(20000331/WIRES ONLINE, LEGAL, BUSINESS/)
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