[Vision2020] Email Lists/Bloggers Gain Libel Protection

[Tim Lohrmann]

Visionaries,
   Of course this is from the 9th Circuit--THE most
likely to be overturned of them all.
   So take it for what it's worth.
   But anyway, FYI



> Email Lists/Bloggers Gain Libel Protection
> 
>
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,59424,00.html
> 
> By Xeni Jardin
> 
> The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last
> Tuesday that Web loggers, website operators and
> e-mail list editors can't be held responsible for
> libel for information they republish, extending
> crucial First Amendment protections to
> do-it-yourself online publishers.
> 
> Online free speech advocates praised the decision as
> a victory. The ruling effectively differentiates
> conventional news media, which can be sued
> relatively easily for libel, from certain forms of
> online communication such as moderated e-mail lists.
> One implication is that DIY publishers like bloggers
> cannot be sued as easily.
> 
> "One-way news publications have editors and
> fact-checkers, and they're not just selling
> information -- they're selling reliability," said
> Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic
> Frontier Foundation. "But on blogs or e-mail lists,
> people aren't necessarily selling anything, they're
> just engaging in speech. That freedom of speech
> wouldn't exist if you were held liable for every
> piece of information you cut, paste and forward."
> 
> The court based its decision on a section of the
> 1996 Communications
> Decency Act, or the CDA. That section states, "...
> no provider or user of an interactive computer
> service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker
> of any information provided by another information
> content provider." Three cases since then -- Zeran
> v. AOL, Gentry v. eBay and Schneider v. Amazon --
> have granted immunity to commercial online service
> providers.
> 
> Tuesday's court ruling clarifies the reach of the
> immunity granted by the CDA to cover noncommercial
> publishers like list-server operators and others who
> take a personal role in deleting or approving
> messages for online publication.
> 
> "Here, the court basically said that when it comes
> to Internet publication, you can edit, pick and
> choose, and still be protected," said Cohn.
> 
> The case traces back to a North Carolina town in
> 1999, where handyman
> Robert Smith was repairing a truck owned by attorney
> and art collector
> Ellen Batzel. Smith claimed to have overheard Batzel
> say she was related
> to Nazi Gestapo head Heinrich Himmler. He said he
> concluded that the
> European paintings he saw in her home must be stolen
> goods, and shared
> this in an e-mail he sent to the editor of the
> Museum Security Network, an organization that
> publishes information about stolen art.
> 
> Without telling Smith the e-mail would be published,
> Ton Cremers -- the
> sole operator of Amsterdam-based Museum Security
> Network –- made minor
> edits, then posted Smith's e-mail to a list of about
> 1,000 museum directors, journalists, auction houses,
> gallery owners and Interpol and FBI agents.
> 
> Three months later, Batzel learned of the post. She
> contacted Cremers to
> deny both the stolen art and Nazi ancestry
> allegations. She also said
> Smith's claims were motivated by financial disputes
> over contracting
> work.
> 
> Smith said he had no idea Cremers would publish a
> private e-mail on the
> list or on the Web.
> 
> Batzel sued Smith, Cremers and the Museum Security
> Network for
> defamation and won. Cremers appealed.
> 
> The appeals court questioned whether Cremers' minor
> edits to
> Smith's e-mail altered it so much that the post
> became a new piece of
> expression, and decided it had not. But because
> Smith claims he didn't
> know the e-mail would be published, the court also
> questioned whether the
> immunity provision of the Act applied, and passed
> the case back
> 
> to the district court. The lower court will
> reconsider whether Cremers
> had reasonable belief that Smith's e-mail was
> intended for publication.
> 
> "Some weblogs are interesting mixes of original and
> forwarded content,
> so this issue may come up again in the courts,"
> EFF's Cohn said. "Where
> that legal line is drawn may become a point of
> contention."
> 
> Ellen Batzel says the case changed her life.
> 
> "This was a small, North Carolina mountain town -- I
> talked to the
> (district attorney) and he said 'Get a dog, get a
> gun, get a security
> system or better yet get out of town.' I sold my
> house and moved. I've
> been hurt in my professional reputation and in my
> private life.
> 
> "I know what free speech is, and I support it, but
> this is about
> invasion of privacy and my civil liberty. Every time
> I meet someone now,
> I have to say, 'Hi, I'm not Himmler's
> granddaughter."
> 
> Attorney Howard Fredman, who represented Batzel in
> the case, said the
> next legal steps could include a rehearing before
> the appeals court, or
> petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court.
> 
> 


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