[Vision2020] Usenet USA Libel Suit?

[Ted Moffett]

Dale et.  al.

The case you reference regarding libel for a Usenet post is from England 
which oddly does not provide the same legal protections for free speech as 
our First Amendment does here in the USA.

Please do provide a court case within the USA where libel in a Usenet forum 
has been successfully pursued.  I have seen very abusive content on Usenet 
newsgroups yet have yet to hear of a successful libel suit.

Ted

>From: "Dale Courtney" <dale@courtneys.us>
>To: <vision2020@moscow.com>
>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] enough already
>Date: Mon, 23 Jun 2003 17:15:56 -0700
>
>Tom,
>
>You may want to review some recent court cases where ISPs (in both the USA 
>and UK) have been held liable.
>   a.. http://www.vnunet.com/Features/80998
>   b.. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/DailyNews/demon000331_segan.html
>I can provide more if you are interested.
>
>I'm not saying that an ISP should be responsible for what is hosted on 
>their hardware. However, the courts are thinking that ISPs are more like 
>newspapers.
>
>Best,
>Dale Courtney
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Tom Hansen
>   To: Dale Courtney ; vision2020@moscow.com
>   Sent: Monday, June 23, 2003 17:11
>   Subject: RE: [Vision2020] enough already
>
>
>   I definitely agree that Mr. Stambler should be removed from this 
>listserve.  He was "ignorable" earlier.  But now that he mentions names, it 
>has gone a bit past the ignoring stage.
>
>   Also, I seriously doubt that FSR can be held liable for comments made on 
>this listserve.  If ISP's could be held liable for comments made on their 
>listserve, could you even begin to imagine the potential law suits 
>originating in chat rooms?
>
>   If I were a "damaged" party from any of these comments by Mr. Stambler, 
>I wouldn't bring action against FSR.  Why??  I would seek legal counsel and 
>pursue Mr. Stambler.
>
>   It is just that simple.
>
>   Take care,
>
>   Tom Hansen

_________________________________________________________________
The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE*  
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail