Several recent cases and events have focused significant attention on the use of the Internet for defamatory and harassing activities.  In the New York divorce case of Garrido v. Krasnansky a court has ordered that a husband stop posting inflammatory remarks about his wife on his blog.  First Amendment advocates are up in arms because the order comes not in the context of a defamation case but as part of a motion in a divorce proceeding.   The wife's defamation case would not be a slam dunk.  The husband has tried to avoid a defamation claim by calling his postings a "fictional" account of his failed marriage.   Of course the traditional truth defense presents a high hurdle as well. 

Meanwhile, on the other end of the country, an LA federal grand jury is issuing subpoenas in a  case involving MySpace postings and a Missouri teenager who committed suicide after rejection by a person she thought was a sixteen year old boy.  The poster was actually the mother of a former friend.   Prosecutors in Missouri declined to take action against the mother.  LA authorities are proceeding under a theory that the mother may have defrauded the social networking community on MySpace. 

Cases like these may raise interesting issues for ISP and web site immunity.  Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides immunity against an ISP being held to be a "publisher or a speaker," clearly focusing on defamation.   Does aiding a harassment claim in a divorce fall outside of those protections or chip away at them in some form?  Does a harassment claim on a social networking cite fall outside of 230? Does a criminal prosecution protecting a site against fraud frustrate any attempt to tear down immunity by the party truly harmed by the fraud?  Many of the CDA cases to date, such as the Roommates.com case have focused on the site's level of involvement with the content entry, as opposed to the nature of the cause of action.  As aggrieved parties get more creative, we could see more creative arguments with respect to the CDA.  Photo by blmurch.