Before I took the reigns at LIB, I checked out my rights on internet freedom of speech, and while it is an ever changing topic, currently case law supports that what LIB commenters and other writers say on my site cannot be used to sue me. If you see any articles concerning internet blogging and freedom of speech please send me a link. It is a topic that is very important to me. Here’s a happy example of where things stand in California right now. (But I’m still not going to let you post " real" names and racial slurs!)
Read whole story here- http://www.newmediamusings.com/free_speech/
The San Jose Mercury News reports on an important and common-sense ruling by the California Supreme Court: Justices hand victory to free speech online.
Legions of Web users and Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and other major Internet providers dodged a legal morass Monday when the California Supreme Court ruled they cannot be sued for posting or distributing libelous material written by others.
In a 34-page ruling, the state’s high court overturned a lower court decision that had stripped immunity against such lawsuits and alarmed free speech advocates who warned it could chill expression on the Internet.
The Supreme Court unanimously concluded that federal law is clear on insulating Internet providers and Web sites against lawsuits for the inflammatory statements of others. The ruling does not, however, protect the original authors of defamatory material. …