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Court
Says Blogs Not Liable for 3rd Parties By Laura Parker Bloggers and website owners cannot be sued for posting libelous or defamatory comments written by third parties, the California Supreme Court has ruled. The court said only the original authors of comments published online can be sued. Legal analysts say the 34-page decision, issued Monday, is significant because it brings California in line with other court rulings across the nation that have upheld the 1996 federal Communications Decency Act, which protects website owners from legal liability in libel or defamation lawsuits. "Bloggers and website owners can all breathe a very big sigh of relief," says Gregory Herbert, an Orlando lawyer who specializes in First Amendment issues. "This decision adds more uniformity to the law and reduces the risk for liability for even individuals who are posting things onto website message boards and chat rooms." The California case involved a lawsuit by two San Francisco-area doctors, Stephen Barrett and Terry Polevoy. They accused a San Diego woman, Ilena Rosenthal, of defaming them by using her website to post memos — obtained from a third party — that criticized the doctors. Barrett and Polevoy ran websites that exposed health frauds, court papers say. They claimed Rosenthal libeled them by posting defamatory statements that impugned their character and competence in their efforts to combat fraud. A judge dismissed the lawsuit in 2001. However, a state appeals court restored it in 2004, making California one of the few states where people seeking to sue website owners for defamation by third parties could hope to win in court. Several Internet heavyweights, including Google, eBay, Yahoo and AOL, filed briefs in case. They warned that weakening the Communications Decency Act would chill free speech on the Internet. Attorneys involved in several lawsuits involving website operators said Tuesday that they were assessing the ruling's impact on their cases. The attorneys defending the owner of a dating website who is being sued by a Pittsburgh man who claims the site defamed him said they thought the California decision would help their defense. Tasha Joseph, who owns the website dontdatehimgirl.com, where women post warnings about men they consider to be bad dates, is being sued by Todd Hollis, a Pittsburgh defense lawyer. Several postings on the site have accused him of having a venereal disease. Hollis says the postings are false. Last spring, he sued Joseph and three women involved in the postings. Arguments over whether the lawsuit can be brought in Pennsylvania are scheduled for January. Joseph lives in Miami. Joseph's attorneys have maintained that she is not responsible for the content of the messages on her website. "We're very happy," said Robert Byer, one of Joseph's attorneys. "If the judge follows (the California) decision in our case, it should lead to the dismissal of the suit against Tasha Joseph."
Blogger Jailed After
Defying Court Orders SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 1 — A freelance journalist and blogger was jailed on Tuesday after refusing to turn over video he took at an anticapitalist protest here last summer and after refusing to testify before a grand jury looking into accusations that crimes were committed at the protest. The freelancer, Josh Wolf, 24, was taken into custody just before noon after a hearing in front of Judge William Alsup of Federal District Court. Found in contempt, Mr. Wolf was later moved to a federal prison in Dublin, Calif., and could be imprisoned until next summer, when the grand jury term expires, said his lawyer, Jose Luis Fuentes. Earlier this year, federal prosecutors subpoenaed Mr. Wolf to testify before a grand jury and turn over video from the demonstration, held in the Mission District on July 8, 2005. The protest, tied to a Group of 8 meeting of world economic leaders in Scotland, ended in a clash between demonstrators and the San Francisco police, with one officer sustaining a fractured skull. A smoke bomb or a firework was also put under a police car, and investigators are looking into whether arson was attempted on a government-financed vehicle. Mr. Wolf, who posted some of the edited video on his Web site, www.joshwolf.net, and sold some of it to local television stations, met with investigators, who wanted to see the raw video. But Mr. Wolf refused to hand over the tapes, arguing that he had the right as a journalist to shield his sources. On Tuesday, Judge Alsup disagreed, ruling that the grand jury "has a legitimate need" to see what Mr. Wolf filmed. Mr. Wolf, a recent college graduate, is the latest journalist to face prison time for refusing to cooperate with federal investigators. Last year, the New York Times reporter Judith Miller served nearly three months in jail after refusing to divulge her sources in the investigation of the leak of a covert C.I.A. agent’s name. Jane Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota, said that although the jailing of journalists had become more common, Mr. Wolf’s case was the first she had heard of in which a blogger had been pursued and eventually jailed by federal authorities. "There is a tendency on the part of the prosecutors to go aggressively after people not perceived to have a big gun behind them," Ms. Kirtley said. "They are the most vulnerable links in the chain." While California has a so-called shield law meant to protect journalists and their sources, no such law exists at the federal level. Even if there was such a law, Ms. Kirtley said, it is unclear whether a blogger and freelancer would fall under it. According to his Web site, Mr. Wolf has been active in his defense, holding news conferences and posting interviews and newspaper articles on his site. On Tuesday, however, the site’s last message read, "This blog will be updated sometime shortly after my hearing ... wish me luck guys!" Mr. Wolf has attracted supporters, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, which introduced a resolution objecting to the federal government’s role in the investigation. The Society of Professional Journalists contributed to Mr. Wolf’s legal defense fund. Mr. Fuentes said he had already prepared an appeal and would file it immediately. He also planned to ask for bail, though he was not certain where the money to post it would come from. "His mother has been trying to fund-raise," Mr. Fuentes said. "But he might lose his job."
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A Feast
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