Yahoo and Advocates Request Ruling Revision
A coalition of digital rights groups is warning that language in a recent federal appellate ruling about Yahoo "threatens significant mischief" to other Web companies.
Public Citizen, joined by the Center for Democracy & Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Citizen Media Law Project, filed papers Thursday asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to rewrite its opinion by deleting a passage that could make it costlier for Web sites to defend themselves in court.
The appellate court had ruled that Oregon resident Cynthia Barnes could pursue a lawsuit against Yahoo for breach of contract for allegedly failing to honor a promise to remove a fake profile of her. The profile, which included nude photos of Barnes, was posted by her ex-boyfriend.
Web sites like Yahoo typically have no obligation to delete content posted by users -- even when it's lewd and malicious -- because section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act says sites are immune from liability for material uploaded by users. But the 9th Circuit found that Barnes' situation falls within an exception to that rule because a Yahoo representative promised that the site would take down the profile.
The civil rights groups agree with the ultimate decision -- that Barnes should have an opportunity to prove that Yahoo broke a promise to her -- but say that the court's language could hurt other Web publishers.
That's because the court characterized section 230 as an "affirmative defense." If that classification holds, it could take Web sites longer to get cases brought against them dismissed.
Yahoo also filed papers asking the court to revise the same portion of the opinion.
Recent Online Media Daily Articles
-
Coca-Cola Loses Bid To Dismiss Text-Spam Case May 24, 5:41 p.m.
Consumers can proceed with a lawsuit against Coca-Cola for allegedly sending them unwanted SMS messages, a ... -
Disaster Ready: Google Maps Model Quickly Adjusts To Events May 24, 5:29 p.m.
The four-lane bridge in Washington state that partially collapsed Thursday into the Skagit River was removed ... -
Pandora Beats Rev Estimates, Adds Subscribers May 24, 5:01 p.m.
Online radio service Pandora on Thursday reported that revenue rose 55% in the first quarter to $126 ... -
Real-Time Web Turns Consumers Into Impulse Buyers May 24, 4:37 p.m.
Video, mobile, social, and better search capabilities continue to make it easy for consumers to buy ... -
Mugnier Shares M&C Saatchi's Mobile Approach May 24, 4:32 p.m.
M&C Saatchi Mobile was formed three years ago through the acquisition of mobile marketing agency Inside ... -
Yahoo Search Experiments With New Look May 23, 6:30 p.m.
Yahoo Search has been experimenting with colors, features and layouts, as the company tries to determine ... -
Path Seeks Dismissal Of Wireless-Spam Case May 23, 5:07 p.m.
Mobile social network Path is asking a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that the ... -
Amazon Appstore Goes Global May 23, 4:59 p.m.
Amazon may have been late to the app store game, but that hasn’t stopped it from ... -
Data Is Springboard For Product Development May 23, 4:44 p.m.
iProspect named Ben Wood to global president Thursday; he's tasked with growing the company's network and ... -
Vice, Twitter Partner For Mobile Show May 23, 2:14 p.m.
Simultaneously expanding its video and social strategy, Vice on Thursday unveiled #dailyvice -- a daily show ...
Be the first to comment on "Yahoo and Advocates Request Ruling Revision"
Leave a Comment