Legal Niches

Ninth Circuit Rules Roommates.com May Be Unlawful Host
The Ninth Circuit has just ruled (en banc) that the Roommates.com Web site is not entitled to immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. (Props to Eric Goldman for the link!) The opinion, by Chief Judge Alex Kozinski, is typically lucid and holds, essentially, that Roommates falls outside the safe harbor because it [...

Roommates.com Decision: A Start of a Judicial Trend to Rein in the Web
The Ninth Circuit recently published its en banc decision in Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com LLC, 2008 WL 879293 (9th Cir. April 3, 2008). I do not intend to comment on the merits of the decision, which has been analyzed in depth here and here and here, but I want to [...

En Banc Ninth Revisits Online Immunity Case
Fair Housing Council v. Roommates.com, 04-56916 (9th Cir., April 3, 2008) A year ago, a panel of the Ninth Circuit made waves when it issued a fractured decision that limited online content providers? immunity under § 230 of the Communications Decency Act...

Section 230 immunity and the Roommates.com case
Larry Downes looks at the section 230 immunity and the Roommates.com case: I write in this month?s CIO Insight about the 9th Circuit?s en banc decision in the Roommates.com case. This important decision tested the limits of immunity for information service providers (in this case, the operator of a website...

How the Roommates.com decision is good for Section 230
Earlier today the Ninth Circuit, en banc, issued its opinion in the case of Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley, et al v. Roommate.com, LLC. It is a long and detailed opinion, authored by Judge Kozinski, and as characterized by my friend Michael Erdman, leaves Roommates...

Communications Decency Act doesn't shield on-line service, Ninth Circuit holds
The Ninth Circuit held yesterday that Roommates.com is not immune under the Communications Decency Act ("CDA") from liability for discriminatory content on its site. The en banc panel in Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v...

California Supreme Court Proposition 8 Decision
Court Rejects Challenges to Proposition 8, but Finds Marriages Valid

Specialty Lamp International
Recalls Counterfeit Circuit Breakers