Can the owner be held liable for what is said on a messageboard?
 

I run a gay tgp that has a gay messageboard on it and I've stated from the start that this board is not moderated and you're encouraged to speak your mind.

I really don't care what they talk about and the only rule is that they're over 18. But now I log in and some of them are talking about hooking up and getting into rape fantasies.

Can I be held liable for this shit?

I mean is AOL be held liable for all the shit that goes on when their members meet each other? and AOL is moderated with employees, my site isn't.

:helpme

Stoned? I think Dawgy will just fuck him up the ass.

I am stoned right now. That make me gay?

:(

Anyone can sue you (or arrest you) for anything but they probably wouldn't win. You are just providing a forum for other people to speak.

Just make sure you take action when you are notified of threats, personal info being posted, etc. You don't have to moderate as the stuff is posted, but make sure you respond to complaints.

Also, make sure you have a policy saying that you don't moderate the site but that it is against the rules to post threats, illegal stuff, whatever.

There is nothing illegal about rape fantasies, by the way.

I'm sorry but some of this is just not true...as the owner of the message board you do have some responsibilities.

I know this only because I know of two huge ceo's in the online auction world (I know one personally) anyway they have both been serving each other papers over the past couple of years having stuff removed off of message boards etc.

In fact the one owner I do not know finally made it a policy that you could no longer post anything regarding the one ceo's site in order to avoid further litigation.

The CEO I do know...and btw he is a cheat and a crook has been succesful at shutting a number of sites down that bad mouthed his site.

I guess it all depends upon who has the most money and the better lawyers...but I suggest you moderate it...next thing you know you just might have pedo's camping at your board posting links to sites.

Mr.Fiction is correct.
The law states that you are not responsible for the content of the message board as long as
1) you state clearly that it is not allowed
2) you remove or disable access to the content when you receive notification about

Disclaimer: I?m not an attorney, I just do a lot of research on cyberlaw.

A message board owner isn?t liable for a 3rd party posting. However, you can?t encourage libel, nor can you ( the owner) post something defamatory. Exceptions to this rule are copyright violation, illegal material (underage porn pics), and privacy law compliance. If you have anything that violates those 3 things, you need to remove it ASAP. I think under the DMCA, you have to remove any copyright or IP infringements, given notice

The only good thing about the CDA (Communications Decency Act), was the immunity given to ISPs for 3rd party actions. Congress had a vested interest in promoting good behavior. Companies used to be afraid of monitoring their message boards, because of legal exposure. To address that, Congress added Section 230, which states: ? No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider. ?

Links:
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/script...tle=47&sec=230
Full text of section 230

http://legal.web.aol.com/decisions/dldefam/archive.html
AOL won a series of cases, including appellate ones, courtesy of section 230. They list the cases on their legal website.

cases in particular:
Zeran v. Aol (famous), Blumenthal v. Drudge, Green v. AOL and Does 1 and 2, Does 1-30, et al. v. Franco Productions, et al. (about porn hosting)

http://www.phillipsnizer.com/int-defam.htm
A listing of current defamation cases. Quite a few of them deal with section 230.

http://www.techtv.com/screensavers/p...332414,00.html
Attorney from Morrison Foerster (big law firm) answers the question: Are You Responsible for What People Say on Your Website?

I know but I meant if someone actually hooked up and something happened I dont want it coming back to me.

I just added a line in the registration page saying
"I understand that this board is not moderated but that it is against the rules to post threats, personal information and illegal stuff. Any complaints will result in the thread being deleted. "

thanks for the advice all

Why not getting some moderators?

Phone companies aren't liable for what is said on the phones, so I think you'll be ok. The same would have been true for Napster, had they not had their servers stored the illegal files.

:warning uh oh, watch out Lensman!



:)