Mark Austin ("Austin") owned a travel business in Bali. Defendant John Daniels ("Daniels") also owned a travel business called Bali Discovery Tours. Daniels used CrystalTech Web Hosting ("CrystalTech") to host the website for Bali Discovery Tours. Austin sued Daniels and CrystalTech when Daniels posted an allegedly defmatory article on the Bali Discovery Tours' website claiming that criminal charges were going to be filed against Austin. CrystalTech sought to have the case dismissed, at the trial level, on the grounds that it was protected from defamation liability under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (the "CDA"). The trial court held that the CDA barred CrystalTech from being held liable as a distributor of defamatory content and dismissed Austin's lawsuit. On appeal, the appellate court upheld the trial court's decision, finding that CrystalTech was immune from liability pursuant to the CDA.
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