A Washington court held that Amazon.com was shielded by the Communications Decency Act (CDA) and not liable for statements posted by a third party on its website. Several books written by plaintiff Jerome Schneider were for sale on the Amazon website. Amazon also posted several book reviews that criticized Schneider personally. Schneider requested that the reviews be removed; however, Amazon failed to take any action. Schneider filed an action for defamation and other torts. The court found that Amazon qualified as an interactive service provider under the safe harbor provision of Section 230 of the CDA. As such, Amazon was not liable for statements posted on its website by third parties.
Opinion at http://www.cdlaw.com/cases/apps/09_01/46791-3.htm
Keywords: defamation
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