Goodale on CDA 230 and Anonymous Speech Online

From Sam Bayard of the Citizen Media Law Project...

James Goodale, the former vice chairman of the New York Times, published an article on Friday in the New York Law Journal (registration required) on CDA 230 and the highly publicized Doe v. Ciolli case. Goodale argues that CDA 230, the federal law that shields providers of "interactive computer service[s]" from liability for defamation and other torts for publishing the statements of third parties, should be amended to impose liability in cases where a website operator "knowingly causes defamation by refusing to take down libelous posts." Goodale, a distinguished media lawyer, is not alone in his concern that Congress and the courts have "gone too far" in the direction of protecting website operators at the expense of individuals whose reputations may have been damaged. The argument depends, to a large extent, on the claim that CDA 230 somehow leaves injured plaintiffs with no remedy or recourse for the harm done to them. (See, for instance, Ron Coleman's post on December 7.)

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