Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Computer Bulliten Boards and The Law
Computer Bulliten Boards and The Law
by
Michael H. Riddle
72446.3241@compuserve.com
Sysop on 1:285/27@fidonet
Access to Information
In this issue:
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Conclusion
[Footnotes -cmk]
FN2. Id.
FN15. Id.
BY MICHAEL ALEXANDER
CW STAFF
CHICAGO --- The attorney for Craig Neidorf, a 20-year-
old electronic newsletter editor, said last week that
he plans to file a civil lawsuit against Bellsouth
Corp. as a result of the firm's ``irresponsible''
handling of a case involving the theft of a computer
text file from the firm.
A quick ending:
FN25. Id.
FN28. The Jensen article, supra note 27, for example pays a
great deal of attention to the libel question. Liability
for defamation is also discussed in Soma, Smith & Sprague,
Legal Analysis of Electronic Bulletin Board Activities, 7 W.
NEW ENG. L. REV. 571 (1985); Becker, The Liability of Com-
puter Bulletin Board Operators for Defamation Posted by
Others, 22 CONN. L. REV. 203 (1989); and Comment, Computer
Bulletin Board Operator Liability for User Misuse, 54
FORDHAM L. REV. 439 (1985). The subject is frequently
discussed within the framework of bulletin board systems,
particularly in those message areas devoted to system opera-
tors, and at least one paper on the subject is electronical-
ly distributed: Kahn, Defamation Liability of Computerized
Bulletin Board Operators and Problems of Proof (1989),
available by anonymous ftp from the archives of the Internet
Telecommunications Digest, lcs.mit.edu, directory telecom-
archives, as sysop.libel.liability. It is also available
from the author of this paper.
FN33. Id.
FN38. The case was remanded for retrial, as the jury had
found liability without fault being established and had
awarded $50,000 without proof of damages. Id.
FN43. Gertz.
FN71. 556 F.2d 113 (2d Cir. 1977), cert. den. sub nom.
Edwards v. New York Times Co., 434 U.S. 1002 (1977).
FN73. Id.
FN78. A Mr. Len Rose was recently indicted for the theft of
American Telephone and Telegraph Company software detailing
the operation of the "E911" emergency telephone system.
Several other individuals were charged because the software,
either without their knowledge, or with their knowledge but
without their knowing it was stolen, was stored or trans-
mitted by their systems. (This is the same theft where Mr.
Biggs was convicted. See n. 21, supra, and accompanying
text.) A final decision has not been reached in Mr. Rose's
case. A copy of the Rose indictment is available from the
author. Various versions of the other charges are available
in issues of the Computer Underground Digest available from
the author.