Court further limits eBay's responsibility for user comments
Consistent with earlier rulings that considered eBay a venue rather than an auctioneer such as Sotheby's and therefore limited its responsibility for sellers' and buyers' actions comes this new court ruling according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required):
Judge Thomas L. Willhite Jr. of the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles last week granted eBay's request to dismiss the libel claim by Roger M. Grace. Mr. Grace, an eBay user, received negative "feedback" -- a form of rating that eBay buyers and sellers leave for each other after transactions -- from a merchant, Tim Neeley, who sells Hollywood memorabilia on the site. According to the court ruling, Mr. Neeley wrote that Mr. Grace "should be banned from eBay" and was "dishonest all the way" following Mr. Grace's purchase of several items from Mr. Neeley.
Mr. Grace sued eBay for libel for publishing Mr. Neeley's negative comments on its Web site. But the court ruled that eBay is immune to such claims under the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which protects providers of "interactive computer services" from liability for the online comments posted by their users. "We think it's an important ruling, because it affirms the principle that eBay is not responsible for the content of third parties," said Jay Monahan, eBay's deputy general counsel.