In what is likely to be seen as a landmark decision, a judge in Washington DC has ruled that internet service providers are exempt from prosecution for content carried on their service. The ruling was made in the case of White House adviser Sidney Blumenthal and his wife, against America Online Inc, and the gossip peddler Matt Drudge – the same person who broke the Monica Lewinsky story. AOL pays Drudge $3,000 a month for a column in which he alleged that Blumenthal has a history of spousal abuse. Drudge withdrew the story the same day and apologized, but Blumenthal sued Drudge and AOL for $30m of damages for defamation anyway. The judge wrote that since the information revolution news is disseminated so quickly that news rumors and other information…is communicated so quickly that it is often unchecked or unverified. Present company excluded, of course.
