eBay was not liable for libel when it refused to delete a seller's negative feedback against a buyer, a federal judge ruled last week. The buyer who sued eBay says he will appeal.
Attorney and legal newspaper publisher Roger Grace wanted eBay held liable as the publisher of memorabilia dealer Tim Neeley's comments about Grace, after eBay refused to remove the comments, according to Reuters. The dispute began when Grace bought six vintage entertainment magazines from Neeley.
But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas Willhite threw out Grace's libel suit, ruling eBay was immune according to the 1996 Communications Decency Act, saying the law "forbids treating eBay as the publisher of Neeley's accusation, and…precludes any cause of action on that basis."
An unidentified eBay spokesman told Reuters the Willhite ruling "affirms" the CDA and eBay's independence. But Grace called the ruling "disturbing" and plans to appeal, saying the CDA shields only companies giving consumers links to the Internet but not companies who run Websites and are thus responsible for the sites' content.
