Editing A Comment on Malwarebytes v. Enigma
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On first glance, [https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/101920zr1_ebfi.pdf ''Malwarebytes v. Enigma''] may not seem to be very important. It doesn't seem to be. It's one of those cases where one party has appealed a case all the way up to the Supreme Court, but it doesn't think the case is important enough for them to take. | On first glance, [https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/101920zr1_ebfi.pdf ''Malwarebytes v. Enigma''] may not seem to be very important. It doesn't seem to be. It's one of those cases where one party has appealed a case all the way up to the Supreme Court, but it doesn't think the case is important enough for them to take. | ||
But, even if its legal effect may not extend beyond the medium- or even short-term, it has historical value. For one, it is the first time the Supreme Court has interpreted or even mentioned a very important statute for the Internet, section 230 of the Communications Decency Act<ref>To be sure, this is section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, which was added by section 509 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The CDA is the name for the part of Telecommunications Act section 509 is in. This was codified to 47 USC 230. Confusing, I know.</ref>. For two, it shows how the Supreme Court, or at least | But, even if its legal effect may not extend beyond the medium- or even short-term, it has historical value. For one, it is the first time the Supreme Court has interpreted or even mentioned a very important statute for the Internet, section 230 of the Communications Decency Act<ref>To be sure, this is section 230 of the Communications Act of 1934, which was added by section 509 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The CDA is the name for the part of Telecommunications Act section 509 is in. This was codified to 47 USC 230. Confusing, I know.</ref>. For two, it shows how the Supreme Court, or at least one justice of it (nobody else joined this "statement"), is inclined to interpret section 230 should a case revolving around it ever come before the Court. | ||
When a judge interprets a law, he will of course first look to the plain meaning of the text. If the plain meaning supplies no clear meaning or a clearly absurd one, he will then look to the purpose of the legislature in enacting the law. | When a judge interprets a law, he will of course first look to the plain meaning of the text. If the plain meaning supplies no clear meaning or a clearly absurd one, he will then look to the purpose of the legislature in enacting the law. | ||
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No doubt, paragraph (2) was intended to be the more important of the two short paragraphs of the section. It seems to fit more with the heading of the subsection. Yet in the long run, paragraph (1) became more momentous. Here's why: if you're not treated as the publisher or speaker of content someone else created, you can't be liable to be sued for defamation on it. | No doubt, paragraph (2) was intended to be the more important of the two short paragraphs of the section. It seems to fit more with the heading of the subsection. Yet in the long run, paragraph (1) became more momentous. Here's why: if you're not treated as the publisher or speaker of content someone else created, you can't be liable to be sued for defamation on it. | ||
The ACLU soon took the Attorney-General, Janet Reno, to court over this Act. In ''Reno v. ACLU (1997)'', the Supreme Court struck the punitive provisions of the CDA down, but kept this section, which was not challenged. Subsections (d) and (e) simply set out ancillary provisions. "Information content provider", as defined by this section, includes users of the Internet as well as websites; "interactive computer service" includes websites as well as ISPs. | |||
Since then, section 230 has become one of the most important enactments regulating the Internet. It allows sites to exist which cannot reasonably moderate all the content posted on it, because they are not liable for content that is posted which they don't know about. Even if they remove content, they're not treated as the publisher or speaker of the content that they choose to stay up as long as they do so in good faith, because of this section. | Since then, section 230 has become one of the most important enactments regulating the Internet. It allows sites to exist which cannot reasonably moderate all the content posted on it, because they are not liable for content that is posted which they don't know about. Even if they remove content, they're not treated as the publisher or speaker of the content that they choose to stay up as long as they do so in good faith, because of this section. | ||
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Section 230 has been amended twice. The first amendment, in 1998, required ISPs to help customers find software that could help them stop minors from viewing obscene content. The second, in 2018, was the first real limitation on the expansive protection of section 230: facilitating sex trafficking and prostitution became something websites were liable for as publishers. If they knew about it, they had an obligation to do all they could to stop it, or else they would be civilly liable. This amendment is called FOSTA, and it did not affect the power of websites to freely remove content. | Section 230 has been amended twice. The first amendment, in 1998, required ISPs to help customers find software that could help them stop minors from viewing obscene content. The second, in 2018, was the first real limitation on the expansive protection of section 230: facilitating sex trafficking and prostitution became something websites were liable for as publishers. If they knew about it, they had an obligation to do all they could to stop it, or else they would be civilly liable. This amendment is called FOSTA, and it did not affect the power of websites to freely remove content. | ||
Now, despite the polarized political atmosphere in the United States, both sides of the aisle have attempted to reduce the scope of section 230 protections: the Democrats against perceived racism and hatred, the Republicans against perceived liberal bias by the moderation of the largest websites. For the first time, with this | Now, despite the polarized political atmosphere in the United States, both sides of the aisle have attempted to reduce the scope of section 230 protections: the Democrats against perceived racism and hatred, the Republicans against perceived liberal bias by the moderation of the largest websites. For the first time, with this opinion, the Supreme Court throws the hat it should have thrown a decade ago into the ring. | ||
Thus much for background. | Thus much for background. | ||
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
<references /> | <references /> | ||