Damaging Effects of Cybersmear and Responsibility of the ISP

Topic area Freedom of Speech, Privacy, Censorship, ISP Responsibility
Target audience Undergraduate and graduate IS/CS/CE/EE majors in general 
Activity type Writing assignment / inclass discussion
Time required  1-1/2 hours of outside preparation reading articles for a 1-hr (50 minute) in-class discussion.
 2 weeks for writing assignment
Attachments Worksheet,      47 USCS 230  Section 230 of Communications Decency Act  , "Supreme Court Refuses to Disturb Immunity ruling for AOL", "Cubby v. CompuServe"
Additional materials 1. AMERICA ONLINE, INC., Defendant., Civil Action 96-952-A, March 21, 1997, 
MEMORANDUM OPINION  http://www.Loundy.com/CASES/Zeran_v_AOL.html
2.. Bowker v. America Online, Inc., No. 95L 013509, Verified Petition for Discovery  (Cir. Ct. Cook Cty. Ill., filed Sept. 12, 1995), 
http://www.courttv.com/library/cyberlaw/aoldefamation.html
3..   Dealing with the "Cybersmear", New York Law Journal, April 19, 1999  http://www.nylj.com/tech/041999t3.html
4. The complaint filed on behalf of Philip Services Corp. http://www.ljx.com/LJXfiles/philsuit.html
5.  “Lehman Bros Chasing Down ‘Rumours, Lies,’ ” Sydney Morning Herald Online, 
Oct. 13, 1998; http://www.smh.com.au:80/news/9810/13/text/business13.html 
6.  "47 USCS 230  Section 230 of Communications Decency Act
Background needed to complete the assignment Students need to be given copies of the articles, or need to be able to locate copies. 
References SEC Approves Series of Measures in Ongoing Fight Against Microcap Fraud http://www.sec.gov/news/microreg.htm, February 19, 1999 
Rebecca Landwehr, “Companies Battle Libel on the Web: Chat Rooms Pose Legal Challenges,” Denver Bus. J., Oct. 12, 1998. 
Carrie Lee, “Heard on the Net: Firm Responds to Allegations, Showing Clout of Net Chatter,” Wall St. J. Interactive Ed., Feb. 4, 1999 
Julie Tilsner and Joan O’C. Hamilton, “Who ARE These People? Investor Chat Rooms Give Companies Fits,” Signals, Sept. 10, 1998. 
William J. Cook ,"How to take the sting out of parody and unsnarl rage pages ", Copyright 1998 Law Bulletin Publishing Company, Chicago Lawyer, September, 1998 
Martin H. Samson, "Internet Cases of Interest", The Internet Newsletter: Legal & Business Aspects, Copyright 1998 Leader Publications, Inc., A Division of The New York Law Publishing Company 
Robert Schmidt, "Liability and Libel in Cyberspace",FEDERAL COURT WATCH; Pg. 1, Legal Times, American Lawyer Newspapers Group Inc., November 24, 1997 
"Supreme Court Refuses To Disturb Immunity Ruling for AOL",Vol. 1; No. 11; Pg. 11, Telecommunications Industry Litigation Reporter, July 1998,Copyright 1998 Andrews Publications, Inc. 
Last modified August, 1999
Abstract:
The assignment is to read 5 articles about misinformation that appears on the Internet, in order to encourage students to think about the damaging effects that it might have; in particular, to see how private lives can be affected. They will look at the responsibilities of the individual user and the internet provider. They must consider, too, who deserves protection "more", the individual, the corporation, society.

Goals for the activity:
The goals are as follows:

  1. to understand the extent of the damage that can be accomplished when erroneous and derogatory information is psted to the web.
  2. to learn to what extent the law protects individuals, corporations, and society  in this regard
  3. to learn what individuals and businesses have done in order to protect themselves.
  4. to improve critical thinking and logical reasoning skills,
  5. to improve writing skills.
Knowledge / skills / attitudes to be developed (behavioral objectives):
Students will develop an awareness of the lack of controls on the internet, and will develop an understanding of some of the resulting consequences.

Procedure:
The readings and assignments (or URLs)  should be passed out a week in advance of the discussion to give students an opportunity to locate the articles. The instructor should offer any necessary explanations. If the assignment is a written one, it should be handed out at least two weeks prior to the due date.  Be sure to ask if they have any questions about the assignment during the intervening class periods. Collect the assignments and grade them. Return the graded assignments when there is time to discuss them with the class. It is useful to have students who took differing points of view explain the reasons behind their answers.

Assessing outcomes:
The written assignment can be collected and counted as a paper grade for the term. For inclass discussion, students may be awarded a point for each question on the worksheet that was correctly answered.

Additional remarks:
A worksheet / discussion assignment was devised around the same articles.

Author contact information:
Gene Bailey, Professor
Computer & Information Sciences Dept
Box 70711 East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, TN  37614
 
 
 

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