Communications Decency Act Protects Users and Distributors of Online Content

The California Supreme Court ruled Monday that individual Internet users cannot be held liable for republishing defamatory statements written by others. Available here from News.com.
The unanimous ruling appears to be the first to make clear that a 1996 law called the Communications Decency Act protects not only providers, but also users of online services who redistribute content. Earlier court rulings had established that Section 230 of that statute shields companies such as AOL and eBay from such liability, provided that they make good faith efforts to restrict access to material that could be considered "obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable."

The majority opinion is here, penned by Associate Justice Carol Corrigan.