Posted on 04/11/2007 9:01:43 AM PDT by bedolido
PITTSBURGH (AP) - A Florida-based Web site that invites women to warn others about men they've dated cannot be sued in a Pennsylvania court by an attorney who said its postings falsely claimed he was unfaithful and had sexually transmitted diseases.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. said he had no jurisdiction over the lawsuit Todd Hollis filed last June against DontDateHimGirl.com and its creator, Tasha C. Cunningham, 34, of Miami.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.myway.com ...
Personally, I think the Court is dead wrong - personal jurisdiction exists. In Keeton v. Hustler Magazine, 465 U.S. 770 (1984), the Supreme Court allowed long-arm jurisdiction where the defendant allegedly committed libel so long as even one copy of Hustler was sold in Vermont, the forum state. The fact that this is an internet site creates some issues, but it seems obvious to me that a Florida website that allowed embittered ex-girlfriends to vent about their boyfriends could conceivably cause tortious actions in Pennsylvania. The website clearly derives substantial revenue from interstate commerce.
I appreciate when courts know the limits of their jurisdiction, but an overly timid court is just as bad as an activist court.
I went to that website and after the initial giggles about the loser men, I just ended up really thinking how the girls were losers. Some of these women talked about their children, etc. The fact is bad men will always find gullible women...and BOTH parties are at fault. WOMEN, DON’T SLEEP WITH MEN SO QUICKLY...that would end alot of the problems.
I love that picture. A possible title could be “Last moment of bliss”.
Joking aside... I agree with you 100%. It's sad when I see so many women seemingly so desparate they'll degrade themselves for any form of attention (I'd say love... but the men are just pigs and it's not love for a lot of them).
Yep, that’s the one in the article, and I s’pect you’re right on that! Self-ping for when NOT using the employer’s bandwidth.
Or will they be the lead story in a MSNBC article about a double-murder/suicide?
Or will they be the lead story in a MSNBC article about a double-murder/suicide?
On second thought that looks like Ryan Seacrest in the bed so it really couldn’t be happening could it?
And the state would have no jurisdiction. It would have to be filed in Florida or in Federal Court.
There is a Federal Shield law in place (thank God) and the plaintiff's remedy is to sue the person who posted the libel and not the web site.
This is a case where they went after the deep pockets and found that they were empty or that they were zipped shut.
Libel would be from the person who posted the comments, not the media in which those comments were made public. Libel statements can be made via web, radio, paper even audio .... it is the SPEAKER of the libel that should be held to account, not the transmission media.
In short, sue the person who posted the comments, not the blog or web page that the comments were made.
One condition though, once the blog or web page receives a statement of notification calling into question the disputed statement, it has the obligation to remove access to that comment.
Not under the Pennsylvania long-arm statute, 42 Pa.C.S.A § 5322, which permits jurisidiction "to the fullest extent allowed under the Constitution of the United States and may be based upon the most minimum contact with this Commonwealth allowed under the Constitution of the United States." 42 Pa.C.S.A. § 5322(b). There may be Federal jurisdiction based upon diversity of citizenship, depending upon the damages, but that would be a forum of choice, not necessity.
There is a Federal Shield law in place (thank God) and the plaintiff's remedy is to sue the person who posted the libel and not the web site. This is a case where they went after the deep pockets and found that they were empty or that they were zipped shut.
Not necessarily - and the jurisdiction question is entirely separate from the applicability of the Federal shield law.
You're right, though, the poor pasty-faced dude isn't going to be posting anything about her tonight -- or ever. Maybe some of his friends, or brothers and sisters, can do it for him?
Me, too! Gives me the willies, though. I think I was almost lured into such a predicament once. Brrrrrrr....
Not to mention if the guy coming in is George Takei! LOLZ!
” George Takei! “
Then that means the woman is the interloper!
After realizing that we, er, don’t even rank at hotenough.org, this comes along...
Just Damn Ping...8^)
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