District Court Rules: Craigslist.com is Not in Violation of Fair Housing
Craigslist.com was recently sued by a Committee of lawyers in Chicago for alleged discrimination and violation of the fair housing act.
Here is a quote from Inman news:
"The online classified service Craigslist.org is not a publisher and can't be forced to stop its users from posting alleged discriminatory housing advertisements, a U.S. District Court Judge has ruled.
The ruling is the latest of several in which courts have held that Web sites that serve as intermediaries to allow users to post ads or commentary enjoy protections under the Communications Decency Act not afforded to print publications such as newspapers."
The article goes on to talk about the official view of HUD on the subject:
"Some Web sites assert that they are exempt from liability under (the Fair Housing Act) because of a provision in the Communications Decency Act which limits the liability of interactive computer services for content originating with a third party user of the service," wrote Bryan Greene, HUD's deputy assistant secretary for enforcement and programs. "However, HUD has concluded that the (Communications Decency Act) does not make Web sites immune from liability under the Fair Housing Act or from liability under state and local laws that HUD has certified as substantially equivalent to the Fair Housing Act."This is an interesting battle, and I'm sure that we will see many more lawsuits of this kind in the coming months and years. Another official statement by HUD encouraged similar investigations into alleged acts of violations on websites with 3rd party information similar to craigslist, and instructed it's regional directors, to pay close attention to such alleged violations.
posted by Justin Smith @ 11/15/2006 10:55:00 PM
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