Implicate the Middleman? The Strength and Weakness of the 'Good Samaritan Doctrine' in Providing a Legal Shield for Internet Service Providers (ISPS) Against the Liability of Third Party Contents.
2014; RELX Group (Netherlands); Linguagem: Inglês
10.2139/ssrn.2559078
ISSN1556-5068
Autores Tópico(s)Dispute Resolution and Class Actions
ResumoThe emergence of the Internet has ushered in a new form of information dissemination giving everyone the opportunity to publish almost everything and in whichever format without the least restriction. As a result, whenever offensive content is detected on the Internet, the first reaction is to blame” the provider of the platform – the Internet service provider (ISPs). Blaming the ISP is re-enforced by the fact that ISPs have technical control over the content; ISPs are in a better financial position and can always be identified with ease, compared to original publishers of offensive contents who can be anonymous on the Internet. By implication ISPs have found themselves crammed between the hammer of the law and the anvil of aggrieved users.Accordingly, this calls for regulation on the use of the Internet and in this regard the spotlight falls on the government and ISPs. In other words a hybrid of ‘self-regulation and government intervention’ is desired to control abusive use of the Internet. However, over regulating the use of the Internet will definitely choke the growth of e-commerce in particular and information society services in general. Hence the laws left some space for ISPs to wriggle free of liability as long as they perform the role expected of them.
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