eBay not liable for bootlegged content
General IP Issues
11/9/2000; 12:02:29 PM

'In a ruling late Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Stuart Pollak in San Francisco County dismissed a lawsuit brought by a Grateful Dead fan who sought to stop sales of illegal concert recordings of the band....

'In dismissing the suit, Pollak said he based his ruling on the Communications Decency Act, which forbids computer service providers for being punished for the speech of others.

'"Plaintiff's attempt to impose responsibility on eBay as the seller of items auctioned over its service is no different from the unsuccessful attempts that have been made to hold computer service providers liable as distributors rather than publishers of defamatory or pornographic materials," Pollak wrote.'

Score one for sane people!