$30M MySpace lawsuit dismissed

Written by

Hallelujah. For once common sense has prevailed. The $30M lawsuit filed against MySpace by the parents of children who were molested by MySpace users has been dismissed.

U.S. district judge Sam Sparks ruled that MySpace, owned by media giant News Corp., should not be held responsible for what happened. “If anyone had a duty to protect Julie Doe, it was her parents, not MySpace,” he wrote in his decision.

As my lovely and talented wife said, “Ding ding ding ding, we have a winner”. Of course, the lawyers for the families are going to appeal.

An attorney for the four families said they plan to appeal the ruling. “The judge’s ruling is flat wrong,” said Jason Itkin, the attorney representing the families. “As the Internet grows and companies like MySpace are aware of the dangers, they need to do things to protect their users, especially young children.”

Another quote from Mr. Itkin…

“This is allowing sites like MySpace to avoid the responsibility to make the Internet safe for children,” Jason Itkin said. “MySpace knows its Web site is a playground for sexual predators. Because of that, MySpace should be doing some very basic safety precautions.”

Sorry buddy but MySpace can’t make parents be responsible.

Personal responsibility wins a rare victory.

But the war just may be beginning…

On Wednesday, MySpace announced victory in a Texas lawsuit in which the social networking Web site was accused of failing to protect its underage members from sexual abuse. However, the company’s legal issues are just beginning, according to plaintiff’s lawyer Adam Loewy of Austin, Texas-based Barry & Loewy.

“We’re at the onset of this sort of litigation,” says Loewy. “We are prepared for a very long battle.”

The plaintiffs plan to appeal to the Fifth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. They also plan to refile some of their claims in Los Angeles Superior Court, adding to similar suits brought against MySpace and its parent company, News Corp.

More frivolous suits to clog up our already backed up courts.

Comments

8 responses to “$30M MySpace lawsuit dismissed”

February 15, 2007

BW

“As ~~the Internet~~ a child grows and ~~companies like MySpace~~ parents are aware of the dangers, they need to do things to protect their ~~users~~ children, especially young children.”

Reply
February 15, 2007

Trench Reynolds

Bravo.

Reply
February 15, 2007

Pissed-Off

Whats next? People suing the I.S.P. for not watching THEIR kids for them? Better yet, the Computer Manufacturers. This is a complete waste of the Courts Time.

Reply
February 16, 2007

Jessica

Yep…the courts are clogged up with cases like this one that a parent should do their job…

What judges should be doing is figuring out the mystery around Anna Nicole…now that’s a timewaster! *joke*

Reply
February 16, 2007

truant

Accepting parental responsibility is just too tough these days. When all else fails (especially your parenting skills)… SUE!

Reply
February 20, 2007

patricia

I dont understand why they are saying these things about myspace, they never talk about when kids meet people on aol or yahoo or anything like that, myspace isnt the only place that predators are

Reply
February 20, 2007

Trench Reynolds

They were back in the day. MySpace is the new whipping boy and since it garners way more attention than AOL or Yahoo ever did more people speak out about it.

Reply
February 20, 2007

Emily

Yeah but just because myspace is the biggest and fastest growing website in the world doesn’t mean that predators use just myspace as a target. There are other websites such as facebook, buddypic, piczo..etc. that predators use. I’m glad that the court dismissed this case because once again IT IS NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF MYSPACE AS TO WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR CHILD WHEN THEY DON’T HAVE COMMON SENSE ABOUT MEETING PEOPLE WHO THEY DON’T KNOW. People are retarded now a days and need to be taught more common sence…HINT TO THE PARENT: IF YOU WANT YOUR CHILD TO BE SAFE, TALK TO THEM ABOUT COMMON SENSE AND TEACH THEM THAT THEY SHOULD NOT BE ON THE INTERNET ANYWAYS AT THE AGE OF 14 AND BELOW. If I was a parent, I would monitor EVERYTHING that my child goes on. I probably wouldn’t even let my child get near the internet until they turn 15 unless they have to use it for school reaons. Anyways, I do agree that this court issue was a waste of time. How did Anna Nicole die anyways? I never heard the full story. DID ANYBODY HEAR THAT BRITNEY SPEARS SHAVED HER HEAD?!?!? YUCK!

Reply