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Home > Aquino v. Electriciti

Aquino v. Electriciti [1]

Submitted by DMLP Staff on Wed, 10/14/2009 - 13:56

Summary

Threat Type: 

Lawsuit

Date: 

02/18/1997

Status: 

Concluded

Disposition: 

Dismissed (total)

Location: 

California

Verdict or Settlement Amount: 

N/A

Legal Claims: 

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
Negligence
Michael A. Aquino and Lilith Aquino, leaders of the "Temple of Set," sued Electriciti, Inc., an internet service provider, over statements made by one of its subscribers.  According to their complaint, an Electriciti subscriber going by the pseudonym... read full description
Parties

Party Receiving Legal Threat: 

Electriciti Inc.

Type of Party: 

Individual

Type of Party: 

Organization
Intermediary

Location of Party: 

  • California

Location of Party: 

  • California

Legal Counsel: 

James Graeb

Legal Counsel: 

Noel Johnson and Roger R. Myers- Steinhart & Falconer
Description

Michael A. Aquino and Lilith Aquino, leaders of the "Temple of Set [2]," sued Electriciti, Inc., an internet service provider, over statements made by one of its subscribers.  According to their complaint [3], an Electriciti subscriber going by the pseudonym "Curio" posted defamatory comments to Usenet groups falsely claiming that they participated in Satanic Ritual Abuse of children, molested children, and perpetrated fraud on the United States Government. Cmplt. ¶ 17. Also according to the complaint, the Aquinos contacted Electriciti about Curio's postings, but the company did nothing to stop them.

The Aquinos claimed that Electriciti negligently failed to "ensure that its services [were] not used to further hate campaigns and to assist a mentally unstable individual to continue his or her vendetta against other persons using the internet."  They also claimed that Electriciti  actively assisted Curio in making the objectionable postings, and that Curio was "an agent and/or employee of [Electriciti] such that [his/her] actions are attributable to [Electriciti]."

Electriciti moved to dismiss the complaint, and the court held that the case was preempted by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act [4].

Related Links: 

  • Aquinos' Complaint [3]
  • Electriciti's Answer to the Complaint
    [5]
  • Internet Library of Law: Aquino v. Electriciti Inc. [6]
  • SSRN: The History and Economics of ISP Liability for Third Party Content  [7]
  • Wired: Satanist Sues ISP to Silence Usenet Poster [8]
  • Arcane Archive: Aquino, Cults, and Social-Political Persuasion [9]
  • Wikipedia: Temple of Set [10]
  • Temple of Set Official Website [2]
Details

Content Type: 

  • Text

Publication Medium: 

Website

Subject Area: 

  • Third-Party Content
  • Section 230
  • Anonymity
Court Information & Documents

Jurisdiction: 

  • California

Source of Law: 

  • California

Court Name: 

Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Francisco

Court Type: 

State

Case Number: 

984751
CMLP Information (Private)

Priority: 

1-High

CMLP Notes: 

Stylianou, oct/09

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Source URL (modified on 08/20/2014 - 11:10pm): https://www.dmlp.org/threats/aquino-v-electriciti

Links
[1] https://www.dmlp.org/threats/aquino-v-electriciti
[2] http://www.xeper.org/
[3] http://web.archive.org/web/20010430065425/www5.electriciti.com/curious/lawsuit.html
[4] http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/230.html
[5] http://web.archive.org/web/20010522054030/www5.electriciti.com/curious/answer/overview.html
[6] http://www.internetlibrary.com/cases/lib_case67.cfm
[7] http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=311685
[8] http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/1997/05/3970
[9] http://sonic.net/yronwode/arcane-archive.org/religion/satanism/aquino-cults-and-social-political-persuasion-1.php
[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Set