Giordano v. Romeo [1]

John Giordano, president of a Florida-based addiction treatment company, filed suit (individually and on behalf of his company) against Donna Romeo over a posting on consumer-reporting website Ripoff Report. The post [2] describes the treatment facility's conditions in harsh terms, and states that "one of the owners is a convicted felon."

The complaint [3] names both Romeo and Ripoff Report's parent company, Xcentric Ventures; it alleges defamation (libel and libel per se) against Romeo, and seeks to permanently enjoin Ripoff Report (through Xcentric) from continuing to publish the post.

According to court transcripts [4], Giordano and Romeo eventually reached an agreement according to which the court would enter an injunction against Romeo, requiring her to ask Ripoff Report to remove the post. Ripoff Report's policy [5] is to not remove posts. After Ripoff Report refused to remove the post, the trial court issued a temporary injunction [6] against Xcentric. In so doing, the court found that because of the refusal to remove, Xcentric became "the publisher of the statements," thus outside the protections of 47 U.S.C. § 230 [7].

Xcentric appealed [8], but withdrew [9] that appeal shortly thereafter. A newly-assigned trial judge then dismissed [10] the case against Xcentric, citing a number of cases for the proposition that Section 230 protects Ripoff Report. Giordano's appeal [11] is pending in Florida's Third District Court of Appeals.

UPDATE:

On December 28, 2011, the Third District Court of Appeals ruled [12] in favor of Xcentric. In a brief five-page opinion, the court stated that while Xcentric's business practices were "appalling," and "created a forum for defamation," Section 230 provides complete immunity for internet service providers like Xcentric against actions based on third-party postings. The court's decision is not final until the disposition of any timely motion for rehearing that Giordano might file.