Barnes v. Yahoo!: Much Ado About Third-Party Content

Almost everyone has experienced a bad breakup, and perhaps a few are even guilty (or have been a victim) of less-than-decent ways of getting back at a former significant other.

However, it is less likely that you have been subjected to any guerilla tactics due to the 9th Circuit Court's recent opinion in Barnes v. Yahoo!, Inc. It's a case that should concern those dealing with disgruntled exsignificant others, but more importantly, it also concerns those in the business of providing internet services that allow for contributions from third parties or any kind of usergenerated content.

The importance of the Barnes case is that websites may no longer be able to dismiss claims easily with respect to defamatory content on their site. The bottom line is that websites now must be careful that they adhere to any promises they make to post or remove third-party content. This is because the 9th Circuit determined that websites could be liable for "contract liability" for failing to remove defamatory content, if the website provider promised to do so.