Part 2 - Common Carrier in Practice

Let me give you a few examples of common carrier issues in practice: we publish an Orlando online zine called The Slant, which really centers around the concept of community - articles are all written by volunteers, and each story links to a discussion component for reader feedback and dialogue. As you can imagine, such a forum (if it is to succeed) requires that users feel confident in our commitment to open community, and it also requires a strategy for dealing with conflicts that will inevitably arise from this hotbed of free speech.

In one instance, The Slant had published an article about a locally based Internet business. The article painted a favorable picture of the company in question, but in the linked discussion forum, an "anonymous" poster made claims of shady business dealings and hiring/firing practices. As a cyber-savvy business, the company had been following the discussion, and they contacted The Slant saying that the posting was libelous and requesting its removal. Doing so might have jeopardized The Slant's common carrier status, so the business was invited to respond to the allegations in the same forum instead. As a fellow BBS provider, they understood our decision.

In another similar case, an anonymous author sent in an article for publication making allegations about possible changes in a local arts establishment, with lots of dirty laundry. When The Slant published the article, several people joined in the discussion, adding much more incriminating comments to the record. When faced with a potential legal action over the article, The Slant agreed to pull it, but did not touch the discussion with the real meat of the story. It still stands today.

Until recently, if you maintained this stance, then liability over libelous or slanderous statements would fall solely to the individuals who made them. Be warned that you could be required by legal action to divulge information under those circumstances. This kind of action, however, requires an unusually sophisticated injured party (they need to have the legal wheels in motion within a week or less to get the necessary information).