In 1997, a case was brought before a trial court concerning a website’s responsibility for what its users post. Kenneth Zeran, an everyday citizen, sued America Online (AOL) for libel. Libel is a false, published statement that is damaging to a person's reputation. In order to prove libel, the person who is suing must prove defamation, identification, and publication. Defamation means a person’s reputation was negatively affected, identification means they are clearly identified in the statement, and publication means anyone can read it and it is accessible to large group of people.
An unknown AOL user posted several listings on the site claiming Kenneth Zeran was selling tasteless t-shirts regarding the terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City in April of 1995 that took the lives of over 150 Americans. (http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/oklahoma-city-bombing) The user listed Zeran’s phone number with the advertisement. Zeran received many telephoned death threats. America Online removed the posting and cancelled the account of the unknown user. However, shortly after the removal of the posting, another user made a new posting that said Zeran was “sold out” of the items. AOL removed this as well and suggested Zeran take the issue to the FBI. (http://www.techlawjournal.com/courts) As well as getting the FBI involved, Kenneth Zeran went to court in an attempt to make AOL take responsibility for the postings. Zeran was defamed because supporting a domestic terror attack would ruin anyone’s reputation. He was identified because he was named and his telephone number was listed. It was published because it was listed on a public website for any user to see. The plaintiff also must prove, if he or she is an ordinary citizen like Zeran, negligence on the part of the party they are suing. He claimed allowing users to repeatedly post defamatory and threating listings was negligence from the provider. Though he proved all the necessary points of libel, Zeran lost in trial court due to Title 47 of the U.S.