The Communications Decency Act
When you read or use our website you agree to hold MoneyForLunch.com harmless for the actions of others.
If you are considering suing Money For Lunch because of content or articles which you claim is false, defamatory, or copyright protected you should be aware of a federal law called the Communications Decency Act or “CDA”, 47 U.S.C. § 230. Because this important law is not well known, we want to take a moment to explain the law.
The CDA is part of our federal laws. An excellent Wikipedia article discussing the history of the law can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_230_of_the_Communications_Decency_Act
In short, the CDA provides that when a user writes and posts material on an “interactive website” such as MoneyForLunch.com, the site itself cannot, in most cases, be held legally responsible for the posted material. Specifically, 47 U.S.C. § 230(c)(1) states, “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”
Because the many of the articles, content, and reports are authored by users of the site, we cannot be legally regarded as the “publisher or speaker” of the content contained here, and hence we are not liable for content even if they contain false, inaccurate or copyrighted information. The same law applies to sites like FaceBook, Yelp, and CraigsList – users who post information on these sites are responsible for what they write, but the operators of the sites are not.
The reasons for this law are simple. Websites cannot possibly monitor the accuracy of the huge volume of information which their users may choose to post. If a plaintiff were permitted to hold a website liable for information that the site did not create, this would stifle free speech as fewer and fewer sites would be willing to permit users to post anything at all. See generally Batzel v. Smith, 333 F.3d 1018, 1027-28 (9th Cir. 2003) (recognizing, “Making interactive computer services and their users liable for the speech of third parties would severely restrict the information available on the Internet. Section 230 [of the CDA] therefore sought to prevent lawsuits from shutting down websites and other services on the Internet.”)
Based on the protection extended by the CDA, Money For Lunch will not be liable for the content, articles, reports, or opinions of others.
If someone posts copyright protected, false information about you or your company, the CDA prohibits you from holding us liable for the actions which others have published. You can always sue the author if you want, but you can’t sue Money For Lunch just because we provide a forum for speech. Got it?
Does Money For Lunch Offer Any Alternatives For Dealing With False Statements or Copyright Information? Yes!
We rely on you and our community members to report content that they find inappropriate. Reporting content is anonymous, so other users can’t tell who made the report.
When something is reported, it’s not automatically taken down. Reported content is reviewed along the following guidelines:
- Content that violates our Community Guidelines is removed from Money For Lunch.
- Content that violates copyrights.
Respect copyright. Only upload content that you made or that you’re authorized to use. This means don’t upload content you didn’t make or use content that someone else owns the copyright to, such as videos, pictures, music, artwork, etc., without necessary authorizations.
If you believe some as posted harmful or protected content please contact support@moneyforlunch.com so we can review and take appropriate action.
