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Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

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CONCLUSIONThe Internet has continually expanded over the past decade,becoming an invaluable medium for communication on a globallevel.206 To efficiently enforce defamation and copyright lawonline, the liability <strong>of</strong> both individuals and Internet providersmust be easily determined and to some degree predictable. Itshould also be reflective <strong>of</strong> the roles that individual users andInternet service providers actually play in the digital world.Sometimes ISPs exercise no control over material that they sendvia the Internet, and act only as a conduit. In other instances, therole <strong>of</strong> the ISP is much more involved, and its knowledge <strong>of</strong> thecontent it produces is arguably greater. The blanket immunitythat the CDA <strong>of</strong>fers Internet providers allows ISPs to act aspublishers and distributors <strong>of</strong> online content without facingliability for this role. This provision is outmoded. Defamation lawcan be better enforced on the Internet by employing a unified set<strong>of</strong> specific safe harbor provisions for ISPs that relate to thedifferent aspects <strong>of</strong> their online activities. Such a unified,horizontal approach to ISP liability is being constructed effectivelyin Europe.207 OCILLA’s negotiated provisions limiting ISPliability in the copyright context accurately address the role <strong>of</strong> anISP in transmitting information, and can be adequately modifiedfor application in a defamation context without improperlychilling free speech online. Such a unified standard will bettermeet the needs <strong>of</strong> users, providers, and defamation law in theUnited States.Lucy H. Holmes206. See Jane C. Ginsburg, Putting Cars on the “Information Superhighway”:Authors, Exploiters, and Copyright in Cyberspace, 95 Colum. L. Rev. 1466, 1466 (1995).207. See Julia-Barcelo, supra note 11.

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