Aquino v. Electriciti

Michael A. Aquino and Lilith Aquino, leaders of the "Temple of Set," sued Electriciti, Inc., an internet service provider, over statements made by one of its subscribers.  According to their complaint, an Electriciti subscriber going by the pseudonym "Curio" posted defamatory comments to Usenet groups falsely claiming that they participated in Satanic Ritual Abuse of children, molested children, and perpetrated fraud on the United States Government. Cmplt. ¶ 17. Also according to the complaint, the Aquinos contacted Electriciti about Curio's postings, but the company did nothing to stop them.

The Aquinos claimed that Electriciti negligently failed to "ensure that its services [were] not used to further hate campaigns and to assist a mentally unstable individual to continue his or her vendetta against other persons using the internet."  They also claimed that Electriciti  actively assisted Curio in making the objectionable postings, and that Curio was "an agent and/or employee of [Electriciti] such that [his/her] actions are attributable to [Electriciti]."

Electriciti moved to dismiss the complaint, and the court held that the case was preempted by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.