Legal Question in Federal Tort Claims in California
Hi, I am in California, my friend is in Pennsylvania, the company is in California.
We are being harassed by a band of gays, who some were reported to the FBI and Sheriff Dept. for two church burnings.
We have received death threats, harassed, and threatened. When we report them to the internet company, Topix.com, they either ignore or are complicit in the harassment.
In June 2008, the group posted an obituary photo of my friend's mom as an avatar photo, began taunting her and threatening her. They have her address, phone no. and e-mail, and have stalked her. Topix removed the photo but did not ban the posters.
This weekend they put up the photos again, on multiple Topix threads, starting Nov. 20, 2008, as an evil act of malice, due to this being the one year anniversary grief day of her mom's death. My friend is in therapy and has had mental breakdowns due to the harassment.
I contacted Topix and after almost two days they finally removed the photo. They have threatened to go to her town and house and kill her. I advised Topix that they need to ban them all, even if the topic thread is shut down.
There are stalking, internet bullying, offline threats, harassment and malice acts.
What are the civil ramifications and monetary damages to against Topix and these posers?
1 Answer from Attorneys
You can't sue Topix or other internet companies due to a loophole in the law (the Stored Communications Act). And the villains themselves probably don't have any money even if you could find them and tag them with a lawsuit. It's highly doubtful that it would be worth your while to pay a lawyer to sue them. Your Friend should just continue in therapy.
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