The mass of Web users and Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and other major Internet providers dodged a legal morass Monday when the California Supreme Court ruled they cannot be sued for posting or distributing libelous material written by others. In a 34-page ruling, the state’s high court overturned a lower court decision that had stripped immunity against such lawsuits and alarmed free speech advocates who warned it could chill expression on the Internet.
The Supreme Court unanimously concluded that federal law is clear on insulating Internet providers and Web sites against lawsuits for the inflammatory statements of others. The ruling does not, however, protect the original authors of defamatory material.
Research firm Gartner on Thursday said that Microsoft’s proposed changes to Windows Vista security, particularly plans to create APIs that will let security vendors access some aspects of the operating system kernel, will take years to implement. Microsoft’s concessions, which were announced last week as part of a multiple-move effort to avoid new antitrust charges or fines leveled by the European Union’s Competition Commission, included changes to PatchGuard, technology to deploy in the 64-bit version of Windows Vista that walls off the kernel.
Google Inc. is converting its renowned headquarters to run partly on solar power, hoping to set an example for corporate America.