Watts Up With That?

Suppose a commenter posts a libelous comment here at NorCalBlogs. It's been known to happen. Can the blogger, Enterprise Record, and its corporate owners be sued for defamation? A federal appeals court just held that no, they cannot. The court noted that a federal law was designed to ensure that 'within broad limits', message board operators would not be held responsible for the postings made by others on that board,' adding that, were the law otherwise, it would have an 'obvious chilling effect' on blogger free speech.