Tech Shout!

A Texas judge has dismissed the lawsuit case against MySpace that had blamed the site for not protecting its underage users.

The lawsuit was filed by the family of an underage girl who was sexually assaulted by a man she met on MySpace. The girl’s family had sued MySpace for $30 million saying the site didn’t do enough to protect its members from sexual predators.

Judge Sparks said being an interactive service; MySpace was protected from materials posted on its site by the Communications Decency Act (CDA) of 1996.

Sparks added, “To ensure that Web site operators and other interactive computer services would not be crippled by lawsuits arising out of third party communications, the Act provides interactive computer services with immunity.”

In dismissing the suit, Judge Sparks noted that the 13-year-old girl had lied about her age while signing up with MySpace and that the popular social networking site has protection policies in place.

With this lawsuit being dismissed online networking sites may now breathe a sigh of relief.