A few legal questions concerning the internet and...

[Jeff]

Dear Legal Experts,
I have a few questions related to the internet and lawsuits, jurisdiction, etc.

First, let me give you some background. I have a friend who lives in Mexico but resides in California in parts of the year. He is currently in a dispute with a resident of California, and they have been in court for one reason or another at least 2 or 3 times in the past few months. This friend of mine has a web site, with a discussion forum not much different from this one. On this forum, he often discussed the issues that he was having with this person, and is now being sued in a civil case for libel, defamation of character, etc.etc.etc. all because of his internet site. I WAS INCLUDED in this lawsuit because I have, in the past, given him technical assistance with his web site. Now, this assistance was limited to the web pages that he wanted for his ART WORK (my friend is an artist). I never helped him with the site when it pertained to anything related to the person who is suing him, and I never wrote anything about her myself. Also, the opposing party believes that I "archive" the web site and "am prepared to post it internationally" if it is shut down. Of course, this is untrue, and they have no way of proving otherwise.

Now, for my questions:

1. As far as "International Shoe" and Jurisdiction arguments go, where should this case be held? I am not a resident of California (where they both reside), nor have I ever met, seen, or spoken with the person suing me, nor have I ever been to California. I have, however, exchanged a few polite and pleasant e-mails with the person who is suing me. To be honest, I was a bit shocked when I received the summons because I thought that I was "friends" with the person who is suing me. Also, I am a college student with limited resources, so it would be unreasonable to expect me to fly to California to defend myself in court. I never thought that limited technical help could make me liable for a law suit...can it? The opposing council seems to think that he can argue that since I helped my friend with his web site, that I should be tried in California. Is this reasonable?

2. Is it illegal for me to offer technical assistance to someone for parts of their site not-related to anything controversial, or am I somehow responsible??

In case you were wondering what the site was that is in question, it is http://www.fredparhad.com

Thank you for your help in answering my questions.

 

[jon_]

Wow... you really have done research if you can cite International Shoe!

Where is the web site hosted? If the provider is out in CA and you have actively worked on the site, it is possible (although very unlikely) that you will be considered to have availed yourself of doing business in CA. However, if you are merely providing

There is nothing wrong with your providing technical knowledge and assistance with someone concerning a web site. Additionally, you may state that your assistance had nothing to do with the content. If so, then perhaps those that supply ink to the local newspaper should also be brought into a libel suit. The conclusion would be absurd.

Your lawyer should advise how to proceed. There are probably two ways to go about it. One would be to ignore the case because they have no jurisdiction. I believe that there is an ability to enter a defense of no jurisdiction without actually making an "appearance" that says that you agree to be subject to the jurisdiction in court (which I believe is called a "limited appearance" and is solely limited to discovering whether the court has jurisdiction over you). However, if you do allow the court to make such a determination, I don't think that you could appeal such a case in your home state and that any such appeal would have to be made to the courts in the state of the ruling court. Don't remember as it has been a while...

Sounds to me like they don't have much of a case against you, unless they can yank logs from the host which could show your uploading information that was libelous.