The operator of a Bali-based travel business cannot use Arizona courts to sue another Bali business for posting allegedly defamatory information on a Web site hosted by a Phoenix company, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled last week, according to a report in The Arizona Republic.
The court said that the defendant's use of an Arizona company's Web hosting services was not sufficient to establish jurisdiction in Arizona over the dispute between the two Bali competitors. The court also said that the federal Communications Decency Act of 1996 immunized the Web hosting company from damage claims resulting from material posted on the Internet by another party.
The decision is Austin v. CrystalTech Web Hosting, Case No. CA-CV 04-0823 (Dec. 22, 2005).
