NEW ORLEANS -- The federal appeals court in New Orleans has absolved Myspace.com of liability in a civil suit over the sexual assault of a teenage girl.
The social networking site was sued by the family of the Texas teen. They argued that Myspace didn't protect her from a sexual predator. She was molested in a Texas parking lot by a 19-year-old she had met through the site.
But the court said that under a 1996 federal law, Myspace itself is not responsible for the content generated by third party users. The court also notes that the girl misrepresented herself as an 18-year-old. She was 13 when she signed up for Myspace and 14 when she met her attacker.
The ruling uphold's last year's ruling by a federal judge in Austin, dismissing the $30 million lawsuit.
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