Lunney v. Prodigy Services Co.

Lunney v. Prodigy Services Co., 94 N.Y.2d 242 (1999) is a leading U.S. law case on liability of internet service providers for defamation. The court held that Prodigy, an internet chatroom provider, was not considered a publisher of defamatory material posted from an imposter account due to its passive role in monitoring the chatrooms.

Lunney v. Prodigy Services Co.
Court	New York Court of Appeals
Full case name	Alexander G. Lunney v. Prodigy Services Company, et al.
Decided	December 2 1999
Citation(s)	723 N.E.2d 539; 94 N.Y.2d 242; 701 N.Y.S.2d 684
Case history
Prior action(s)	Defendant's motion for summary judgment denied, Sup. Ct. Westchester Cty., July 2, 1997; renewed motion for summary judgment denied, Sup. Ct., Jan. 14, 1998; rev'd, 250 A.D.2d 230 (1999)
Subsequent action(s)	Cert. denied, 529 U.S. 1098 (2000)
Holding
An internet chatroom provider could not be considered the publisher of defamatory material posted by an imposter account because of its passive role in monitoring the chatrooms. Appellate Division affirmed.
Court membership
Chief judge	Judith S. Kaye
Associate judges	Joseph W. Bellacosa, George Bundy Smith, Howard A. Levine, Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, Richard C. Wesley, Albert M. Rosenblatt
Case opinions
Majority	Rosenblatt, joined by Kaye, Smith, Levine, Ciparick, Wesley
Bellacosa took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.

External links

• Decision text at FindLaw
• Petition for certiorari