The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the state of New Jersey has launched a formal investigation into the a campus-gossip Web site
"Juicy Campus" to see if the site violates consumer fraud laws.
Juicy Campus is a Web site that college students can use to anonymously post uncensored gossip
about fellow classmates. Users can read all posts and vote on
which are the "juiciest." There are separate sections on the site for
each of the 59 featured campuses.
From
The Chronicle of Higher Education:
Juicy Campus has sparked outrage on campuses across the country for
publishing hateful or malicious comments about students, posted by
anonymous users. Popular topics on the site include lists of "sluttiest
girls" and "biggest cocaine users."
Several students who have been maligned have complained that the Web
site has refused to remove what they argue are false and harmful
statements about them. Some student governments have called on
administrators to block the site from campus networks or take other
actions against it, but so far nothing has stopped the site.
On the site's founder:
The founder of Juicy Campus, Matt Ivester, has said in the past that
the site is not legally responsible for material posted there. "Juicy
Campus is the provider of an interactive computer service," Mr. Ivester
wrote on the site's blog last month. As such, he said, "Juicy Campus is
immune from liability arising from content posted by users." He cited
Section 230 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 in defense of that
argument.
Additional Resources:Official Juicy Campus Blog
"A Crash Course in Online Gossip," The New York Times, March 16
"College Web Site Posts Sex Gossip, Hate, Rumor," CNN.com, February 18
Juicy Campus, Google blog search
OUT RAGE “JUCY FROM THE DARK SIDE OF THE NON-THINK”...
