The Associated Press reports:
Nonresidents can be sued for defamation under Florida law over their Internet postings if that information is accessible and accessed in Florida, the state Supreme Court ruled today.That applies even to bloggers such as Tabatha Marshall, who lives in Washington State and has no ties to Florida other than taking a vacation in the Sunshine State.
Previous rulings have determined phone calls and e-mails constitute “electronic communications into Florida,” but this is the first time a court has included blogs and other website postings.
Read more on MarcosIslandFlorida.com
This brings up many other questions to me…..
What about “where the post originated”???? The crime/defamation did not originate in Florida. Would this not be better served as a violation of Federal statutes, rather than State Code? Could a defense council not argue that because the incident did not originate in Florida, Florida has no right to try the case? Could Florida impose a “no porn law”, then if someone in Florida viewed porn from a Madagascar server, sue someone in Madagascar for making that porn available to Floridians?
I don’t think this issue will be clear-cut and unchallenged in Florida courts by savvy defense attorneys.
/CF