MySpace Sued for Third-Party Tort

In an interesting case with challenging duty and legal cause issues (along with a fundamental question of what ordinary care means in the context), incredibly (and inexplicably) successful web space company MySpace has been sued by a Texas woman on behalf of her fourteen-year-old daughter.  The daughter was allegedly sexually assaulted by another MySpace user.  The claim focuses on the site’s relatively sparse identity and age confirmation processes, and alleged failures to protect against sexual predators.

The Register has one story, as does the WSJ Law Blog (complete with helpful comments like “this is really stupid why would you try to sue a website because your stupid” from “Thunder Down Under”).  The law firm’s press release links to other coverage.