Some unsurprising news in the e360 v. Comcast lawsuit. Judge Zagel granted Comcast’s Motion to Dismiss on Section 230 grounds. (Access the order in .pdf here.)

Some courts had previously expressed some doubt as to whether a Section 230 defense could be adjudicated in a 12(b)(6) setting. The court here answers that question in the affirmative. This is not surprising, given that all that is necessary to invoke a Section 230 filtering decision is a good faith basis for making the filtering decision. That was present here, and e360’s allegation to the contrary was weak at best.

This ruling was fairly unsurprising. Upon reading the opinion, you sort of ask yourself why e360 brought the lawsuit in the first place. In fact I would say the same for others who have tried to argue against filtering decisions. I’d think twice before making this argument. Most likely, you’re going to end up on the losing side, with the judge noting how filtering decisions are necessary, given the extent of "bad content" out there, and given Congressional concern with this content and expressed intent to insulate such decisions from attack.

(H/t Online Liability Blog.)