In Doe v. GTE Corp., 2003 WL 22389811 (7th Cir., Oct. 21, 2003), the Seventh Circuit also addressed a case potentially implicating the scope of § 230 immunity. In GTE, the plaintiffs were inter-collegiate athletes who had been videotaped without their consent as they used locker-rooms, bathrooms and shower facilities. Id. at *1. The videotapes of the athletes were then sold on the Internet. Id. The plaintiff athletes initiated suit against not only the makers of the videotapes, but also GTE, the company that provided Internet access and web-hosting services to the videotape sellers. Id.
On summary judgment, the district court ruled in favor of GTE, finding that the company was entitled to statutory immunity. The Seventh Circuit affirmed, but did not render a conclusion about the scope of § 230 immunity. Id. at *5-6. Instead, the court rejected plaintiff's state law theories of "public nuisance" and "negligent entrustment of chattel." Id. The court did intimate, however, that blanket immunity for interactive computer services was only one possible explanation of the meaning of § 230. Id. at *2-4.
