I’ve been trying my best to keep up with the ongoing legal battle between victims of the Buffalo, NY tragedy and several tech companies, including Good Smile. The suit argues that Good Smile Company carries some blame for the tragic mass shooting in Buffalo, NY due to their former connections to 4chan. With all the parties involved, there are currently nearly 350 documents on file for this case. Sifting through them was a chore. A few months ago, Good Smile Company requested dismissal from the suit with prejudice on numerous legal grounds. Too many to list comprehensively. Their motion to dismiss is a whopping 30+ pages of merciless legal beatdown, citing over 60 prior cases.
The courts scheduled a hearing, and I awaited an opposing argument to be filed. Surprisingly, none materialized. Whether it was an oversight by the plaintiff’s attorney or an admission of certain defeat. So, the court granted the motion, resulting in the complete dismissal of Good Smile from the lawsuit. I wanted to break down their arguments for this article, but the filed document does a fantastic job of it. Most importantly, I want to draw attention to this part of their defense:
[…] as a matter of black-letter federal law, Plaintiffs’ claims, which are based on Good Smile Japan being responsible for the third-party content on the 4chan platform, are expressly barred by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”) that broadly prevents liability based on third-party speech and content posted on such platforms. See 47 U.S.C. §230
I mentioned this in my prior article and am glad to be proven right. Section 230 is an integral piece of law in this technology-focused society. This alone should have been enough to grant their motion to dismiss, but Good Smile’s lawyers went above and beyond. I’ve seen quite a few of these defenses in my time working in this field, but rarely have I witnessed one as thorough and ironclad.
The Elephant in the Room
The last time we posted about the lawsuit, some readers commented that the families were looking for an easy payday from Good Smile. While this suit is pretty flimsy, I disagree that it’s the families at issue. They are grieving victims, looking for some form of answers, closure, and justice. Personally, I believe the law firms are taking advantage of the situation. The families are at their most vulnerable. These big law firms see that and pounce. It unsettles me, whether they are being paid on contingency or by the hour. None of the comments here are at the expense of the victims or their families.
Disclaimer: This article does not intend to provide legal advice; instead, it aims to offer general informational purposes with all the information, content, and materials provided.
Want to throw a little support to Good Smile? We’ve got plenty of their products in stock. I adore this Nendoroid of Modeus from the game Helltaker.
