{"id":11678,"date":"2019-03-12T10:03:35","date_gmt":"2019-03-12T14:03:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/crcl.journalshls.wpengine.com\/?p=11678"},"modified":"2019-03-29T11:36:31","modified_gmt":"2019-03-29T15:36:31","slug":"ames-semi-final-round-march-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/crcl\/ames-semi-final-round-march-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Ames Semi-Final Round – March 12"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to CR-CL\u2019s Live Blog of the Ames Moot Court Semi-Finals!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please scroll down for the live blog. We\u2019ll start blogging shortly before 6:15 PM on March 12, 2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Ames Competition is a long-standing tradition at Harvard Law School. The students have gone through numerous rounds of both brief writing and appellate advocacy to be here today. We are honored to have a number of sitting federal judges presiding over the competition as well.<\/p>\n

As part of a more recent tradition, CR-CL will be live-blogging the event here on our Amicus Blog. Our bloggers tonight will be Erin Fowler and Norah Rast.<\/p>\n

Below is the background information on the case from the Board of Student Advisors (BSA) which includes a full list of competing team members and the presiding judges for this evening. This information along with the teams\u2019 briefs, can be found\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bond v. Anon, Inc.\u00a0<\/i>(March 12th, 6:15pm)<\/strong><\/p>\n

This case arises under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 2333, which provides a civil remedy to the victims of international terrorism and their families. In 2015 plaintiff-appellant Margaret Bond\u2019s husband was killed in the fictional country of Haprusa by a right-wing group called Haprusa First Forever (HFF). Bond\u2019s complaint alleges that HFF used a social media site called Hardest Right, hosted by defendant-appellee Anon, Inc., a corporation in Ames, to pitch its agenda, recruit, raise funds, and communicate with its members. Anon makes money from Hardest Right through advertisements, sharing a portion of ad revenue with the hosts of pages on the site, including HFF. Bond alleges that Anon\u2019s provision of social media services to HFF through Hardest Right, and its revenue sharing agreement, constitute material support to terrorism and thus render Anon liable for her injuries.<\/p>\n

The district court dismissed Bond\u2019s complaint on two grounds. First, the court held that the Anti-Terrorism Act requires a showing of proximate cause. Noting a circuit split over the standard, the court adopted the most stringent rule: that the plaintiff must show some direct relationship between the defendant\u2019s conduct and her injuries. The court determined that under this standard, Bond\u2019s complaint must fail.<\/p>\n

Second, the court held that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, 47 U.S.C. \u00a7 230, shields Anon from liability. Section 230 has been interpreted to give the operators of Internet sites that host content\u2014including Internet service providers, website operators, bloggers, and social media platforms\u2014immunity from suits based on the content of materials posted on those sites by third parties. The court held that the gravamen of Bond\u2019s claim is that Anon is liable because it hosted HFF\u2019s content on Hardest Right, and so her claim is barred by Section 230.<\/p>\n

Bond challenges both determinations on appeal to the Ames Circuit.<\/p>\n

Presiding Judges
\n<\/strong>The Honorable Denise Casper of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
\nThe Honorable Wilhelmina Wright of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota
\nThe Honorable Steven Ecker of the Connecticut Supreme Court<\/p>\n

The Carrie Buck Memorial Team<\/strong>\u00a0(Appellant)
\nSameer Aggarwal
\nSarah Edwards
\nSophia Harris-Dyer
\nSarah Libowsky*
\nRachel Miller*
\nSteven Palmer<\/p>\n

The Patricia Roberts Harris Memorial Team<\/strong>\u00a0(Appellee)
\nAlicia Alvero Koski
\nCharlotte Butash
\nMelanie Fontes*
\nKelsey Fraser*
\nHilary Hurd
\nKate Peiffer<\/p>\n

* Oralist<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to CR-CL\u2019s Live Blog of the Ames Moot Court Semi-Finals! Please scroll down for the live blog. We\u2019ll start 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