10 Biggest (And Weirdest) Lawsuits In Star Trek History
3. Identity Theft Of A Dabo Girl
In 2002, Chase Masterson (real name Christianne Carafano) discovered that someone had created a fake profile for her on Matchmaker.com. The profile described certain sexual exploits that she 'liked' as well as stating that she 'wanted a man who could dominate her both in and out of bed.' The profile included her photo, home address and telephone number.
Masterson soon received disturbing and threatening phone calls, along with less insidious, yet still unwanted, messages from Star Trek fans. She brought a suit against Matchmaker.com for defamation and invasion of privacy, but the District Court dismissed the claims.
The defence argued that even though much of the information had been provided as answers to the site's personality form generators, that alone did not leave them an information content provider. The website was then immune from any responsibility under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, even though the Court conceded that the consequences of such immunity were deplorable.