For hundreds of years of established law, publishers (such as books and newspapers) could be held liable for content published through them. With the advent of the internet age, it was initially unclear how certain types of websites should be categorized – were they publishers, and therefore should be held directly liable for defamatory content, or were they- are they simply distributors of other content, similar to libraries and bookstores, and therefore should not be held
responsible for their content? It was feared that categorizing all types of sites as publishers could have a depressing effect on innovation and business in the nascent internet. As the Digital Media Law Project reports, in 1996 Congress chose to clear up any ambiguity fax number list and simultaneously protect many types of sites by legally defining them as non-publishers : No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be deemed the publisher or speaker of any information provided by
another information content provider. “Interactive Computer Service” means any information service, system or provider of access software that provides or enables multiple users to access a computer server. Most courts have held that through these provisions, Congress grants interactive services of all types, including blogs, forums, and mailing lists, immunity from tort liability so long as the information is provided by a third. Google's help page for requesting content removal cites