CYBERSPACE — In defending itself against a lawsuit that seeks to hold the website liable for discriminatory housing ads that appear in its directory, popular online classified ad site Craigslist now has some potent allies.America Online, Yahoo, Google, and Amazon.com are among the companies coming out in support of Craigslist, filing an amicus curiae brief last week that states that a decision against Craigslist in the lawsuit could have “extremely negative implications” for the future of the Internet and companies that provide online services.

The brief was also signed by eBay Inc (which is 25-percent owner of Craigslist) and new media watchdog group the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

In the lawsuit, Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Inc. v. Craigslist Inc., the plaintiffs assert that Craigslist is violating the Fair Housing Act by allowing users to post ads in which they employ discriminatory practices in seeking tenants and roommates. Examples cited include ads that specify a “gay Latino” or “clean, godly Christian male.” The lawsuit cites over 100 such ads as examples, posted between July and October 2005.

Craigslist counters by arguing that the site is covered by the provisions of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, and by asserting that one of the intents of Congress was to indemnify ISPs and provide immunity from illegal postings by users. It also notes that the courts have upheld that protection and limitation of liability.

Section 230 of the CDA states that “no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.”

Jim Buckmaster, CEO of Craigslist, isn’t surprised to be receiving moral and legal support from other Internet firms.

“Most of these companies/organizations have as much (or more) at stake in this matter than we do,” Buckmaster said, according to reports in the National Law Journal.

The lawsuit was filed in February in District Court in the Northern District of Illinois and is scheduled to be heard by District Judge Amy St. Eve in August. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a consortium of law firms that provide pro bono legal services, including fair housing claims. The Committee includes a number of major Chicago-area law firms, including Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, Kirkland & Ellis, and Jenner & Block.

At the same time, a case in California against Roomate.com, arguing for similar liability, is on appeal in the 9th Circuit, creating the possibility of new rulings related to housing ads posted online.

“It’s reasonably likely that at this time next year the 7th and the 9th circuits will have said something about this,” said Stephen Libowsky, the Chicago-based attorney leading the case for the committee told the National Law Journal. “It’s very important for everyone to know where the 7th Circuit stands on the issue.”

Some legal analysts have compared the protection under the law for ISPs to laws that protect phone companies from liability for the information and speech content that pass over their phone lines. Supporters of the plaintiff’s position counter that an ISP like Craigslist is a legitimate target for liability under the Fair Housing Act because Craigslist allowed the discriminatory ads to be published on its site.