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29 Wash. U. J. L. & Pol'y 375 (2009)
The Fair Housing Act, the Communications Decency Act, and the Right of Roommate Seekers to Discriminate Online

handle is hein.journals/wajlp29 and id is 377 raw text is: The Fair Housing Act, the Communications Decency Act, and the Right of Roommate Seekers to Discriminate Online Kevin M. Wilemon* Risking overstatement only slightly, the Internet represents a brave new world of free speech.' INTRODUCTION When the 90th Congress passed Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, it could not predict all of the contexts in which the Fair Housing Act2 (FHA) would be applied. Just as the 90th Congress could not have envisioned the FHA's application to cyberspace, the 104th Congress seemingly failed to foresee that the Communications Decency Act3 (CDA) would immunize Internet service providers (ISPs) from publishing prohibited advertisements that are patently illegal in any other context.4 As advertisers shift from classified advertising in newspapers to advertisements online5 and individuals * J.D. (2009), Washington University in St. Louis School of Law; B.A., magna cum laude (2004), The University of Memphis. Thanks to my mother, Michelle, and my grandmother, Elizabeth, as well as the rest of my family, for their love and support. Special thanks (as always) to my wife, Laura, for everything. 1. Blumenthal v. Drudge, 992 F. Supp. 44, 48 n.7 (D.D.C. 1998) (quoting Bruce W. Sanford & Michael J. Lorenger, Teaching an Old Dog Neuw Tricks: The First Amendment in an Online World, 28 CONN. L. REV. 1137, 1141 (1996)). 2. Fair Housing Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 3619 (2006). 3. Communications Decency Act of 1996, 47 U.S.C. §§ 230, 560, 561 (2006). 4. Congress' failure to take the FHA into account is remarkable given that Congress amended the FHA during the same session the CDA was passed. See Jennifer C. Chang, Note, In Search of Fair Housing in Cyberspace: The Implications of the Communications Decency Act for Fair Housing on the Internet, 55 STAN. L. REv. 969, 1003 (2002). 5. For example, classified advertisement site Craigslist is used by twenty-five million people each month and receives twenty million self-published advertisements each month. Keith McArthur, The Hippie Gets a Job; Craigslist's Free Online Classified Ads Aren't the Route to Quick Riches, But CEO Jim Buckmaster Likes It That Way, GLOBE & MAIL (Toronto),

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