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This move will bring further pressure on the UK government to legislate for a similar status for ISPs in the UK.

The Supreme Court let stand a decision by the New York Court of Appeals that Prodigy, a large US ISP, was not responsible for material sent over its network by an impostor pretending to be a 15-year-old boy. The impostor sent a death threat to the boy's scout master and made obscene postings in newsgroups under his name.

However, the US courts ruled that the ISP had the same rights as postal services and telecom carriers - they are

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not responsible for illegal material sent over their networks. UK ISPs have long argued for a similar status here.

The US ruling stated: "The public would not be well served by compelling them (ISPs) to examine and screen millions of email communications, on pain of liability for defamation."

Currently, UK ISPs are taking stock of a case in March where Demon settled out of court when sued for publishing libellous material.

Since then several UK ISPs have used the result to justify taking down websites after receiving letters from lawyers. One case involving a gay online magazine called Outcast, which was taken down after a legal letter from a competing gay publication, has created a stir in the European Courts.

Meanwhile, Demon has reportedly used the court case to monitor users' postings on newsgroups, and deny access to users whose postings it deems illegal.

Bobby Pickering

Have you been the subject of a "denial of service" by your UK ISP since the Demon case was resolved? We'd like to hear from you. Email us with details now.