Green v. America Online, Inc., 318 F.3d 465 (2003),[1] was a case of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, over the protections granted to Internet service providers from legal liability for tort offenses committed by their users.

The offending posts were found to be third-party "information" under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, for which the service provider has no legal liability.

[2] Per precedent in Zeran v. America Online, an Internet service provider is immune from tort claims arising from the behavior of its users.

[3] The circuit court also held that as a passive provider of a platform for third-party speech, AOL could not be considered the publisher of the content or accept the responsibilities of that role.

[5] While infecting someone's computer with a virus or malware can be a cause of legal action for compensatory and punitive damages, Green would have to pursue such a case against the unknown John Does and not against the hosting service, AOL.