A Texas girl who was allegedly raped by a man she met on MySpace cannot blame the social networking Web site for failing to protect her from sexual predators, a federal judge has ruled in dismissing a first-of-its-kind Internet seduction case.

The rape victim, identified only as Julie Doe, lied about her age in her MySpace registration, saying she was 18 when she was actually only 13. Another MySpace user, Pete Solis, has been charged with assaulting her in an Austin parking lot about a month after first contacting her online.

MySpace, the most popular Web site in the U.S., has a minimum user age of 14. But in a $30 million suit filed in June 2006, Julie Doe and her mother alleged it was liable for a “negligent failure to take reasonable measures to keep young children off its site,” including verification of users' age.

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks would have none of it, finding the plaintiffs' claims were “particularly unwarranted” given Julie Doe's misrepresentation of her age and that MySpace is immune from liability under both the Communications Decency Act (CDA) and the requirements of the negligence tort.

“Plaintiffs have failed to state a claim for negligence or gross negligence because MySpace had no duty to protect Julie Doe from Pete Solis's criminal acts nor to institute reasonable safety measures on its website,” he said in granting the defense's motion to dismiss. “If anyone had a duty to protect Julie Doe, it was her parents, not MySpace.”

The decision reaffirmed the broad scope of the CDA, which shields Internet service providers from liability for content posted by third parties. Julie Doe tried to pierce that immunity by arguing that her case was based on MySpace's inadequate anti-predator measures, not the content of the communications between her and Solis.

“[T]he CDA ... has absolutely nothing to do with preventing sexual predators from being able to freely communicate with young teens on MySpace's website,” the plaintiffs' attorneys said in one brief.

But Sparks rejected that argument as “disingenuous,” concluding that

It is quite obvious the underlying basis of Plaintiffs' claims is that, through postings on MySpace, Pete Solis and Julie Doe met and exchanged personal information which eventually led to an in-person meeting and the sexual assault of Julie Doe.

The case is part of a legal offensive launched by Austin attorney Adam J. Loewy. He also represents four minors who have sued MySpace in Los Angeles claiming they were assaulted by adults whom they had met on the site.

Loewy plans to appeal Sparks' decision, saying, “We were prepared for a very long battle in this.” But it's unlikely any court will allow him to hold MySpace liable for behavior of users over which it has absolutely no control.