I understand from The Drum that The Courant news staffers are being offerred a legal briefing on what they can and cannot allow people to post on their website, which in most cases means on Topix, the Courant’s online trailer park.

Giving legal advice to the web staff and others is a good idea. In fact, here’s a handy reference that will teach a litttle about Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields Internet Providers (that’s what bloggers and web sites are often considered to be under the law)  from liability caused by wrongful things uttered by people who send comments.

The overworked staff of web producers need this help because they are currently not able to adequately sort through the overwhelming flood of anonymous verbal crap that flows like a broken sewer line onto the Topix boards. By assuring the producers  that the law will shield them and the company from almost any kind of liability, everything will be fine.

Of course this does nothing for The Courant’s readers or its reputation, which has been soiled by its association with Topix and its World of Trolls. The only thing that will fix that is a corporate ethical standard about the responsibility of a journalistic enterprise to be fair, balanced, accurate and concerned about the rights of the individual.