VZW sued by parents whose teen was sexually assaulted: Charges similar to ones filed in MySpace lawsuit

Could the wireless industry have new legal exposure as a result of the caustic combination of Web-enabled phones, the Internet and sexual predators?
A lawsuit filed in federal court against Verizon Wireless could become a test case on that very question.
The parents of a minor claim in the lawsuit, recently moved from state court to federal court in Connecticut, that Verizon Wireless is liable in connection with sexual assaults that victimized their daughter two years ago.
The lawsuit said the teen, 14-years-old at the time of the assaults and identified only as ‘Jennifer Doe’, accessed a mobile social networking community from Upoc Networks via ‘Get it Now,’ Verizon’s content and applications storefront.
The lawsuit said the teen subsequently created an online profile with her name, age, state of residence and her interests. Using the wireless Internet program, the teen met a 31-year-old man who sexually assaulted her on two separate occasions in July 2006, according to the lawsuit. The family had signed up the previous year to a two-year contract with Verizon Wireless’ America Choice Family Share Plan.
Lawyers for the parents, the latter referred to as John and Jane Doe in the suit, argue Verizon Wireless violated Connecticut’s product liability statute. They said in the suit the teen, described as developmentally delayed and socially immature, continues to suffer from – among other things – post traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder, and has thoughts of suicide.
“[T]he warnings and/or instructions which accompanied the cellular telephones and cellular telephone service plan failed to provide notice to the plaintiffs that their children would have the ability to access the Internet without prior notification to the primary line holder,” the suit states. “[T]he defendant failed to warn the plaintiffs that, once access to the Internet was obtained using the cellular telephone, programs such as UPOC could be downloaded to the cellular telephone which permitted the user to participate in ‘chat rooms’ and post online profiles. . [T]he defendant misrepresented to the general public that its cellular telephones and cellular telephone service were safe for use by minor children. . [T]he defendant should have known of the dangerous risks associated with a minor child’s use of its cellular telephone and cellular telephone services before distributing it. . [T]he defendant breached its implied warranty that its cellular telephones and cellular telephone services were fit for its intended uses by minor children.”
A Verizon Wireless spokesperson said the No. 2 cellular carrier does not comment on pending litigation.
While case law is still evolving in this area, it appears the lawsuit could be a tough one for the plaintiff to win.
In February 2007, a federal court in Texas threw out a suit against popular networking Web site MySpace in a sexual assault case whose circumstances are similar to those in the suit against Verizon Wireless. The court based its dismissal of the suit on a provision of the Communications Decency Act – incorporated into the 1996 telecom act – which provides interactive computer services with immunity. In the ruling, the court said that “[i]f anyone had a duty to protect Julie Doe, it was her parents, not MySpace.”
However, a Georgia state judge overseeing a sexual assault case involving tech firms based in the United States and Canada, last July refused to throw out the suit after defendants argued the Communications Decency Act precludes their liability.
The Federal Communications Commission regulates mobile-phone operators as both common carriers and information service providers.