UK Law
Interested to read that US law states the site that provides the means for commenting is not liable for the comments placed on its pages.
In the UK, the law is still a bit murky around libel cases in forums or comments on news pages. One judge stated that a conversation on the internet is no different to that held in a bar, and you can't be libel for here'say such as that. Unfortunately there have been a few cases that haven't hit the courts but have gone through lots of channels - and the rule of thumb is that if you can moderate comments you should remove libellous comments when you (as a site owner) have been notified of them, within a timely manner. The costs of the case against you then depend on the reach and influence of your website and your speed to react to the removal request. As a publisher you are responsible for all content that you publish to the general public, be it your own content or UGC.
