No "Free Speech" in Sony’s Playstation Network
The right to free speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution is a legal limitation on the federal or state government’s ability to prevent citizens from speaking. It does not apply to private actors who attempt to prevent others from speaking. There are, however, interesting and narrow exceptions that may cause the First Amendment to apply to a private actors. One of those exceptions is where a private company behaves or operates in a manner similar to a municipality (“company town” doctrine). Another exception occurs where a private company has a structural or functional relationship to the government.
In the case of Estavillo v. Sony Computer Entertainment America, these two First Amendment exceptions came up within a unique context: an online gaming network. Plaintiff was allegedly banned from Sony’s Playstation 3 network for violating network use terms. In response, he sued Sony, claiming that the company violated his First Amendment rights. In a September 22, 2009 opinion by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Sony’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim was granted. The court found that the neither of the exceptions mentioned above applied to the facts of the case.