New York - A federal judge has granted MySpace's motion to dismiss charges of negligence, fraud and negligent misrepresentation filed by the family of a girl from Austin, Texas who was assaulted by a man she met on the website, Reuters reported.

In his ruling, Judge Sam Sparks of the U.S. District Court for the Western district of Texas deemed MySpace to be an "interactive service," and therefore protected from liability by the 1996 Communications Decency Act.

"To ensure that Web site operators and other interactive computer services would not be crippled by lawsuits arising out of third party communications, the Act provides interactive computer services with immunity," Sparks wrote in his ruling.

The judge also noted that the girl lied about her age, claiming to be 18 when in fact she was 13 years old when she created the account; MySpace's age limit is 14.

The family plans to appeal part of the ruling, while re-filing other charges in a different court.

"We intend to fully prevail in this litigation," Adam Loewy, the family's attorney, told Reuters.

Related Links:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070215/tc_nm/newscorp_lawsuit_dc_5 (Reuters)

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-myspace15feb15,1,4110370.story

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Decency_Act