JDO

By this petition for writ of mandate, defendants in a defamation action seek to vacate the trial court’s order of January 25, 1999, denying their motion to quash service of summons for lack of jurisdiction over them, or in the alternative, to stay or dismiss the action on the ground of forum non conveniens. The principal issue for review is whether California can properly assert jurisdiction over nonresident defendants based on their contract with several Internet service providers with offices in California to operate World Wide Web sites from New York; defendants’ Web site allegedly contained defamatory statements about plaintiff.

Factual and Procedural Background

In October 1997, plaintiff Steven Rambam filed an unverified complaint against Jewish Defense Organization, Inc. (JDO) and Mordechai Levy (Levy) for defamation and related causes of action, alleging that in 1997 and continuing to the present time, JDO and Levy posted a World Wide Web page containing defamatory statements about Rambam, including the statements that Rambam is a government informant and a “snitch”; Rambam is a dangerous psychopath who tried to kill his mother; Rambam kidnapped people but was…