A French court has dismissed a defamation lawsuit against Wikipedia - the community-written free online encyclopedia.
Three French men sought $100,000 each in damages from the U.S.-based foundation that runs the Internet site after a Wikipedia article revealed their homosexuality.
But a Paris judge ruled that Wikipedia is not responsible for article content because it acts as an Internet host rather than an editor of the encyclopedia. Anyone who has access to the Internet can enter and edit information for entries in some 250 languages.
Wikipedia officials welcomed the landmark ruling. Officials say they have removed the controversial information, which they say was entered anonymously.
The online encyclopedia was founded in 2001 and is used by millions of people worldwide.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.