Forum Moderators: rogerd
Lawsuit a reminder to pause before 'Send' [dailyherald.com]
A court reporting firm, BESCR Inc., with offices in Aurora and Chicago, sued Trisha Goodman, a Tulsa, Okla., court reporter subcontracted by the firm. She had started a blog to complain she hadn't been paid the $2,300 due her from BESCR Inc. Three others were sued for telling other people about the blog. The suit asks for $3.4 million in damages.
Bonlender sues over Ensey blog [yakima-herald.com]
The dispute over a once-anonymous blog that posted unfounded rumors that Yakima City Councilman Ron Bonlender had been arrested for drunken driving is heading for court.Bonlender on Wednesday sued blogger Diane Ensey for defamation and false light, alleging Ensey maliciously smeared him on behalf of her husband, Rick Ensey, who defeated Bonlender in last week's council election.
And here's one where the blogger won:
Court: Blogspot Blogger May Remain Anonymous [webpronews.com]
Former Lawrence School Board trustee Pamela Greenbaum, once a frequent target of commenters on the site, filed suit against Google, which hosts the Orthomom blog, seeking the blogger’s name. Her intent, she said, was to file a lawsuit directly against the writer of the blog, who she claimed had called Greenbaum a bigot and anti-semite.New York State Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman disagreed, writing in an eight page decision dated October 23, 2007, that, “The relief sought by Greenbaum, on the eve of a school board election, would have a chilling effect on protected political speech.” The judge also found that a commenter on the blog, not the blogger, had used the term bigot which, in any event, the judge found, was protected speech.
In the U.S., politicians have a fairly high standard to meet to prove libel or slander. While you can't disseminate outright lies, name-calling seems to be protected speech in most cases. Businesses might be more successful in seeking damages.
Unfortunately, because of legal expenses, even when a blogger wins in court it's almost always a financial loss.
It's all in the definition. One can twist and turn to make any criticism of the Exec branch or military as "harming" the troops, and that is not exactly a good thing in a democracy.
She left G quite a while back.
That would explain their rapid deterioration in efficiency removing old, and illegal, cached pages.
Vanessa, you are sadly missed.
Freedom costs
>>>It's all in the definition. One can twist and turn to make any criticism of the Exec branch or military as "harming" the troops, and that is not exactly a good thing in a democracy.
Truth may indeed be a defense against libel and slander, but that doesn't mean you can't get sued and spend a whole bunch of money proving your innocence.See this makes me sad... it is true, and that is what is sad.
...
Why? I am allowed, so why would I need to defend it?
This ignores the purpose of the courts, which is to adjudicate disputes. A company or individual can sue you and the court then decides, based on statutes and common law, which of you prevails.
We have been sued numerous times and it usually costs anywhere from US$30k to US$100k to mount a defense. So far we have always won and usually the court has awarded us our legal costs.
We have even been sued for disputed statements that we removed upon being informed of their alleged inaccuracy.
In the U.S., truth is indeed a defense against libel but it is "malice" that is the measure of whether a statement is libelous. The legal meaning of malice comes closer to what most of us think of as negligence -- meaning failure to make a good attempt to determine the truth or falsity of the disputed statement.
In the case of forums and other online discussions, the Communications Decency Act protects ISPs, Webmasters, etc. from libel charges growing out of a third-party posting,
Nothing is absolute, however, and no one can make blanket statements about what is and is not safe to publish. Every prudent U.S. Webmaster should find an attorney who specializes in First Amendment law. The nearest large law school is often a good place to start, as this practice tends to be more academic than your run-of-the-mill personal injury, divorce and probate law.
whatever. Russia and North Korea seem to have "solved" that problem...but I am staying here.
It is sad, Demaestro... the solution is to require the loster to pay legal costs for the winner of the suit. That's not currently the law, though.
Is that so? Where I live, when you win you don't pay anything. I thought this was the case everywhere. If not - anybody could ruin you simply by suing you without a cause?
nerd
In matter of fact many of these media outlets constantly put out things that should not be put out that puts our country and soldiers in harms way
True, but that is neither libel nor is it slander. It could be treason or a variety of other things.
If you are publishing national secrets, or outing secret officials or army plans then a libel or slander lawsuit is the least of your concerns.
on the other side one can get bullied much easier given that he might be forced to pay MSFT's $900 an hour lawyer too for example should he lose.
