Think before Posting... Jury awards $11.3M over defamatory Internet posts!

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Phil

PLEASE! Don't "Anyone" take this Personal.

Maybe we Don't have The Freedom we Think we Do.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/...ion-case_x.htm

Courts are asked to crack down on bloggers, websites
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/20...s-courts_x.htm

Of Course...

Your Thoughts and Comments?

Phil

Hi Phil,

Thanks for posting that!

I don't think we'll have a problem with that on this forum - because (as you know) we have a "no insults" policy... So anything that seems "defamatory" gets deleted here... Defaming and insulting others is not what "Sowpub" is about!

This forum - and me personally - have been criticized (mostly by anonymous people who won't reveal their identity) for this policy and our application of it... However, as your post I think shows, it's probably a good policy from a legal standpoint as well. (Though our intention with this policy is to try to stop "flame wars" that can happen on discussion forums from time to time... So we can focus more on "constructive" discussions and talking about business!)

Thanks Phil for sharing that with us!

Dien

P.S. Another earlier example of something similar is the one of Brock Meeks vs. Benjamin Suarez... However, that was regarding libel in an ezine, I think, rather than on a blog or message board. You can read about it here (or search around for more info)...

In that case, Brock Meeks and Benjamin Suarez came to a settlement, where Meeks paid $64 to Suarez for his legal fees, and had to give Suarez 48 hours notice before he wrote anything about him. However, they came to that arrangement only after Meeks paid $25,000 in fees to his lawyers... So, while the settlement was paltry, he was still out $25,000 bucks... (Though it's less than $11.3 Million!)