Blogs vs. Lawsuits
An item here that may be of interest to those of you bloggers scared to death about getting sued for the content of your blog.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 8:52 AM
10 comments
Fred's Humboldt Blog
I'm a Libertarian living in Humboldt County, CA. I've lived here in Eureka since 1973 and joined the Libertarian Party in 1992. This blog will mostly focus on local political issues, but I may stray into state and national issues as well, when I can't help myself. Please post your comments by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of each post. Although I do moderate comments, you need not be a registered user to post them.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Other Local Blogs
- The Humboldt Sentinel
- Rose's Blog
- Talking Tech
- Bill's Obama Blog
- Lost Coast Outpost
- Sohum Parlance
- Redwood Coast Business
- Richard Marks
Previous Posts
- Yet Another PAC
- Sign Stealing Begins?
- Whatever Happened To The Original Humboldt Honey?
- Show and Tell
- The Ten Year Plan?
- Mendocino D.A. Race Lives On Despite Death
- Mr. Tom: R.I.P.
- Sold! So Soon?
- Elias On Bonds
- A New Shady Operator In Town?
10 Comments:
Libel: ouch...
This will be the one to watch:
Todd Hollis, a criminal defense lawyer in Pittsburgh, has filed a libel suit against a website called DontDateHimGirl.com, which includes message boards in which women gossip about men they supposedly dated. One posting on the site accused Hollis of having herpes. Another said he had infected a woman he once dated with a sexually transmitted disease. Yet another said he was gay. Hollis, 38, who says the accusations are false, is suing the site's operator, Tasha Joseph, and the posters of the messages.
It was the only one in the list where the allegations were against the site owner for posts made by others. I'm fairly certain that the allegations of the complaint allege that the site encourages libelous comments by it's very nature, but that may be the case that defines the protocols for blogs.
It took me less than six months of blogging to get threatened with a lawsuit, and I wasn't even trying.
Yeah Stunich was definitely overreacting with that.
Oh sorry, Fred! I hope you don't get threatened with a lawsuit now!
Who knows? I'm not worried about it.
I'm not either. Hyperbole is not actionable, and in California we have anti-SLAPP laws that provide some additional protection. Moreover, a plaintiff has to prove damages - ie. that the blog comment(s) actually caused a loss.
One can sue for anything, and even if the defendant were to "win," it could still cost the defendant a hell of a lot of money and time, could it not?
There a certain person in Humboldt County whose name I do not mention, who is a respected member of the professional class in Eureka. I would respectfully submit that his writings are a few bricks shy of a full load, but I shan't, because I do fear litigation.
Carson, an opinion is not actionable. Only false statements of fact.
You can say that you believe someone is a liar and that is not actionable, but opinion.
The point is tell us who is a few bricks shy of a load, since it is only your opinion.
There is a famous case I remember from law school where a columnist used the words "anybody was there knows in his heart that...." and I don't remember the particulars. But the Supreme Court held that the statement as worded amounted to an assertion of objective fact rather than opinion and overruled the demurrer against the suit. I don't agree with the decision as I think it focused on the literal wording rather than the nature of the statement itself which was simply a strongly worded opinion.
So when casting about the bricks with which to slay our adversaries and hurt them better than with pens, must we first find out who is short those bricks?
Post a Comment
<< Home