Anyone Ever Been Accused of Defamation in Blogging?

[hopkism]

Here's a new one for me... Just received an email from a HYIP company, alleging that I have posted a review of their company that "constitutes a libel." In the review, I looked at the nature of the company and suggested it "could" and "might" be a scam and that there are "red flags" and "unanswered questions."

I'm going to get in touch with my lawyer this afternoon. The company has asked that I delete the entire page from my blog because I have violated the right to innocence until proven guilty.

Just thought I'd share this with you guys to see who else has ever been accused. Regardless of by whom, it should be handled seriously.

 

[Dave_Z]

Not yet, but I'm (partly) looking forward to handling that issue myself, especially with lots of case studies to base my decisions from.

Just be careful how you wrote your review, of course, especially if it mentions the word scam.

And definitely see your lawyer soonest.

 

[hopkism]

Not yet, but I'm (partly) looking forward to handling that issue myself, especially with lots of case studies to base my decisions from.

Just be careful how you wrote your review, of course, especially if it mentions the word scam.

And definitely see your lawyer soonest.

That's great! It is definitely something I should have read up on more and been more serious about. Although the statue of limitations (1 year) had expired on the opportunity for this case to see a court, my attorney advised getting rid of the review. I did and everything associated with it. No questions. Definitely a learning experience.

 

[Eric Lyon]

Here's an article about a Jan. 2013 incident where someone sued a yelp reviewer: http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/07/yelp-reviewers-beware-you-can-get-sued/

Here's an article about a blogger that was actually given a prison sentence in Taiwan for a restaurant review June 2011: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/06/23/2003506487

I think that Taiwan ruling was a bit extreme, but just goes to show how different every countries laws are. While there are some protective measures that can be put in place with your TOS / Privacy Policy / and Disclaimers, it's always best to use as much tact as possible when doing a review.

The part I find silly in all the bad review law suits is that it's basically saying:: You can promote my business saying all the good stuff all you want, but If we mess up and screw you over you aren't allowed to tell anyone, that way we can keep screwing people over without them knowing.

I find that reality sad. Definitely get in touch with an attorney and possibly take a look at your tos / privacy / and disclaimers to make sure you have added protection.

Just my thoughts anyways,

Eric Lyon

 

[HeyNow]

Just make sure you can document what you write. If what you claim is your opinion, then state that it is your opinion.

You are entitled to state your opinion. You are entitled to state the truth without claiming it is your opinion, but just make sure you can document it.

 

[johname]

I would suspect these companys send out libel emails to negative reviewers at the same rate domainers try to spam endusers. Really just hoping to bully a changed review or a deleted one, rather than pay for a fancy lawyer/legal process.

I remember when reciprocal linking was in voge. Saw a news story about some business owner saying he has to stay up all night writing link emails. I can picture people working the social/reviews sites that way now.

The thing to avoid is throwing together a minisite with the thought "its more sensational to rip someone even if its not true" then to say the boring their 'what ever' is nice.

 

[alien51]

To demonstrate that your review is an OPINION, and not a libelous claim of facts, try asking them to write a rebuttal to your review, then post it on the same page indicating "Response from company owner".

And lastly, i am not sure if LIBEL can be litigated across international borders. A lot of people have called George W. Bush, a murderer. While Bush himself called Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, The Devil.

 

[hopkism]

I would suspect these companys send out libel emails to negative reviewers at the same rate domainers try to spam endusers. Really just hoping to bully a changed review or a deleted one, rather than pay for a fancy lawyer/legal process.

That was my gut feeling and I still believe it to be true.

Here's an article about a Jan. 2013 incident where someone sued a yelp reviewer: http://ideas.time.com/2013/01/07/yel...-can-get-sued/

Here's an article about a blogger that was actually given a prison sentence in Taiwan for a restaurant review June 2011: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiw.../23/2003506487

I think that Taiwan ruling was a bit extreme, but just goes to show how different every countries laws are. While there are some protective measures that can be put in place with your TOS / Privacy Policy / and Disclaimers, it's always best to use as much tact as possible when doing a review.

The part I find silly in all the bad review law suits is that it's basically saying:: You can promote my business saying all the good stuff all you want, but If we mess up and screw you over you aren't allowed to tell anyone, that way we can keep screwing people over without them knowing.

I find that reality sad. Definitely get in touch with an attorney and possibly take a look at your tos / privacy / and disclaimers to make sure you have added protection.

I remember reading that Yelp incident. It is really sad that negative reviews cannot exist where they need to. At the same token, it is easy to understand how an improper review can destroy one.

My website is quite professional. I was not getting heated, emotional or exaggerating for value. It was really the work of a thorough investigation on my part.

Now, I am working on rewriting, per my attorney's request the terms of service/privacy policy and reviewing any previous reviews I've written.

 

[alien51]

I think because you used the word "scam", which is a criminal accusation.

Perhaps, instead of using "scam", you could just simply "describe" why the scheme does not work in your view.

On the other hand, i wonder why Movie Critics do not get sued for giving bad movie reviews.

 

[Dave_Z]

Here's an article about a blogger that was actually given a prison sentence in Taiwan for a restaurant review June 2011: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/06/23/2003506487

Thanks for sharing, Eric. Interesting story.

I noticed a few common things about these lawsuits against reviews:

1. Some people write reviews that tend to stretch things (i.e. person concludes restaurant serves too salty food based only on one order; customer says company is a scammer for supposedly not sending a product which they actually sent).

2. Not all individuals necessarily back up their reviews.

(Of course, nothing stops a company from suing someone for a bad review. If anything, that someone just tries not to give that company or whoever some material reason to use against him or her.)

Essentially, it boils down to how and what you say. It's just tempting to use loaded words like "scam" or "scammer" because of how one feels about something.

 

[alien51]

I probably would not mind all this suing stuffs, if there was a way that the judge will order the legal fees be paid by the accuser if he lost the case. From what i understand, this is not automatic. Which makes filing lawsuits a tool for harassment, for people who can afford to pay for lawyers.

 

[Name Trader]

There are a lot of PayPalSucks.com type websites that survive. You should take a look at a few of them.

 

[Dave_Z]

I probably would not mind all this suing stuffs, if there was a way that the judge will order the legal fees be paid by the accuser if he lost the case. From what i understand, this is not automatic. Which makes filing lawsuits a tool for harassment, for people who can afford to pay for lawyers.

Indeed. If anything, that issue is handled case to case.

Some U.S. states have anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation) laws to solve that problem.

 

[alien51]

How about the issue of Jurisdiction ??

Suppose i live in China, and use webhosting in the Netherlands, how would someone slap me with a libel lawsuit ??

I am referring to a lawsuit itself, not just asking the webhost or godaddy to shutdown my site/domain using some online form on breach of terms of service stuffs.

What libel law is interpreted/used? Some libel laws and Freedom Of Speech, are stricter than others. Am i safer by hosting my content in a country with more liberal rules, even if i am physically living in a hell-hole country somewhere in the planet ??

 

[hopkism]

How about the issue of Jurisdiction ??

Suppose i live in China, and use webhosting in the Netherlands, how would someone slap me with a libel lawsuit ??

I am referring to a lawsuit itself, not just asking the webhost or godaddy to shutdown my site/domain using some online form on breach of terms of service stuffs.

What libel law is interpreted/used? Some libel laws and Freedom Of Speech, are stricter than others. Am i safer by hosting my content in a country with more liberal rules, even if i am physically living in a hell-hole country somewhere in the planet ??

It's funny you mention that... The company in question that was reviewed is based in Ukraine. However, they claim they are incorporated in a U.S. state (one thing I call into question was the validity of these documents that looked as good as college fake IDs). As the writer of the website, I live in Canada.

 

[alien51]

I think the only way you can get sued for libel by someone in another country, is if your accuser hires a lawyer in Canada and sue you there in his behalf. Like what Apple and Microsoft are doing, when they sue pirates in China. They hire Chinese law firms, and sue the Chinese pirates in Chinese courts based on Chinese piracy laws.

The United States has a more liberal interpretation of libel with its First Amendment on Free Speech, compared to say Chinese libel laws.

So my strategy is, say I live in China and i want to criticize the corrupt Chinese government officials. I would get a trusted person in the United States and have him as Domain Registrant and Website owner. Then i can write my material and post it on my domain/website (registered to my entity in the US).

If some Chinese bureaucrat wants to charge me with libel, he has to file a libel case in the United States based on US laws. And since my domain/website proxy registrant is living in the US, he can invoke the First Amendment Rights in the US Constitution protecting free speech.

 

[NPer]

And since my domain/website proxy registrant is living in the US, he can invoke the First Amendment Rights in the US Constitution protecting free speech.

A privacy protection service (US based) can do this on behalf of a registrant?

 

[alien51]

A privacy protection service (US based) can do this on behalf of a registrant?

Ah, no. It cannot.

I have inspected most of the popular whois privacy protection services used by registrars today, from DomainsByProxy to Whoisguard. All of them have a mechanism that requires them to reveal your true identity as entered in your whois info, when someone files a complaint against you (must include legal documents).

Even in the WIPO cases i have read, when the accused is hiding behind a whois privacy protection, the WIPO judge will simply compel the registrar to disable your whois privacy protection.

The whois privacy protection service, is only good to shield you from public view, and from people who have no money or time to pay legal fees to file a formal complaint.