Forum Posting - Legal Action

[kjmz]

Hi,

I own a forum and recently a group of people joined the site. These people are talking about a local company who "ripped" them off. I don't know if their statements are true or not but I would like to keep them on if they are true. The company will remain unnamed but I even have heard some bad things about them. Recently the company contacted me and said the following:

To Whom it May Concern:

Over the past weekend, I was quite dismayed to review information on *MY FORUM* concerning our company *THE NAME OF THE COMPANY* which is misleading, defamatory, and libelous.

Therefore, I would respectfully request that these postings and Forum be removed as soon as possible or we may have to pursue further action available to us,

Thank you in advance for your consideration in this matter,

*UNNAMED COMPANY*

Do they have the right to pursue further legal action? I don't want to get in any legal problems but I want people to be able to have the freedom of speech.

Thanks in advance.

 

[TT]

it all depends on what your disclaimers are upon joining.

example: All posts are opinions and views of the writter , Therefore the owners, staff ect cannot be held liable ect ect ect.

I have some huge and very contraversial forums and see those types of letters everyday, As soon as the disclaimers are pointed out thier lawyers no longer contact.

The above is only my opinion, please do not consider it legal advice

 

[kjmz]

it all depends on what your disclaimers are upon joining.

example: All posts are opinions and views of the writter , Therefore the owners, staff ect cannot be held liable ect ect ect.

I have some huge and very contraversial forums and see those types of letters everyday, As soon as the disclaimers are pointed out thier lawyers no longer contact.

The above is only my opinion, please do not consider it legal advice

Yeah, I have the forum rules, which say the posts are neither my sites opinion and I cannot be held responsible or vBulletin for what people post.

 

[TT]

refer all concerns to your disclaimer, IMHO

 

[Ronald Regging]

If people are posting opinions or statements based on experiences they claim to have had with the company, and you have no reason to suspect those claims are false, than you really have no responsibility whatsoever. Someone can say whatever they want as long as it's an opinion, or is true... Doesn't matter how negative it may be. And since you cant verify every statement posted on your forums, the responsibility has to lie with the original posters.

 

[labrocca]

You are not obligated to remove the posts imho.

I would respond by saying you would require a court order to hand over any information you held concerning the privacy of your posters and that you have no plans to remove the content unless ordered by a court to do so.

 

[ivoy]

:imho: I find this request rather outrageous and IMO you are not in any kind of civil danger. I just finished reading the latest issue of the Consumer Reports magazine and they right out trash products and services offered by industry giants. There’s no way anyone can touch them. The last time I checked, free speech was still in effect. If anything, I would reply with a letter threatening a harassment lawsuit. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and it does not always have to be positive.
Recently, the New York City major, Bloomberg, registered a bunch of domains such as bloombergsucks.com etc,,, in order not to have to deal with them in case someone else does it. Why don’t you offer to sell them the forum, so they can delete the messages themselves (Although, from a legal perspective, that might be a bit shaky, so check with a lawyer first)

 

[Peter]

I agree with the consensus of the rest of the responses here. You have done nothing wrong and you are not liable for what your users say about someones service.

What you could do is invite the company to give their side of events to at least have both sides of the story on your forum (even if they just provide you with a press release style letter).

 

[ivoy]

What you could do is invite the company to give their side of events to at least have both sides of the story on your forum (even if they just provide you with a press release style letter).

Great advice!

 

[kjmz]

Great advice!

I just wanted to update the thread. I've been trying to find a lawyer for Internet law but I haven't had much success.

Anyways I tried allowing the company to give their story and I received another email saying I have 48 hours to remove the post or they will pursue the action and then after will try to get money from me for the business they lost.

At the moment I have removed the posts because I do not want to lose any money.

Does anyone know of a internet law specialist in Canada?

Thank you.

 

[labrocca]

So everyone here telling you not to remove the content is meaningless. Their strong-arming you has worked. Sad.

 

[kjmz]

So everyone here telling you not to remove the content is meaningless. Their strong-arming you has worked. Sad.

Yes, it has for now. The site makes maybe $0.50 a day, I do not think that will cover the fees I would have to pay if I am in the wrong. The thread has been stored in a forum that no one can access but I need to get legal advice first before I can re-store it. This company makes sales in the $20,000.00 range daily, so I do not want to be playing around with them.

The posts of the other members are not meaningless but if it comes down to it in court and I say "Well the NamePros members said I should be fine" will not help me win a case.

 

[Dave_Z]

Does anyone know of a internet law specialist in Canada?

Although this lawyer specializes in domain disputes, it probably won't hurt to
ask him for suggestions.

 

[Source]

Disclaimer or no disclaimer, you need to run this by an attorney. There are sticky legal issues here that could become expensive to defend if it would come to that.

 

[jberryhill]

The posts of the other members are not meaningless but if it comes down to it in court and I say "Well the NamePros members said I should be fine" will not help me win a case.

Bravo.

 

[Jeffrey]

I think you have a similar scenario that happened somewhere in Asia.

In the Philippines, there is a famous blogger who also manage his own hosting company. He has a client that runs a forum website. Then one or two of the visitors of that forum made derogatory or negative remarks of a certain company. That certain company sued the webhosting operator for libel or something similar, again it's the webhost, not the forum owner.

In the end that webhosting site won the case, but he lost substantial amount of money and lost peace of mind.

My opinion is order your forum members to stop making such comments. But that's me.

 

[gramma]

that's crazy - what about sites like ripoffreport.com my3cents.com etc ?
I'd look up their company name in google and see if there are complaints on other forums.
I remember YEARS ago when rick Schwartz registered some 'suck' domains - like carnivalsucks.com and montecarlosucks.com - not that long ago i checked and there was a site on the montecarlo one - it's parked page now. I wish i could remember if there was any bruhaha over it at that time.
I believe you can post opinions and experiences. What are editorials in newspapers if not that? It's common sense.
People know if they push the 'lawyer' button - you'll roll over. I've done it before too. It's just easier.

 

[bricio]

I think you have a similar scenario that happened somewhere in Asia.

In the Philippines, there is a famous blogger who also manage his own hosting company. He has a client that runs a forum website. Then one or two of the visitors of that forum made derogatory or negative remarks of a certain company. That certain company sued the webhosting operator for libel or something similar, again it's the webhost, not the forum owner.

In the end that webhosting site won the case, but he lost substantial amount of money and lost peace of mind.

My opinion is order your forum members to stop making such comments. But that's me.

interesting thread... i really hope you dont have trouble kjmz
let me start saying i am not a lawyer

if he asks members of his forum to stop such comments there wont be free speech... and if these people are telling the true?

hey jberryhill could you enlighten this for us, please?

 

[jberryhill]

ripoffreport.com

You do understand that the guy who runs that site is the subject of numerous lawsuits, and there is a reward being offered by one plaintiff for his current whereabouts, yes?

hey jberryhill could you enlighten this for us, please?

The OP is in Canada.

As far as the US is concerned, there have been numerous lawsuits over the last several years involving the issue of host liability for defamatory user-generated content. It's not an issue for which I track the various zigs, zags, and conflicting outcomes.

As a general principle, under the right circumstances you can be held liable for "re-publication" of someone else's defamatory speech. In just what "circumstances" a forum host will or will not be held liable for postings in the forum has been, and will continue to be for the foreseeable future, a hotly contested issue.

It is a certainty, in my mind anyway, that the private operator of an internet forum is not required to extend any "right" of "free speech" to the participants of the forum. I can kick you out of my living room if I don't care for what you have to say.

Also in general, defamation cases are more easily made out in UK Commonwealth countries, such as Canada, than in the US.

I do react very strongly to comments such as this one:

if he asks members of his forum to stop such comments there wont be free speech

Freedom of Speech is an individual right to speak. It does not impose an obligation on anyone else to provide you with a microphone, or to listen to you. If I run a forum, you do not have right to make me accept or publish anything that you have to say.

 

[Jasdon]

How can you be sure that the members posting negative comments are genuine, and not this companies competitors?

Surely there is some strong disclaimer for the forum owner. Just think of all the stuff written on here the past few weeks about Sedo!