Blog Faces Lawsuit Over Reader Comments 364
Carl Bialik from the WSJ writes "In a legal case being watched closely by bloggers, an Internet company has sued the owner of a blog for comments posted to his site by readers, the Wall Street Journal Online reports. Traffic-Power.com, which sells tools for boosting Web traffic, sued Aaron Wall, age 25, over statements posted in the comments section of Wall's search-engine-optimization blog, SEOBook.com. (Wall also has posted about the case.) 'Legal analysts said the case falls into somewhat murky legal territory, but that Mr. Wall may have some protection from liability under federal law,' WSJ.com says. 'Courts generally have held that the operators of computer message boards and mailing lists cannot be held liable for statements posted by other people. Blogs might be viewed in a similar light, they said.' However, Daniel Perry, a lawyer who has followed the case, says that Wall's case is complicated by his own negative comments about Traffic-Power, which could be seen as a competitor to his site. 'To be candid, he sort of moved into this moving propeller,' Perry said. 'The Internet is not your personal stump to beat up people.'"
hmm... (Score:5, Funny)
This guy has obviously never been to
Two Slugs Battle It Out... (Score:3, Funny)
Dangerous Territory (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Two Slugs Battle It Out... (Score:2, Funny)
Yeah, when two sites are talking about their respective bitches I too hope they both go down.
Wait, you meant the porn sites, didn't you....nevermind...
Re:Dangerous Territory (Score:4, Funny)
WTF (Score:5, Funny)
I beg to differ [wikipedia.org].
Hurting someone else's feelings is my spaghetti-god-given right.
Yes it is a personal stump to beat on people (Score:1, Funny)
So whats to prevent me... (Score:3, Funny)
ALright, with luck I can post as an AC on
This just shows how stupid courts can get, and I swear, judges should really just smack some people around.
Well, well, well (Score:4, Funny)
Very decent.
Look! there is even a mailinglist I can subscribe to. Quick let's do it before someone else does it.
Hmm, what do I get for a page:
What a losers
So if I say... (Score:3, Funny)
Everyone on this site is a convicted murderer who eats babies.
Just libeled all of you! (I hope). You may begin suing Slashdot now.
Psssst! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Freedom of speech comes with responsibility. (Score:3, Funny)
Give every poster an ID. Log all messages from each ID, and allow others to invest their own reputation in people and donate points. In short, a reputation market. Of course, there will be karma whores, and stuff like that...
Coming soon to a civil court near you... (Score:3, Funny)
United Press International
In a landmark case, a recent civil action has resulted in a person being successfully sued for having a negative opinion. Said the plaintiff's attorney: "Look, everyone knew that the defendant had a poor opinion of my client. He didn't precisely say this explicitly, but it was evident in his conduct and manner. The defendant is a well-respected member of his community, and so this implied reputation had a direct negative effect on my client, both from a social and (more importantly) fiscal perspective. Knowing that the defendant didn't like my client in the least, prospective employers would view this negatively, either preventing my client from getting a good job, or reducing the scope of compensation offers. We are fortunate to have found a judge who understood the nuances of this case."
Based on extensive precedent set in the Civil Rights litigation of the 20th century, it became de facto illegal to dislike someone if they were of an oppressed minority of any type. It was practically foreordained that this would be expanded to eventually apply regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. What happened here today is expected to be repeated across the country shortly.
Re:Horse pucky (Score:2, Funny)
Welcome to the Soviet States of America... Or hadn't you noticed?