Name and shame

[abaddonxi]

Cyber poison-penner hunted down and sued (http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/cyber-poisonpenner-hunted-down-and-sued-20100224-p3n7.html)


LEGAL counsel Martin Bennett has a short message for those who allow themselves to attack reputations over the internet, imagining they are safe under the cloak of anonymity. ''You can be hunted down and found,'' he said yesterday.


Mr Bennett has done just that for a Perth client, winning $30,000 in damages and costs, an apology, and undertakings from a Colac man that he won't post any more defamatory comments.


The hunt for the man's true identity proved the stuff of private detective novels updated into the age of blogs.


It is, Mr Bennett said, one of a very few such actions in Australia against the author of anonymous postings on an internet forum. He predicts it is the tip of a legal iceberg.


''There has been an increasing proliferation of internet chat sites where people feel free to hide their identities and make defamatory comments about companies and their executives and directors,'' he said in a statement released after the case in the Supreme Court of Western Australia was resolved.

[THE BOOGER]

you mods will have to be on the job but at lest it takes some of the onus off INC and AULRO just hand over the offenders real name. hopefully it wouldnt come to that but some threads do get close:o

[ATH]

I see nothing wrong with telling the truth about bodgy repairers etc., especially by those purporting to be experts on Landrovers.
I advised a few people by talking to them or PM of the disgraceful mess made by a self appointed expert of removing and fitting of a bottom pulley on my 300Tdi where the left hand threaded nut on the viscous fan had been chiseled to get it off right handed!
And one of those people I told then takes his vehicle to the same "expert" and has got the run around for about 3 months while they attempt to sort his vehicles probs.
Now why should that be a problem when the evidence was there for all to see that the bloke is an unskilled big hammer man?
Why shouldn't we be able to tell the truth in an effort to assist others by not going to him?
Blatant deformation, untruths or slagging off for personal reasons should be a no no, but for the life of me I can't see why fraudsters shouldn't be "outed".
Alan.

[incisor]

defamation laws have nothing to do with "truth".

[VladTepes]

Having said that (and without the full details) I suspect the incident resulting in a $30,000 fine was much bigger than that - and over a prolonged period etc.

[THE BOOGER]

The truth should be a defence in defamation but you have THE TRUTH and what the courts decide is the truth they are not always the same:mad: . Just look at the media different versions of the same story but completly different:o

[Sleepy]

I know of a famous Australian aviation identity that pursued some nasty comments about him online.

He traced the individual (IP numbers aren't that hard to trace).

Don't believe he wanted money (he has enough) but he threatend to sue..and got a very humble online apology - retracting all comments.

[Sleepy]

there must be something in the water down that way in VIC;)

Scotch?

[Mick_Marsh]

Having read this post, I must be close to defamation in another publication (and I put my name to that one).
You've got to be careful.

[Scallops]

And thanks Simon, just deleated all my Dealership related threads! :D

[djhampson]

Mod Hat on.

Lets keep this on topic please

[Basil135]

This from Wikipedia:

Defamation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Defamation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the malicious statement. For the 2009 film, see Defamation (film).
"Libel" and "Slander" redirect here. For other uses, see Libel (disambiguation) and Slander (disambiguation).
"Vilification" redirects here. For the hate crime, see racial vilification.

Defamation—also called calumny, vilification, slander (for spoken words), and libel (for written, broadcast, or otherwise published words)—is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly slimy or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image. It is usually, but not always,[1] a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant).

In common law jurisdictions, slander refers to a malicious, false and defamatory spoken statement or report, while libel refers to any other form of communication such as written words or images. Most jurisdictions allow legal actions, civil and/or criminal, to deter various kinds of defamation and retaliate against groundless criticism. Related to defamation is public disclosure of private facts, which arises where one person reveals information that is not of public concern, and the release of which would offend a reasonable person. "Unlike [with] libel, truth is not a defense for invasion of privacy."[2]

This basically says it better than I could.

For a statement to defame a person or company, it DOES NOT have to be false. ANY negative statement can be challenged.

Without all of the relevant information pertaining to the particular incident in question, a single statement could be defamation, slander or libel, whereas if taken into account with a whole conversation, that statement may not.

I guess the long & the short of it is, be careful what you say in public forums. Unlike some of the comments in the SMH article, I personally don't believe that it is a impugnation of free speech.



Disclaimer:

The above post is my own work, and my own opinion, except where noted. Any reference to any other person, corporation, animal, vegetable or mineral, either living, dead or in a comatose state, is not deliberate and is unintended.

Furthermore, the author of the above post unreservedly apoligises to any or all of the above for any embarrassment, hurt, discontent, distress or any other emotion that it may cause.

[disco_thrasher]

:Rolling::Rolling:

Disclaimer:

The above post is my own work, and my own opinion, except where noted. Any reference to any other person, corporation, animal, vegetable or mineral, either living, dead or in a comatose state, is not deliberate and is unintended.

Furthermore, the author of the above post unreservedly apoligises to any or all of the above for any embarrassment, hurt, discontent, distress or any other emotion that it may cause.

awesome i sorry but i have to steal part of you disclaimer

[Ace]

The amount of people who come into the station to report people saying mean and nasty things about them on facebook/myspace etc etc etc is a joke.

What ever happened to "My mother always said if i dont have anything nice to say i shouldnt say anything".

[isuzurover]

Some more info on the case:


The action against Graeme Gladman began after highly uncomplimentary comments appeared last November under pseudonyms on the HotCopper website, a stockmarket forum.

The postings related to technology security company Datamotion Asia Pacific Ltd and its Perth-based chairman and managing director, Ronald Moir. One posting appeared under the pseudonym of ''witch''.

Datamotion and Mr Moir hired Mr Bennett to launch defamation proceedings. But first Mr Bennett had to track down ''witch''. He asked HotCopper to reveal the identity of the person registered under that pseudonym, plus two others under different pseudonyms, but HotCopper refused.

Mr Bennett then took court action, forcing HotCopper to turn over its files. ''Unfortunately, the registered membership name appeared to be false,'' he said. ''It turned out to be attached to an escort service in Geelong.''

But Mr Bennett was not prepared to concede the trail was cold. He told The Age he did not wish to reveal the details of his next detective steps, but the upshot was a defamation action against Mr Gladman alleging that, as a result of his postings, Datamotion and Mr Moir had been ''brought into hatred, contempt and ridicule and thereby suffered damage''.

It was resolved last week, with Mr Gladman agreeing to pay damages totalling $20,000, taxed legal costs of $10,000, and to provide apologies and undertakings not to publish further defamatory postings.

Mr Bennett has launched two more cases. Both are pending before the WA Supreme Court.
Cyber poison-penner hunted down and sued (http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/cyber-poisonpenner-hunted-down-and-sued-20100224-p3n7.html)

[woody]

remember there are two sides to everything

mine and the one thats wrong!:p

[It'sNotWorthComplaining!]

anonomous ? obviously he wasn't.
They tracked him down through his Hotcopper registration details.
If smart He could have registered and used an email account like hotmail or yahoo etc. Signed up for his internet mail account online, no proof needed for identity, then submitted ,any bogus infomation in the application. Then registered on to the forum using his alias email address, gone through the activation process of the forum and he's on . If they do a back track how would they find him.
A lot of forums ask for a legit email address so they can send the account activation. Anyone can open a hotmail account or yahoo etc and open it as any pseudo they can think off. Log into to the bogus email address they created and activate and start posting. Then can say what ever they want subject to mods pulling the account

[THE BOOGER]

If they want to spend the money then they can trace your ip address and if you use a gsm modem they can be traced as well its all about the money:D

[Didge]

Firstly, Sleepy I'll take that scotch. Secondly I agree with Itsnotworth....... - a hotmail account or equivalent, especially logged on at an internet cafe and who knows who you are??
cheers gerald
ps djhampson - with all due respect (and I mean that cos you guys are the unsung heroes that make sites like this possible),I thought this thread was staying pretty well on topic. Why did you think it was straying? Just curious
cheers gerald

[Mick_Marsh]

Furthermore, the author of the above post unreservedly apoligises to any or all of the above for any embarrassment, hurt, discontent, distress or any other emotion that it may cause.
So, is this an admission you have posted libellous content?

[Mick_Marsh]

Firstly, Sleepy I'll take that scotch. Secondly I agree with Itsnotworth....... - a hotmail account or equivalent, especially logged on at an internet cafe and who knows who you are??
cheers gerald
ps djhampson - with all due respect (and I mean that cos you guys are the unsung heroes that make sites like this possible),I thought this thread was staying pretty well on topic. Why did you think it was straying? Just curious
cheers gerald

It went way off topic earlier. Those posts were deleted. One of the deleted posts was mine. I asked for it to be deleted after the others were because mine then made no sense. Maybe the one you picked up on should be deleted too.

This is why we should give thanks to the moderators. They keep this forum a pleasure to use and ensure it doesn't fill up with rubbish.

regards
Mick

PS Moderator - please delete this post if the others it refers to is deleted.


Whoops - I did it again.

[Sleepy]

It went way off topic earlier. Those posts were deleted. One of the deleted posts was mine. I asked for it to be deleted after the others were because mine then made no sense. Maybe the one you picked up on should be deleted too.

This is why we should give thanks to the moderators. They keep this forum a pleasure to use and ensure it doesn't fill up with rubbish.

regards
Mick

PS Moderator - please delete this post if the others it refers to is deleted.


Whoops - I did it again.
I had a post deleted too - and for the life of me I can't remeber what I said. (I guess I gotta get used to that at my age)
I lost the point of the whole thread - delete it all, I say :twisted:
Perhaps replace with a poll - Should you drink Scotch with Victorian water?

:woot::woot::woot:

[Basil135]

So, is this an admission you have posted libellous content?

Not in the least.

By using the word "may" in the last line, I have attempted to cover myself should any individual take unintended offense to any comment I may have made in the past. :(

Furthermore, I unreservedness apologise for any post that I may make in the future that, whilst unintended, may be misconstrued and seen as offensive.



Now - I think that should cover it...:D


:angel:

[Mick_Marsh]

Sleepy,

The point was defamation, which I think you just committed.

If you are referring to a post in another thread, either Scotland should take you to task for referring to Redback's Whisky as Scotch or Redback should take you to task over referring to his whisky as Scotch.

You're gone mate on both counts

[Sleepy]

Sleepy,

The point was defamation, which I think you just committed.

If you are referring to a post in another thread, either Scotland should take you to task for referring to Redback's Whisky as Scotch or Redback should take you to task over referring to his whisky as Scotch.

You're gone mate on both counts

I prefer Jameson Irish Scotch anyway.:p



(Now I'm really gorn:coplight:)

[p38arover]

I prefer Jameson Irish Scotch anyway.:p



(Now I'm really gorn:coplight:)

Because you prefer Jameson or for calling it Irish Scotch? :o

[solmanic]

As far as I am aware, you can freely publish personal comment in the form of "I don't like such-and-such..." and there can never be grounds for defamation as no-one can ever refute that your statement isn't 100% true (you made it as an "opinion"). It is when you expand that statement to include why you don't like someone or something...

"I don't like such-and-such a dealer because they gave me bad service...". There you have more than a simple statement of opinion. You have communicated details that may or may not be true. Of course, in many cases it is simple and again not able to be challenged as defamatory. If you have records of what transpired, you are free to transmit those records to anyone unless there is some agreement that the records are confidential.

But where you go further and say something like "this dealer is rubbish". You have then gone beyond personal opinion, personal experience, and made an open ended value judgement that could be construed by others as libelous.

So in short - naming and shaming is likely to involve comments that could be challenged and result in a defamation allegation. Simply recounting details of personal experience and statements of personal opinion cannot be challenged. They can be answered to but not grounds for a defamation case. Heck, look at Ebay feedback... The whole system works around a process of feedback ratings.

[blitz]

I guess it is because of the area of work in which I have been involved with for the last 15 years that I write the way I do. Any thing I publish i.e. here, I write with full knowledge that I may be challenged in a court of law. If I blow off steam here about something to do with my landrover or it's service or repairs of it I have my concerns and the circumstances written in my diary along with receipts etc of the work carried out.

Paranoid is a term that I sometimes think about myself but I am always prepared to qualify or quantiy anything I say or write in a court of law.

This is my personal moderator - I actually have no idea if anything I have written here has been deleted by a real one, I hope not though.

Ultimately I only say or write what I would hope anyone would say or write about myself.

Blitz

[p38arover]

You have to consider the implications for the site owner.

See 2Clix Software - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2Clix_Software#Whirlpool_controversy)

and

7179/07 2CLIX AUSTRALIA PTY LTD -V- WRIGHT (http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/'tag=Info_Whirlpool_2Clix)

Whirlpool is an Australian forum.

[incisor]

anonomous ? obviously he wasn't.
They tracked him down through his Hotcopper registration details.
If smart He could have registered and used an email account like hotmail or yahoo etc. Signed up for his internet mail account online, no proof needed for identity, then submitted ,any bogus infomation in the application. Then registered on to the forum using his alias email address, gone through the activation process of the forum and he's on . If they do a back track how would they find him.
A lot of forums ask for a legit email address so they can send the account activation. Anyone can open a hotmail account or yahoo etc and open it as any pseudo they can think off. Log into to the bogus email address they created and activate and start posting. Then can say what ever they want subject to mods pulling the account

many forums now wont accept hotmail, yahoo, gmail types email addresses..

i have been contemplating it myself but laziness and other priorities on here dictated that it be relegated to the back burner. but the day is coming.

[dullbird]

many forums now wont accept hotmail, yahoo, gmail types email addresses..

i have been contemplating it myself but laziness and other priorities on here dictated that it be relegated to the back burner. but the day is coming.


would that mean that anyone with a current hotmail account etc would no longer be able to access there accounts.. like me:)

[p38arover]

Some require any other type of email address to register but allow changing to gmail, hotmail, etc., at a later time.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

why the hotmail account Lou?

[p38arover]

Access from work?

[dullbird]

why the hotmail account Lou?

I have had this hotmail account for the last 9 years....hotmail wasn't overly an issues then