Name and shame

[abaddonxi]

Cyber poison-penner hunted down and sued

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

[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 . Just look at the media different versions of the same story but completly different

[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!