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Originally Posted by Brutha  The problem is that most forums have a few threads in which users say bad things about some company.
In Germany a company got through with suing the owner of a bicycle forum for a sentence posted by a user of his forum like "I have heard that company X was sued for fraud". |
That's where the first ammendment in America should be viciously protected by the courts. Judges are too lenient with allowing cases to be heard just to "see what the jury thinks of this."
Slander and defamation are, more likely than not, ongoing diatribes by someone or some entity. Not off-handed comments. If you were in Starbucks and you owned ABC Company and at the table next to you, you heard someone dissing one of your products to a friend, would you be able to sue them for slander? No. If someone picketed your company because they had a terrible experience and drew a crowd, would you be able to sue them for slander? Not realistically. So forums, which are basically a semi-virtual extension of the concept of friends sitting around chatting about stuff should be immune from such legal attacks unless they mount a premeditated, excessive attack with baseless accusations. Then we have crossed the line into slander and defamation.
Unfortunately, anyone can sue anyone else for any reason. It may not make it past the hearing but too often ridiculous cases do progress. Common sense is out of fashion nowadays. The courts complain that they are overburdened and short on resources but they are the cause of their own woes. They should be responsible for cleaning it up.
Jennifer