Re: Newsgroup or Bulletin Board Libel


"The Wanderer" <wanderer@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:14f7nyq8m5pbb$.1n64j943195wu.dlg@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:39:58 +0100, The Todal wrote:

"The Todal" <deadmailbox@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:6gdcabFf7dl0U1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Interesting court judgments here, where a claim against multiple
defendants for disparaging and insulting comments on a bulletin board
was
deemed unworthy of court time and resulted in the claimant being
prevented
from issuing further proceedings without leave:
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2008/577.html
http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2008/1250.html


I posted in haste and forgot to put the question that was on my mind: the
case in point relates to bulletin board defamation, but does anyone see a
valid distinction between that and usenet defamation? Is the likely
number
of readers similar, for instance? And how could that be proved anyway?

The only distinction that comes readily to mind is that BB's or forums
tend
to require some form of registration, whereas usenet is in theory open to
all. As to the number of readers, I think the participants in any keyboard
argument assume that they have masses of readers all waiting eagerly to
see
who can surpass at insults, where in reality there are probably no more
than a handful of people fuelling the flame war through various sock
puppets. Most people couldn't give a toss and quickly lose interest in
such
spats.

What is, perhaps, more relevant is the extent of any *real world* damage
to
reputations sustained, which I'd venture to suggest is usually minimal. A
renowned brain surgeon repeatedly being described as a ham-fisted butcher
in my book has a far stronger case than some individual whose interface
between usenet and the real world is virtually non-existent.

The libel laws are jus a tool for the wealthy to cover up their crimes
and protect their false reputation.
They should all be flushed down the shitter where they belong.

--
the dot wanderer at tesco dot net



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