[ncdnhc-discuss] Story of US SLAPP suit based upon message board post

[James Love]

Example of speech problems in US system.

----- Original Message -----
From: "James Love" <james.love at cptech.org>
To: <hague-jur-commercial-law at venice.essential.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2002 11:05 AM
Subject: [Hague-jur-commercial-law] Story of US SLAPP suit based upon
message board post.


>
>
> http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,50548,00.html
>
>  2:00 a.m. March 1, 2002 PST
> Dan Whatley has a few words of advice for those inclined to flame the CEO
of
> an unpopular company.
>
> Whatley learned last week he had lost a $450,000 defamation lawsuit for
> statements he had made about a company called Xybernaut on an Internet
> message board. He said he didn't even know the suit existed.
> Lawyers say defamation lawsuits against message board posters by companies
> wanting to silence their online critics are on the rise.
>
>    [snip]
>
> "It's not unusual," said Lee Tien, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier
> Foundation, a cyber-rights group. "We hear about people being sued for
online
> posts -- and getting into crazy situations -- about once a week."
>
>  "Typically, it's thin-skinned corporate executives whose companies aren't
> doing well," said Mark Goldowitz, who heads the California Anti-Slapp
> Project, a non-profit group that defends posters against frivolous libel
> suits. "They use this as a way to shut up the critics, and it also sends a
> message to other posters."
>
> See also:
>
> http://slashdot.org/yro/02/03/03/1435201.shtml?tid=153
>
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