Lawsuits?

[JHemdal]

All,

I'm just curious - I've been lurking here, reading some threads (especially the Petco one) and has anyone resolved the implications of publicly making statements (either false or unsubstantiated) here against a company, and then having a lawsuit brought against them?
I'm reminded of the petswarehouse.com lawsuit that was brought against some plant hobbyists who posted a few negative comments about a company on a listserve (Please note the extra S in that name - this is NOT petwarehouse!). The suit was *eventually* thrown out, but at least some people involved were out substantial time, effort and money - and I believe that some even settled out of court....if nothing else, the listserve operator had to dilvulge the contact information for the people involved in the suit (as they were just known by screen names up to that point).
Last year, I spoke with an industry rep about one of their products that had been slammed in a thread on an online forum , and was told, (to paraphrase) *we are watching that thread very closely*.
Just was wondering what people's take is on this....

Jay Hemdal

 

[onereefnotenuf]

If you tell or type lies about someone or some company that is detrimental to their reputation, you open yourself up for a slander or libel suit. If you tell the truth no matter how damaging that info might be, you have the best defense possible in that type of lawsuit. That doesn't mean however, that the "offended" party couldn't still file, you just have a great chance of defending it successfully.

I am not an attorney. please don't consider this legal advise. it is worth what you paid for it.

 

[JHemdal]

Well, I was mainly curious if folks here had discussed this issue much here. I can never get the search feature to work, so couldn't research the issue on my own.

I'm no lawyer either - at first I naively figured that "freedom of speech" covered personal opinions like, "Joe's Pet Store sells poor quality fish" in much the same way that a movie reviewer can say, "This movie is awful, don't go see it". Evidently these two cases are *not* equal when it comes to the law (Even though they are both based on opinions). I think that is why the Petswarehouse suit made the news as it did, the ramifications were potentially huge.
Personally, I no longer name product brands or businesses in any discussion I have online, positive or negative.

Jay

 

[maddyfish]

Personally, I no longer name product brands or businesses in any discussion I have online, positive or negative.

Jay

I do, let them sue. Read the signature

 

[maddyfish]

Somehow, I apparently screwed up something on the above post and made it into a link. I tried to delete it. Mods, could you fix it?

 

[spawner]

So if we all were scared of being suied people would be allowed to sell and advertise things anyway they want, companies could abuse fish and such all they want. Besides anyone that has owned a RIO knows that one day you will come home to a tank full of black stuff, a house full of smoke, the smell that will not go away. If your lucky your fish are alive and you are more educated. I even sure Rio knows about it; plenty of cheap people out there. Same goes for PetCo they know they kill tons of fish. Even PetCo fish people know this.

Stick to the truth and personal experences.

 

[maddyfish]

I'm sure KENT, would love to get rid of the salt thread in reef discusion.

 

[GreshamH]

As long as you note it's your opinion, and don't state it like a blanketting fact, you'll be fine.

I found out the hard way, but we won't go into that here. Your more then welcome to PM me though Jay, I'll tell yah all about it :lol:

 

[AngeloM3]

all you have to do is buy someone in the jury.... then your all set

 

[lux_06]

that movie review point is amazing... what the hell??? how is it any different to posting personal reviews, i dont hear the reviewer say IMO.

very interesting though, I believe there needs to be more public review forums like this one so that consumer satisfaction is a companys aim rather then the marketing plan. after all ebay lets us judge our suppliers and displays for us to make our own mind up. I guess its here where the issue lies, how do we know a post on a thread is genuine, where as a comment from a proven buyer is know to be legit.

members of RC often write negative comments about equipment that many will look at and think well hey i cant afford the best one they recomend so even the cheapie on ebay is better then nothing.... thats life and some will still shop at petco after reading that thread but maybe they wont purchase tangs or other tricky creatures and this will lead to petco not selling them, so they may stop buying them to sell.... and it will be up to the company to rectify its situation in the minds of the industry and customer base. after all the internet is great for their advertising but its better for our communication as the target market.

p.s the first thing i thought when i joined RC was wow they name names... another fishing forum i frequent, wont even let members say they had a bad experiance on a charter boat in fear of defamtion issues. but this forum is much smaller then RC and not in america.

adam

 

[wds21921]

Consumers have the right to post there opinons. It's a sad day here when we've got so many lawyers worried about there jobs they create frivalous lawsuits that tie up our court systems and worse are the judges who entertain these lawsuits.

Not everyone is going to sing the praises of your product, if you put out a halfway decent product though, at least some people will be willing to give it a try. If it is a good experience then you'll gain some form of praise or at least acceptance.
If your product is snake oil and your found out then the responsibility of the bad product is on the manufacturer.

If I have a bad experience with a product I have no problem with naming the manufacturer (see my Oceanic Salt postings).
It is the only form of check/balance we have as consumers. If a manufacturer takes exception to it and decides to sue someone then it doesn't say much for the customer service reps or there product as far as I'm concerned.

 

[GreshamH]

Well, several major companies have threatend suit. I'm just simply communicating what my lawyer told me when I faced a lawsuit over this very manor (posting a review, with out denoting it was my own experience). I was told to edit it, and include that it was my personal experience. Regardless of being right or wrong, they still can tie you up in court, and cost you money. It's far easier, and cheaper, not to walk the line, IN MY OPINION :lol:

FWIW, I could name at least 4 big players that have threatend suit, by by no means am I going to post em

 

[aclos3]

I think there is a large gray area here as well. Its tough to make conclusions about how someone posted on an internet forum. The company would have to prove that you presented things completely as fact that were complete lies. This is probably tough to do considering it is an internet forum where people generally post opinions in a very informal way.

 

[jiggy]

if you say negative things in public about a company that is detrimental to their reputation, you can be sued. and just because it is the truth doesnt do anything for u. the average person against a big company with a team of attorneys, who do you think will win.
and when the big company wins, they will file a countersuit for time/money wasted.

 

[ERICinFL]

But wait a second... I thought everything on the internet was true.

 

[Steven Pro]

I have seen quite a few comments on RC like, "So and so sells nothing but cyanide caught fish." That is a completely bogus statement as it can't be proven one way or the other and could easily land someone in court.