Has anybody actually used the "share" option?

[Politically_Incorrect12]

I've noticed the "share" option on threads before, but never really thought about it. Has anybody here actually used it?

[moon/Laura]

not me.. in fact, i had to click on it just to see what it would do.. basically, it shares that thread with your choice(s) of social media - facebook/ twitter/ myspace, just to name a few...

[privateinvestor]

Yes I have with my attorney to get her legal opinion on some personal matters about libel and slander...and my military buds to check the historical facts, and dates on the military threads.

[Virgil Showlion]

get her legal opinion on some personal matters about libel and slander

Who are you going to sue? A username?

[privateinvestor]

Mar 22, 2011 18:59:40 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

get her legal opinion on some personal matters about libel and slander

Who are you going to sue? A username?

Yes & it is not that difficult to obtain the user's email address and home address when the lawyers present their complaint to the webmaster..and have a court injunction for that data..

Or you can do it yourself without a lawyer if you want to go to small claims and seek monetary damages for less than @ $2500.00

People are doing this everyday and many are being very successful at suing for libel and slander on the internet blogs, chat rooms, message board, facebook and etc..check it out if you have the time

[Politically_Incorrect12]

Mar 22, 2011 19:12:33 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

Mar 22, 2011 18:59:40 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Who are you going to sue? A username?

Yes & it is not that difficult to obtain the user's email address and home address when the lawyers present their complaint to the webmaster..and have a court injunction for that data..

Or you can do it yourself without a lawyer if you want to go to small claims and seek monetary damages for less than @ $2500.00

People are doing this everyday and many are being very successful at suing for libel and slander on the internet blogs, chat rooms, message board, facebook and etc..check it out if you have the time

Seems a bit extreme when the attack is against an anonymous username. If they were attacking you personally, while using your name, I could maybe see it.

[Virgil Showlion]

You've got to be joking.

Suppose I (an effectively anonymous user) called you (who I don't know from Adam) a "doody head" and you didn't like it. To find me, you subpoena my e-mail address from ProBoards. It's a Hotmail account. You subpoena Microsoft for account information, which is entirely fictitious, and hence subpoena Microsoft again for a list of IP addresses that have accessed the account. You somehow manage to sort through the thousands of IPs to find my home IP, which is behind a VPN. So you subpoena the VPN provider for the host IP at the time of the "doody head" attack. You then subpoena (up to 5 now) my ISP for the account on which the comment was made, praying that I don't have a multi-user subnet. You then have my home address.

Suppose I'm feeling charitable and I don't just throw your "I'm some random guy suing you" notice in the garbage. I have a lawyer draft up a notice: "Dear Mr. Anonymous, I have no idea who you are or what you're talking about, but sometimes my children use my computer. I will reprimand them. My apologies, signed Virgil"

You're telling me that some dimwitted judge would authorize every single one of those subpoenas to uncover all of my personal information because you claimed that I called you a "doody head"?

Furthermore, the same bonehead judge would award you damages (presumably in excess of the 80 grand you spent getting all of the subpoenas in place) because somebody using my computer said something mean to you on an anonymous Internet message board?

Heck, who needs the Patriot Act!?

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

You're entitled to sue for libel, but you'd have to prove the statements posted were incorrect, and they were made with actual malice or negligence and that you suffered financial damages. Long shot at best.

[privateinvestor]

Mar 22, 2011 21:54:07 GMT -5 AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP said:

You're entitled to sue for libel, but you'd have to prove the statements posted were incorrect, and they were made with actual malice or negligence and that you suffered financial damages. Long shot at best.

Ok the case I am familar with was a member of the P&M Message Board had filed suit against MSN Community Manager for X dollars because his father had been libeled and slandered by a member of that message board...something to do with calling his father a murderer because his Dad was a B-17 Pilot who bombed Dresden in WW2. And that member kept up that attack against his Dad with impunity until finally it ended in a law suit..

I was told by the MSN Community Manager that the litigation was in process and not sure how it turned out..

[privateinvestor]

You're entitled to sue for libel, but you'd have to prove the statements posted were incorrect, and they were made with actual malice or negligence and that you suffered financial damages. Long shot at best.

I was involved in a class action law suit in 2009 and got to know our attorney quite well. So we discussed this case and others dealing with Libel and Slander on the internet...tough to prove yes but not impossible...but if you try to defame or degrade someone you are open to legal action and it is not that hard to get the name of the offender from what I understand.. I gave her some copies that I made of a member's sick and twisted posts on the P&M board to see if they fit the discription of libel and/or slander and her response was "absolutely" .. I was very curious to find out what can be ruled as slandering a person on a message board.. and I did share that data with one of the mods here per his request because he is into legal and constitutional issues.


All that is needed is an email address and the messages and any good lawyer has a case...usually they are settled out of court though for a fine... I read where some political candidates sued some bloggers for their postings that were deemed as libelous ..but can't recall if they went to trial or not??

[privateinvestor]

Mar 23, 2011 6:03:32 GMT -5 @toughtimes said:

Hon, if you are that upset, disable your account and quit reading anything posted about you. You are not a commercial enterprise selling goods under your username, the username means nothing to anyone but you or the people on the board. Save your money and don't bother.

Thank you for your advice HON...and can I ask for it again in the future..??..

BTW..FYI oped is a she and NOT a he as you kept refering in your religious rants last night...

[privateinvestor]

Mar 23, 2011 6:10:25 GMT -5 @toughtimes said:

Oh, sorry, people thought I was a guy. Blame nearsightedness. And I am serious, I have seen people eaten alive by legal fees and they had excellent cases. Should you ever free up the time, read Dicken's, "Bleak House" It is as true now as then.

The examples that I addressed were done for another Moderator who was at the time extremely interested in the subject of libel and slander on message boards...so in some emails to my law firm..Hagens Berman Sobol Sharipo LLP; I asked their legal advice and opinion on this matter which I find interesting.. I also provided several copies of message that I wanted to know it they would be considered as slander or libel or both..

If you have a problem with that then by all means send a "Report To Mod" and get my name right; it is Private Investor..

If my lawyer has a anonymous name here, & email address she can then ask the Internet Provider for that person's name and address if she & I plan legal action...really very simple Ma'am and hope this doesn't make you more paranoid now ..

[privateinvestor]

Mar 23, 2011 6:19:04 GMT -5 @toughtimes said:

That is good. Legal affairs are a rat's nest and very costly. They wiped out neighbors of mine who are still involved in costly tenant-landlord matters. For what it cost, they could have moved.

I just won a Small Claims court action and found the process extremely interesting...you can download all the necessary forms on the internet and be provided a Small Claims Court Advisor to answer all of your questins

[privateinvestor]

Mar 23, 2011 6:23:49 GMT -5 @toughtimes said:

I suppose. But isn't small claims court for 5K or less? My neighbors are out 21K fighting their case.

Most are for $5000 or less but you can sue of up to $7500 if not a business or public entity..

I am one who likes to take on the big guys and this was my first time in Small Claims and learned a lot about one's legal rights

The process is quick and cheap ($40.00) and the rules are simple and informal..

But not to worry I don't entend to see you in court...although it might be entertaining to say least, and take a litte wind out of your sail..Ma'am..

[privateinvestor]

Mar 23, 2011 6:32:34 GMT -5 @toughtimes said:

Judge Judy for me. I've known people who are still waiting to collect their judgements twenty years later. It helps if you don't sue a pauper or someone willing to leave the court's jurisdiction and take their funds with them. Bernhard Goetz still owes several million to the "youth" he paralyzed and the mugger has yet to see a dime.

If you win in small claims the defendant is given a time limit to pay the amount owed plus legal costs..

In a class action law suit which I am familar with it could take years to see any monetary awards from the defendants who can appeal and drag it out forever.

[billisonboard]

"I used to think that I had to box with the world.
Now I realize I can dance with it."
author unknown

[Angel!]

If my lawyer has a anonymous name here, & email address she can then ask the Internet Provider for that person's name and address if she & I plan legal action...really very simple Ma'am and hope this doesn't make you more paranoid now ..

Of course, that person could have used a fake name in creating the account & I don't know of any email providers that require a street address to open an account. And even if they did require an address, do you really think they verify the address?

I'm with virgil - 95% of the time you are looking at a lot of work to track someone down on an anonymous message board. The only time that it would be easy is if you happened to be looking for someone that uses the email provided by their ISP or internet provider to log into these sites. But, how many people actually use the accounts provided by their ISP? No one that I know.

I think it is ridiculous that you are even considering such action. As far as payment - yes they have a limited time to pay, but that doesn't mean that they will.

[swamp]

Mar 22, 2011 19:12:33 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

Mar 22, 2011 18:59:40 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Who are you going to sue? A username?

Yes & it is not that difficult to obtain the user's email address and home address when the lawyers present their complaint to the webmaster..and have a court injunction for that data..

Or you can do it yourself without a lawyer if you want to go to small claims and seek monetary damages for less than @ $2500.00

People are doing this everyday and many are being very successful at suing for libel and slander on the internet blogs, chat rooms, message board, facebook and etc..check it out if you have the time

Oh good lord............

Small claims suits have to be sued where the defendant lives, or at least that's the way it works in NY.

Assume you can prove a false statement and malicious intent. What are your damages?

[AgeOfEnlightenmentSCP]

Mar 22, 2011 22:09:14 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

You're entitled to sue for libel, but you'd have to prove the statements posted were incorrect, and they were made with actual malice or negligence and that you suffered financial damages. Long shot at best.

I was involved in a class action law suit in 2009 and got to know our attorney quite well. So we discussed this case and others dealing with Libel and Slander on the internet...tough to prove yes but not impossible...but if you try to defame or degrade someone you are open to legal action and it is not that hard to get the name of the offender from what I understand.. I gave her some copies that I made of a member's sick and twisted posts on the P&M board to see if they fit the discription of libel and/or slander and her response was "absolutely" .. I was very curious to find out what can be ruled as slandering a person on a message board.. and I did share that data with one of the mods here per his request because he is into legal and constitutional issues.


All that is needed is an email address and the messages and any good lawyer has a case...usually they are settled out of court though for a fine... I read where some political candidates sued some bloggers for their postings that were deemed as libelous ..but can't recall if they went to trial or not??

I found JoeBanker lickety split and he shut right the hell up. The difference was that he knew my real name because I used to use it at MSN until the moderators wised up and figured out I did it precisely so people could find me, and my business via search engines. He was libeling me with people that knew who I was as a result of that.

However, it's still a tough case to make- I'd have to have a witness that would testify that a) They read the libel, believed it, and b) substantially relied upon it in making a negative decision to do business with me-- in other words, I'd have to put a dollar figure on what the libel cost me. Now, maybe there are states where statutory damages are set- but not in IL, and not where JoeBanker lives, either.

So, I would have had a tough case except that I know something that JoeBanker just recently learned: If you have the money to sue someone and put them on the defensive, they have to show up to court, and if they're smart, they'll show up with an attorney. That's a minimum of $1,000. Yes, it costs me money, too-- but if I ever decided to just be vindictive, and I had the money and felt like spending it-- I could make some poor slob like JB suffer; and cost him thousands- maybe even tens of thousands in the process.

[privateinvestor]

A Florida woman has been awarded $11.3 million in a defamation lawsuit against a Louisiana woman who posted messages on the Internet accusing her of being a "crook," a "con artist" and a "fraud."
Legal analysts say the Sept. 19 award by a jury in Broward County, Fla. — first reported Friday by the Daily Business Review — represents the largest such judgment over postings on an Internet blog or message board. Lyrissa Lidsky, a University of Florida law professor who specializes in free-speech issues, calls the award "astonishing."

BEWARE OF BLOGS: Courts are asked to crack down on bloggers, websites

Lidsky says the case could represent a coming trend in court fights over online messages because the woman who won the damage award, Sue Scheff of Weston, Fla., pursued the case even though she knew the defendant, Carey Bock of Mandeville, La., has no hope of paying such an award. Bock, who had to leave her home for several months because of Hurricane Katrina, couldn't afford an attorney and didn't show up for the trial.

"What's interesting about this case is that (Scheff) was so vested in being vindicated, she was willing to pay court costs," Lidsky says. "They knew before trial that the defendant couldn't pay, so what's the point in going to the jury?"

Scheff says she wanted to make a point to those who unfairly criticize others on the Internet. "I'm sure (Bock) doesn't have $1 million, let alone $11 million, but the message is strong and clear," Scheff says. "People are using the Internet to destroy people they don't like, and you can't do that."

The dispute between the two women arose after Bock asked Scheff for help in withdrawing Bock's twin sons from a boarding school in Costa Rica. Bock had disagreed with her ex-husband over how to deal with the boys' behavior problems. Against Bock's wishes, he had sent the boys to the boarding school.




www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-10-10-internet-defamation-case_x.htm

[privateinvestor]

This message has been deleted.


Duplicate again sorry about that

[privateinvestor]

However, it's still a tough case to make- I'd have to have a witness that would testify that a) They read the libel, believed it, and b) substantially relied upon it in making a negative decision to do business with me-- in other words, I'd have to put a dollar figure on what the libel cost me. Now, maybe there are states where statutory damages are set- but not in IL, and not where JoeBanker lives, either.

So, I would have had a tough case except that I know something that JoeBanker just recently learned: If you have the money to sue someone and put them on the defensive, they have to show up to court, and if they're smart, they'll show up with an attorney. That's a minimum of $1,000. Yes, it costs me money, too-- but if I ever decided to just be vindictive, and I had the money and felt like spending it-- I could make some poor slob like JB suffer; and cost him thousands- maybe even tens of thousands in the process.

Yea I recall that case and we discussed it?? The other case was filed against MSN, and I asked the plaintiff who is now a member here if it was settled and he said "no" but was still in letigation.. I think the basis for his case was because the MSN Community Asst Manager refused to permanently ban a guy who live in Switzerland who degraded his Dad ad nauseum and posted some vile and hateful messages because of his Dad's actions as a AF Pilot in WW2, and that really got to him big time..

[Angel!]

A Florida woman has been awarded $11.3 million in a defamation lawsuit against a Louisiana woman who posted messages on the Internet accusing her of being a "crook," a "con artist" and a "fraud."

The difference is that the people knew each others real identity & thus were attacking each others real identity & in this case hurting their business. I find it hard to believe someone could be guilty of slander or libel over an internet identity. If I listed all sorts of horrible things about you, then 1st - no one would believe me because I don't have a clue who you are in real life. 2nd - it would only affect how others view you on this anonymous message board, because no one else knows who you are in real life.

Now if you start giving out your name & personal information & then I use that to attack you, then I could see the issue. But, again, it isn't that easy to just track someone down if they don't want to be found. Fake name to open a fake email address & then post using public computers makes a person a little hard to find.

[privateinvestor]

Here you go Angel D:

Todd Hollis, a criminal defense lawyer in Pittsburgh, has filed a libel suit against a website called DontDateHimGirl.com, which includes message boards in which women gossip about men they supposedly dated. One posting on the site accused Hollis of having herpes. Another said he had infected a woman he once dated with a sexually transmitted disease. Yet another said he was gay. Hollis, 38, who says the accusations are false, is suing the site's operator, Tasha Joseph, and the posters of the messages.

[privateinvestor]

Now if you start giving out your name & personal information & then I use that to attack you, then I could see the issue. But, again, it isn't that easy to just track someone down if they don't want to be found. Fake name to open a fake email address & then post using public computers makes a person a little hard to find.


Attorneys, law enforcement, security company, and etc can track you down by your URL address on your PC...

Ask a Mod about that..all that is needed is your email or URL address and the next thing you know there is a knock on your door and a mailman will hand you a certified letter with your notice you are being sued by a Plaintiff for defamation, libel or slander... too many of these laws suits are happening lately..

Checkout reply #24 which I know a little about ..and is a good case of Bloggers didn't think they could be subject to libel, "You take what is on your mind, type it and post it."

The legal battles over blogging and message board postings are unfolding on several fronts:


Too bad that TraelinO isn't here because he knows a lot more about this subject than I do...but PM him and ask him any questions you might have about your URL and Email address if you are worried being sued.

[Angel!]

Mar 23, 2011 13:09:20 GMT -5 @privateinvestor said:

Here you go Angel D:

Todd Hollis, a criminal defense lawyer in Pittsburgh, has filed a libel suit against a website called DontDateHimGirl.com, which includes message boards in which women gossip about men they supposedly dated. One posting on the site accused Hollis of having herpes. Another said he had infected a woman he once dated with a sexually transmitted disease. Yet another said he was gay. Hollis, 38, who says the accusations are false, is suing the site's operator, Tasha Joseph, and the posters of the messages.

Again - libel against a real person using their real name, not libel on an anonymous poster. Also, he only went after the site operator, which would be very easy to find & the suit was dismissed twice in 2 different states.

It doesn't appear that he ever followed through with going after the poster, possibly because they were too hard to locate.

So, not really the same as going after a poster on this board for libel against your poster identity.

[Angel!]

Attorneys, law enforcement, security company, and etc can track you down by your URL address on your PC...

Yes, they can if they obtain court-orders to get the information. Virgil already covered this. First you would need a mod to get you an email or IP address. Then you need to either contact the email company or ISP & get further information from them. Then you have to hope they don't limit themselves to public computers. Then you have to hope that the computer this is finally tracked to is only used by a single individual.

It isn't something that is easy to pursue & good luck tracking down someone for a small-claims court case because your anonymous posting identity was attacked by another anonymous poster who called you a doody-head. It would cost you a lot of money to pursue with your lawyers & even if you do manage to find the person, you still have to win the court case & then have to collect the money, which is not easy either.

[steff]

what have we learned from this thread?


If you want to call someone a doody head, use a library computer.... lol

[swamp]

Or you say, "I think you are a doody head" because statements of opinion aren't libelous, only malicious falsehoods are libel.

[973beachbum]

Doody head.

My dogs nick name is numb nuts. ;D