Conversion Solutions Holdings (fka CSHD)

[Howzie]

Posted by: CstaRcaBound
In reply to: None Date:10/27/2006 5:45:43 PM
Post #of 139113

Here's a little primer on internet libel Laws, figured this is relevent info for quite a few members on this thread.

Melvin v. Doe
¶document.write(paraNum);paraNum += 1;12 In November 2000, the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, PA, held that if the plaintiff could prove the identity of defendant was "(1) material, relevant, and necessary, (2) cannot be obtained by alternative means, and (3) is crucial to plaintiff's case," the First Amendment would not protect the anonymity of the defendant.14 In Melvin v. Doe, an unknown person published statements on a website that accused a local judge of political activity that was inappropriate for a judge in her position.15 The plaintiff sued the unknown speaker for defamation and tried to obtain his identity during discovery.16 The defendant petitioned the court for a protective order that would prevent this discovery.17 However, the order was denied.18 The court reasoned that a state's interest in discouraging defamatory statements about public officials by traditional media extended to statements made on the Internet. It held that because of this interest, there was no absolute immunity for Internet speakers with regard to the defamation tort.19 The court then applied the three-part test discussed above to the request for the speaker's identity.20 Without much discussion about the test's application to the specific facts of the case, the court held that the plaintiff's interest outweighed the defendant's, and the protective order should be denied.21


A. The elements that must be proved to establish defamation are:
1 a publication to one other than the person defamed;
2 a false statement of fact;
3 that is understood as
a. being of and concerning the plaintiff; and
b. tending to harm the reputation of plaintiff.
If the plaintiff is a public figure, he or she must also prove actual malice.


B. A few courts have said that statements made in the context of an Internet bulletin board or chat room are highly likely to be opinions or hyperbole, but they do look at the remark in context to see if it's likely to be seen as a true, even if controversial, opinion ("I really hate George Lucas' new movie")( not libel) rather than an assertion of fact dressed up as an opinion ("It's my opinion that Trinity is the hacker who broke into the IRS database").(libel) (comparable to “It’s my opinion that Rufus Paul Harris is a fraud”.)


C. The following are a couple of examples from California cases; note the law may vary from state to state. Libelous (when false):
Charging someone with being a communist (in 1959)
Calling an attorney a "crook" (comparable to calling a CEO a “fraud”)
Describing a woman as a call girl
Accusing a minister of unethical conduct
Accusing a father of violating the confidence of son







D. When libel is clear on its face, without the need for any explanatory matter, it is called libel per se. The following are often found to be libelous per se:

A statement that falsely:
Charges any person with crime, or with having been indicted, convicted, or punished for crime;
Imputes in him the present existence of an infectious, contagious, or loathsome disease;
Tends directly to injure him in respect to his office, profession, trade or business, either by imputing to him general disqualification in those respects that the office or other occupation peculiarly requires, or by imputing something with reference to his office, profession, trade, or business that has a natural tendency to lessen its profits;
Imputes to him impotence or a want of chastity.



A&B&C&D
http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/faq-defamation.php


This info is posted to inform some of you that legal recourse is quite possible, and has been stated by RPH to be a very real possiblity in the near future for those engaged in such conduct against CSHD. Hardball can be avery costly game, the 1st Amendment can only protect you until you cross the line. The line has been crossed by many,(who have been noted). Know what you could be getting yourself and your families into.