Posted by Lou Pilder on December 6, 2004, at 6:45:27
In reply to Re: Lou's reply to gardengirl-lb » Lou Pilder, posted by gardenergirl on December 5, 2004, at 21:47:35
gg,
You wrote,[...no, I do not think that the editor would have to address ...aricle...inflamatory...].
Well, now we are getting into what the law says about that. I am not a lawyer and do not want anyone here to take the following as legal advise but only to write some of what I think what I know about defamation on the internet. The law provides a remedy if newspapers defame others. This is a good law , for if newspapers were allowed to defame others, they could inflict great economic damage to businesses with lible. In respect to economic damage to a business, a newspaper could also be held liable for allowing others to defame that business or if the newspaper fostered the libel. This happened here in Cincinnati with the newspaper reporter writing libelious material about Chicita Bananna. The newspaper was requiered by the court to write an apology for the libel and had to pay a substantial amount for the damages to the company.
Harm can result to an idividual when a statement published about the person is false. But there is also emotional harm to a person besides economic harm.
In this analogy, I have used a newspaper because a newspaper claimes to monitor and remove objecionable material (Stratton Oakmont, Inc v. Prodigy Services Co., 1995.}
In the internet, AOL is not liable for what others write because they do not make the claim that they {monitor} the boards that they sponsor.
In this forum, the moderator writes that a deputy can remove grossly offensive material and the moderator is sanctioning posts that [...have the potential to put down or accuse others or jump to a conclusion about others...or use offensive langusge...]. One test that the courts have used to determine if the internet forum is liable for allowing defamation is if the forum {...is open to residents of all states...].(Resolution Trust Corp. v. First of America Bank 1992, however this ruling may be overruled if it is ever taken tto the U S supreme cout on constitutional issues.
Another aspect of an internet forum is if it is open to the public. If so, would the 1st and 14th amemdment to the US Constituion apply? My research shows that it very well could if the forum was a part of , lets say, a school that receives federal funds. But what if the forum was not? Could the forum still cause harm by libel be it economic or emotional harm? IMO,I say not.
Lou
poster:Lou Pilder
thread:423270
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20041109/msgs/425146.html