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| Chilling Effects Clearinghouse > John Doe Anonymity > Notices > Local bulletin board asked to block posts, reveal poster information | Location: https://www.chillingeffects.org/johndoe/notice.cgi?NoticeID=220 |
March 8, 2002
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Sender Information: |
Recipient Information:
[Private]
Tell Tazewell County
Virginia, 24630, USA
Sent via: email & postal ma
Re: Stop Further Posts, Supply Anonymous Poster Information & Defamation Suit
I received two letters one via email and one via postal mail. I am including both. What started the whole ordeal was a local High School Principal and High School Guidance Counselor was investigated by the State Police for Transcript Discrepancies and then later transferred to other schools by the School Board. The state police investigation and the transfer enraged citizens of the county and post began pouring onto my message board about the principal. 1st Letter via Email: I represenT XXXXXXXXX relative to his employment with the YYYYY school system and related matters. His suspension, investigation and transfer to YYYYYYYY Elementary by the School Board has generated considerable interest and comment on your "Tell Tazewell County" message board. Several of the posts clearly impugn the honesty and integrity of XXXXXX and imply that he has committed crimes and ought to be prosecuted and imprisoned. Such remarks are false, malicious, defamatory, libelous and insulting and were made with the intent to injure XXXXXXX's reputation. As a result of these initial postings and your continued acquiescence in allowing the posts to remain on your message board XXXXX has suffered humiliation, embarrassment, mortification, shame, vilification, ridicule, exposure to public infamy, disgrace, and scandal, injury to his reputation and feelings, financial loss, and has been hampered in the conduct of his business and affairs. Much of this injury will endure permanently. We would, therefore, demand that all such posts be immediately deleted from your message board and that you take whatever steps necessary to prevent future posts of this nature. We do intend to hold those responsible for publishing and republishing the defamatory posts civilly liable for the damages sustained to XXXXX. I have made several attempts to contact you concerning this matter and Attorney at Law 2nd Letter via Postal Mail I recently wrote you concerning defamatory posts on your "Tell Tazewell County" message board involving XXXXX. The Courts have defined defamation as any false publication causing injury to a person's reputation or exposing him to public hatred, contempt, reticule, shame, or disgrace, or affecting him adversely in his trade or business. I am enclosing herewith photocopies of posts concerning XXXXXX that fall within the legal definition of defamation. You indicated in your email to me of February 13, 2002 that you would remove such defamatory posts. We, therefore, request that the enclosed posts be deleted from the message board forthwith. We are confident that you do not encourage or condone the postings of false, malicious, defamatory, libelous and insulting content on your message board. your disclaimer indicates that as a pre-requisite to the use of your board posters agree not to post libelous material and upon such violation the posters account name and address shall be released to legal counsel of the person defamed. I therefore, request that you provide to me as attorney for XXXXXX the account name and address for the enclosed posts. We do intend to hold those responsible for publishing and republishing defamatory posts civilly liable for the damages sustained to XXXXX. [unrelated information deleted] Enclosures
Subject: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Date: Wednesday, February 13, 2002 4:17 PM
Dear [Recipient]:
have left a message on your answering machine but I have not heard back from you. If you have any questions regarding our position you may call me at my law office at 988-5525. I do hope you choose to mitigate XXXXX's damage by complying with our demand to rectify this problem.
Sincerely,
Date 4, 2002
Dear [Recipient]:
Thank you for you anticipated cooperation in this matter.
Yours very truly,
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Question: Can an ISP or the host of the message board or chat room be held liable for defamatory of libelous statements made by others on the message board?
Answer: No. Under 47 U.S.C. sec. 230(c)(1): "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." This provision has been uniformly interpreted by the Courts to provide complete protection Question: Must an ISP or message board host delete postings that someone tells him/her are defamatory? Can the ISP or message board delete postings in response to a request from a third party? Answer: 47 U.S.C. sec. 230 gives most ISPs and message board hosts the discretion to keep postings or delete them, whichever they prefer, in response to claims by others that a posting is defamatory or libelous. Most ISPs and message board hosts also post terms of service that give them the right to delete or not delete messages as they see fit and such terms have generally been held to be enforceable under law. Question: Can my ISP or the host of a message board be held liable for defamatory statements I make on the grounds that they are a "publisher" or "republisher" of the information? Answer: No. Federal law provides: "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." This has been interpreted to protect hosts of discussions between other people against defamation and libel claims as a "republisher" of the information. Note that this protection does not extend to claims under intellectual property laws. Question: How do CyberSLAPP plaintiffs discover the identity of anonymous Internet critics? Answer: CyberSLAPP plaintiffs usually get the personal information you gave an ISP or online message board when you signed up (name, address, telephone number, etc.). Some web sites that host discussion boards might only have your e-mail address, in which case a second subpoeana to the ISP that hosts that address will reveal your identity. In many cases, even more detailed information about your use of the Internet can be obtained; it's important to realize that when you go online, you leave electronic footprints almost everywhere you go. (With advanced knowledge of the Internet, however, there are ways to cover your tracks.) |
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