StripesAndFins
Madly Diligent
I have a question: can i be sued for something someone on my board said even if it wasn't me?
Being Sued
- Thread starter StripesAndFins
- Start date
Not so much sued to a certain extent, but definitely a cease and desist notice can be ordered. If it's libelous/slander, you can be sued and penalties apply. Eg. This restaurant is terrible and serves the worst meals ever etc.
StripesAndFins
Madly Diligent
Ok, thanks. My dad wanted to know whether I would be responsible for anything posted on the board. Hopefully this doesn't happen.
Watch Me Sink
Madly Diligent
I'm not very sure if your example would qualify for slander. Though something far more slanderous could yield a c&d
Kirisute Gomen said:
If I add something to ensure people would not go to that restaurant, then it's slander. There is a thin line between opinionated discussion and slander, so I would probably stick away from that 🙂
Watch Me Sink
Madly Diligent
Thanks for reminding me. I forgot to organize tomorrow's meeting.
/s
/s
I got sued a couple months ago. An old landlord said I owed additional money for damages exceeding the deposit. We met with a court mediator and settled on me paying 2/3rds of what she wants in 10 monthly installments. I know it wasn't forum related but I just thought I'd share. lol.
Watch Me Sink
Madly Diligent
And if she needs a lump sum rather than monthly payments, I can call up JG Wentworth!
You should find this article on the topic helpful, it also points out some simple things you can do to reduce the risk of being sued for what's published on your forum: Popular Community ScubaBoard Sued for Libel and How to Limit Libel Claims on Your Forums
InfiniteJest
Paragon
Kirisute Gomen said:
IT'S MY MONEY, AND I NEED IT NOW!!
Wolfy, you can pretty much post whatever you want in your forums. Your members can pretty much post whatever they want in their forums. There are a few exceptions you should look out for:
1) You need to follow your host's TOS. Ex: If you have 1&1 Hosting, you cant have porn, warez, etc.
2) Any terrorist discussions or acts of terrorism (From bombing a Federal Building to lighting fireworks off at a school). You can be held responsible
3) No illegal files. Torrents themselves are legal (after all they are just links, but most ISPs will ban even the harboring of those), but the illegal files can get you into a lot of trouble.
As for opinions, talking bad about people, racism, etc - you can have all that in your forums and you cant get sued. If one of your members doesn't like something that's posted, they can't sue you. They can simply leave. No one else can sue you for your opinions either - If you think the government sucks in America, then write it - no one cares. Now...if you post a bunch on how much you hate the President, don't expect to get a job working for the govn't if someone finds your forum. lol
Pretty much, use common sense. If there's something in question and you're worried, then simply delete it, or move it to a trash folder hidden from the other members (to preserve your post count).
*Keep in mind, it's incredibly difficult for someone to sue you about a forum. Unless you are breaking a law, you're safe. And, just to set things straight: Slander is the act of telling lies about a person or business to hurt their reputation. Although unlawful in most states, you wont get sued for this - you might receive a pretty letter from a representative asking you to remove certain statements, but you wont get sued.
Plus - that gives you something funny to post on the forum - AND you know your forum is somewhat successful 😉
-Rich
1) You need to follow your host's TOS. Ex: If you have 1&1 Hosting, you cant have porn, warez, etc.
2) Any terrorist discussions or acts of terrorism (From bombing a Federal Building to lighting fireworks off at a school). You can be held responsible
3) No illegal files. Torrents themselves are legal (after all they are just links, but most ISPs will ban even the harboring of those), but the illegal files can get you into a lot of trouble.
As for opinions, talking bad about people, racism, etc - you can have all that in your forums and you cant get sued. If one of your members doesn't like something that's posted, they can't sue you. They can simply leave. No one else can sue you for your opinions either - If you think the government sucks in America, then write it - no one cares. Now...if you post a bunch on how much you hate the President, don't expect to get a job working for the govn't if someone finds your forum. lol
Pretty much, use common sense. If there's something in question and you're worried, then simply delete it, or move it to a trash folder hidden from the other members (to preserve your post count).
*Keep in mind, it's incredibly difficult for someone to sue you about a forum. Unless you are breaking a law, you're safe. And, just to set things straight: Slander is the act of telling lies about a person or business to hurt their reputation. Although unlawful in most states, you wont get sued for this - you might receive a pretty letter from a representative asking you to remove certain statements, but you wont get sued.
Plus - that gives you something funny to post on the forum - AND you know your forum is somewhat successful 😉
-Rich
It's all very grey area because the internet is global.
You could have a situation where:
a poster in country A posts a damaging lie about a company in country B on a forum hosted in country C owned by an admin in country D
So who's law do you use? Country A, B, C or D's?
Generally you won't get sued for the simple reason the cost of court is prohibitive. Only if a post causes a lot of attention will you ever be under any legal threat.
That said you should still be aware of libel and make sure to keep it off of your board. Most companies will not take you to court straight away, they'll first just ask you to remove it.
You could have a situation where:
a poster in country A posts a damaging lie about a company in country B on a forum hosted in country C owned by an admin in country D
So who's law do you use? Country A, B, C or D's?
Generally you won't get sued for the simple reason the cost of court is prohibitive. Only if a post causes a lot of attention will you ever be under any legal threat.
That said you should still be aware of libel and make sure to keep it off of your board. Most companies will not take you to court straight away, they'll first just ask you to remove it.
dotDavid said:
Dude, you do realize, most of the time, messages sent like that are fraudulent... We had a person send us (ProphpBB) a letter stating information about them filing a lawsuit against us for slander in one of our forums. We looked up an called the Lawfirm (In Ireland) and it turned out they had no record of the case. If we wanted to, we could have prosecuted the moron who sent us the threat - but in the end, things like this are not worth it.
To put this simply, just DELETE any post in question. There's a difference from posting an opinion and posting slander. Slander = obsessive | Opinion = said once or twice. Just.... use your best judgement and if you're really having a hard time with this concept, then maybe you shouldn't be a forum admin. Go play a video game. Your forums aren't good enough to draw legal attention
Also...dotDavid - dont take this personally, but you're really bad at reading full articles - if you scroll down a little, theres a bold sentence which goes something along the lines of
Stop flipping out and just run your forum how you seem fit. If you're not lucky enough to be under US jurisdiction when it comes to online content, then just watch what you & your members say/do online.
-Rich
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