Question Regarding Slander Threat

ForumBoosters · 05-25-2009, 01:01 PM

I received a few E-mails from a user on my forum complaining that he received a notification that he received a new PM. I told him that I do not control if he receives notifications or not, that's part of the forum and he will continue to receive them unless he changes the option in his profile.

I also pointed out that he agreed to the TOU when registering on my forum and again gave him a copy of it. He said that the TOU didn't matter to him and he wasn't going to read it.

This morning I get an E-mail from him stating if I do not remove his name from the database he will take every E-mail I sent him and post them on other forums slandering myself and my forum.

I replied and told him if he did that I would notify my lawyer. (Trying to scare him first)

IF he does do this do I have any legal recourse ?

corneo · 05-26-2009, 02:58 AM

There is nothing you can do about it.

Emails sent to him?
Not much you can do. As the person who the email was meant for he can do what ever he wants to do with them.

Need more reference? Paris Hilton gets her blackberry stolen every other week. Everything on it get in to the news papers and tabloids.

Most politicians do not use Email service. They have their staff talk for them. Reason: you can't claim they made the statement.

Something else to keep in your mind. Screen names are Pseudonym. (fake names) You don't own them. (many think they do, but don't) You can't claim slander on yourself when your not even using your real name and how can you sue "troy the impaler?" for saying means things about "Thor the prom queen?"

I suggest delete the account, give him 3 days to see it's gone. Then IP ban the jackass.

extremeseos0007 · 07-04-2009, 12:06 AM

I think Corneo is quite right. You can't do anything if its done through internet. You can only remove his name from your database(if he is correct).

krahmaan · 07-09-2009, 03:05 AM

Perhaps if you can, send him a message with an unsubscribe link in it to remove him from any future mailings. And keep a copy of that, then remove his email from your auto responder. That's the best I can think of.

If he does post things on other forums, you may have a slander case. Notify the cyberspace police. They work with local authorities in your and other areas. You can inquire if you may have a case.

Best wishes.

singlehopjeremy · 07-16-2009, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by corneo

There is nothing you can do about it.

Emails sent to him?
Not much you can do. As the person who the email was meant for he can do what ever he wants to do with them.

Need more reference? Paris Hilton gets her blackberry stolen every other week. Everything on it get in to the news papers and tabloids.

Most politicians do not use Email service. They have their staff talk for them. Reason: you can't claim they made the statement.

Something else to keep in your mind. Screen names are Pseudonym. (fake names) You don't own them. (many think they do, but don't) You can't claim slander on yourself when your not even using your real name and how can you sue "troy the impaler?" for saying means things about "Thor the prom queen?"

I suggest delete the account, give him 3 days to see it's gone. Then IP ban the jackass.

I agree with him on this one. Remove him and ban his Ip. Problem Solved

Also you would not be able to take any legal action unless maybe they are distributing your e-mail address around to convince people to spam it, but I am not sure on that.

peretparker · 10-05-2009, 05:44 AM

There are four general defenses to slander and libel. Truth is an absolute defense. Consent by the plaintiff for the publication of the defamatory statement is a defense. Accidental publication of the statement is a defense. Finally, the statements of certain defendants in certain circumstances, such as lawyers, judges, jurors, and witnesses, are protected from defamation for PUBLIC POLICY reasons. This type of protection is known as privilege

null101 · 10-08-2009, 01:37 PM

This guy is just an angry kid. Let him slander your forum and post a huge list of emails. If somebody did that here, would you take them seriously? Their thread would probably be deleted.

edosauyi · 10-08-2009, 02:42 PM

The person may have some mental problems, he/she may even need our support. I dont know who he/she is but whoever send such emails is out of his/her senses, if not, he/she should have known that if you are tired of v7n, go ahead and delete your account.

null101 · 10-11-2009, 05:29 PM

I wouldn't take it that far. It's nothing to be concerned about.

**robjones** · 10-12-2009, 11:18 AM

As long as there are at least 2 attorneys and a judge left on the planet, anyone *can* sue anyone. Frivolous cases may get tossed, but not before making the litigants poor and the attorneys rich.

If you've never been in a lawsuit, a good way to practice up is to...

Take a pillowcase to your bank.
Withdraw as many $5 bills as it takes to fill it. [If you use a well known attorney, make that $20s.]
Take it to a safe place in full view of the public.
Set it aflame.

To get the full effect, take a week or so off of work (unpaid) to do this task.

Once you can do that once a month without wincing, you're ready for a protracted legal suit. Until then, let the small stuff go, even when you're right.

seotheist · 10-19-2009, 05:33 PM

Not much you can legally do.

Its not technically salnder (or in this case libel) either.

Its not libel to say:
"I hate the George Foreman Grill"

It is libel to say:
"The George Foreman Grill is made with faulty parts so that it will explode after a year"
(unless it is actually made to do so...)

What seems to work is make an email account with legal@mysite.com and send some letter. The cost analysis of, is this worth it or not, stops most people at this point.