I spout this dire warning on occasion. Message boards are unusual. It feels like you’re talking to each other, so it’s easy to drop your guard on watching what you say.
A message board is publicly published material. So it is NOT the place to gossip, insult, accuse, be critical, or otherwise put your innermost thoughts. We got sued for internet posts once. We actually won the case, but not because the posts were not cosidered a valid venue of libel. It was only because the content was found trivial, it did not directly identify the libeled person, and the content was not able to be proved damaging. The fact that they were looking for settlements out of court and never showed up to the hearings didn’t hurt either.
Since that time, I have twice rashly posted something I shortly thereafter thought the better of. One of the posts was found! I apologized and luckily, nothing came of it since it was in a pretty obscure location. The fact that the business didn’t want any more publicity on the subject being discussed didn’t hurt either. The other post, I managed to get immediately withdrawn.
The lesson is this. BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU POST!
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Moved to MPSIMS.
COCC > MPSIMS
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Its very brave of you to come on and post such a bold statement.
Aren’t you concerned that your post will leave you vulnerable to a legal attack?
I’m just glad I didn’t write anything in a public forum like what you just wrote here.
Very bold indeed.
snicker Quit your painful biting Mr. Sarcasm!
Eh…maybe I’m just jumpy because of one bad experience. It is a true story though.
A few more specifics might help. (As many as you’re willing to safely share.)
Was it this MB or another? What was the nature of the MB? What was the nature of the post that got you into trouble? What was the basis of the lawsuit?
Never pee into a strong wind, either.
No, not this board.
Long story short. The first was my ex-spouse suing for some posts she dug up after a custody battle. The posts were not flattering, but not horrific, vulgar, or disgusting either. They were unnamed critical opinions and statements, but were traceable by circumstances, IP’s, and screen names. The posts were made from work computers, which complicated matters since the employer was sued as well.
The second was gossip and concerns about an incident at a child care facility in which a child got away from caretakers and was severely injured, but fully recovered due to quick CPR by another parent driving up. The business found the post. The business was probably searching for any internet gossip and trying to silence it, but it was still a scary threat after the first experience. Search engines are surprisingly powerful these days.
The third post I had deleted was once again gossip about my experience being employed by a particular person as a teen. He was quite unethical, and I made a few accusations about events I remembered. Whether it’s truth or not made no difference here. I’m sure that post would have been considered libel and I’m thankful I reconsidered and the admin deleted it.
All three times, most of the posting was spurred on by the conversational aspect of message boards. It’s easy to forget that what you type is publicly published material and not private conversation. The line between critical opinion and damaging libel can be very thin. I was told that a lot of what is on message boards could potentially be considered libelous and sued for. It’s just not worth the cost in most cases.
And never, ever, eat yellow snow!
you can’t tell me what to do
I think we should go back and sue “The Grapist”.
and don’t Hit!
I hear that leaving your computer unattended while you go into a work meeting can be a bad idea as well.
Don’t you mean a baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-d idea?
Maybe you should change the thread title to Be careful what you post about that bitch Kenyth used to be with?
Dunno how tough it is to collect from someone for libeling you on the Internet.
However, there’s precedent to suggest that you’re free to repost libelous remarks made elsewhere, without fear of penalty.
So if I were to post that a certain Doper wears Snuggies and has the hots for Glenn Beck*, that might be grounds for a libel suit, but if everyone starting reposting that information, they’d be free and clear. :dubious:
*You know who you are.
oooooooooh you are so getting sued. 
NO!
That’s a pretty bold statement for someone who wears styrofoam underwear.
Let’s face it, libel is so unnecessary. You can have fun just repeating other people’s denials of illicit activity. For instance, Enderw24 is now denying having sex with livestock. And as for Shodan in the same thread - well, it’s just too icky to repeat.
If that’s intended to suggest that I’m so hot that I need insulation, I may need to file a claim for sexual harassment. 
I think those who post from work should do so with care. The mod of another board I post on reckoned he got someone canned from their job as a result of their posting behaviour. Now, this could be a load of bollox, but what he claimed was that there was a persistant troll posting all sorts of racist, homophobic shite on a sub-forum of his board. The board in question is a decent size, probably not as big as the SD but a good sized operation - not someone’s blog IOW.
Anyhow, one time the troll posted from a work email address and that was it - the mod contacted his employer saying this particular (hateful, racist etc) posting originated from this particular company and what the fuck is up with that? Problem poster was in immediate receipt of a P45.
The whole thing had a whiff of a ‘I am a mod - FEAR ME!’, but the principle is probably not too far off base. Posting forthright, inflammatory opinion from work could lead to recrimminations.