# Brian Burke, ex-Leafs GM, sues 18 unknown netizens for slander **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 27, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-burke-ex-leafs-gm-sues-18-unknown-netizens-for-slander/656848 "2013-04-27T17:01:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-burke-ex-leafs-gm-sues-18-unknown-netizens-for-slander/656848/1 "2013-04-27T17:01:44Z")
Interesting development in the issue of bringing ordinary civil law to the wild, wild web: [Brian Burke, ex-Canucks, Maple Leafs GM, files defamation suit in B.C. Supreme Court](http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Brian+Burke+Canucks+Maple+Leafs+files+defamation+suit+Supreme+Court/8302814/story.html#ixzz2RgSsVrF8) > [@](#): > > Lawyers for former Vancouver Canucks general manager Brian Burke filed a defamation suit in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday against 18 unnamed people for allegedly spreading lies about Burke having an affair with sportscaster Hazel Mae and fathering her child. > > According to Burke’s notice of civil claim, the defendants — identified only by various Internet pseudonyms including “NOFIXEDADDRESS”, “LOOB”, “NAGGAH”, “SLOBBERFACE”, “NCOGNITO” AND “SIR PSYCHO SEXY” — spread false and defamatory statements by various means, “including through email, Internet bulletin board postings, Facebook pages and Twitter messages.” I assume that the next step will be subpoenas from his lawyers to various net services, to get the real-life identities of those posters. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-burke-ex-leafs-gm-sues-18-unknown-netizens-for-slander/656848/2 "2013-04-27T17:31:24Z")
And I suppose the step after that will be wikiing the [Striesand Effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect). ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-burke-ex-leafs-gm-sues-18-unknown-netizens-for-slander/656848/3 "2013-04-28T00:45:38Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Interesting development in the issue of bringing ordinary civil law to the wild, wild web: > > [Brian Burke, ex-Canucks, Maple Leafs GM, files defamation suit in B.C. Supreme Court](http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Brian+Burke+Canucks+Maple+Leafs+files+defamation+suit+Supreme+Court/8302814/story.html#ixzz2RgSsVrF8) > > I assume that the next step will be subpoenas from his lawyers to various net services, to get the real-life identities of those posters. 18 defendants… that’s a lot of barns to rent. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-burke-ex-leafs-gm-sues-18-unknown-netizens-for-slander/656848/4 "2013-05-01T07:20:09Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > And I suppose the step after that will be wikiing the [Striesand Effect](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect). That’s always a risk with libel/slander actions - that suing will cause greater publicity for the slander than the original publication. Just seems magnified now by the internet. ---
**Author:** ![jsquire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jsquire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsquire)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-burke-ex-leafs-gm-sues-18-unknown-netizens-for-slander/656848/5 "2013-05-02T00:54:31Z")
I would think it more insulting to say that he was the Leafs GM. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-burke-ex-leafs-gm-sues-18-unknown-netizens-for-slander/656848/6 "2013-05-03T06:31:53Z")
defence of truth! ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brian-burke-ex-leafs-gm-sues-18-unknown-netizens-for-slander/656848/7 "2013-05-03T14:55:45Z")
I gave SLOBBERFACE and SIR PSYCHO SEXY a plate of corn muffins in 1947 to paint my chicken coop, and they never did it!