I have to say, as briefly as I can, my question comes about because of the pretty awful murder suicide story making the news lately. I’m not linking to stories about the family, because we really don’t know all the facts, some news sources may have jumped the gun. And its a pretty sad story all around, with not a lot for us to talk about. But I do want some information on the merits of the lawsuit Brian Short and AllNurses faced.
I might as well include a quote complete with all the legalese, so also:
I really don’t understand what this lawsuit is about. Its clear that ATP feels it’s being attacked, but I have a real, “So what?” attitude. Its just a forum post. From where comes the expectation that it wouldn’t have a bias to itself? I really don’t get it.
If I start working and writing books attacking The Church of Scientology, I’d expect I might face legal repercussions. But if I post on this message board, “Scientology is a crock of lies.” Am I liable for a lawsuit by the Church of Scientology? Are the moderators under similar risk? Does the standard SDMB mod warning alleviate their risk and the risk to the SDMB? Is the filing above just a crass cash grab … that is, it would probably be thrown out of court, but most companies settle out of court anyway, so its really not meant to be filed? Because the legalese list just seems redundant, and stupid,and redundant, and unenforceable. And also has redundant parts., thought I’d mention that.
Yes, you are. Just as much as if you wrote a book exposing them. (Though possibly less damages due to less people reading a post vs. a book.)
Probably not. Scientology could always sue them (anybody can sue anybody for anything), and they would have to defend themself. But the current position of most Courts is that Forum Boards are similar to a ‘common carrier’, in that they publish the comments of their posters, but do not control and are not responsible for their contents. Just like the phone company is not responsible for someone using their phone lines to call you up and attack or defame you.
Courts have held that to rule otherwise would cause severe limits on the public discourse and exchange of ideas, that the US Constitution tries to encourage.
To summarize the allegations in the lawsuit: Achieve Test Prep (ATP, the Plaintiff in the lawsuit) alleged that the owner and employees of allnurses.com made and approved posts that were false and negative regarding ATP’s test program. Of relevance, the complaint also alleged that preference was given to ATP’s business competitor (Excelsior College), which was a major advertiser on allnurses.com. The quote that you listed is fairly typical of these types of lawsuits – essentially, ATP is alleging that the Defendants engaged in practices that caused them business losses (hence the unfair competition and tortious interference claims). The reason there are so many different causes of action is because you want to throw in as many as you can and hope a few will stick.
As to the defamation/libel issue – no, you most certainly are not protectedfrom libel laws just because you spread falsehoods on an internet website. But these cases mostly stem from statements that cause economic hardship to the person being libeled (e.g., stock trader spreads false statements about a company that cause its stock price to drop).
But my comment above has no substance, its practically devoid of meaning. Maybe its a poor example, compared with what the AllNurses forum did. But just self-promotion, with minimal substantive criticism, that can’t be actionable, is it really so? So how can any forum exist? I’ll just create a web forum, call it the Real Straight Dope, take a counter opinion to one espoused here, and wait for someone to call me out, and cash in on a lawsuit. Wouldn’t that be happening all the time?