# libel **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 10, 2002, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232 "2002-07-10T12:21:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kgriffey79](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@kgriffey79](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kgriffey79)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/1 "2002-07-10T12:21:33Z")
li·bel Pronunciation Key (lbl) n. A false publication, as in writing, print, signs, or pictures, that damages a person’s reputation. The act of presenting such material to the public. The written claims presented by a plaintiff in an action at admiralty law or to an ecclesiastical court. Does nobody listen? Everybody jumped on me for accusing Fenris or whoever the hell it was I accused. Then the moderator doesn’t even read my post carefully. I shut down my computer? I got reported to my ISP? Didn’t you read? I said it was a friends site. And if you geniuses had read the date, you would see that this is an old post! And the very bright spooje, tells me I don’t know what liable means. Yeah, we were talking about libel, not liable. He falsely attributed a quote to me. That is a false publication. Now whether or not it damages my reputation is up in the air, but I don’t see why you all went anal on me, when he is the one who changed my quote. Whatever… ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/2 "2002-07-10T12:29:42Z")
Complaints about moderators belong in the Pit, **kgriffey79**. I’ll just move it there for you. And close the second identical thread you started. But I’ll leave it to you to explain to the reader just what the hell you’re talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/3 "2002-07-10T12:35:18Z")
Why would you even bump such an old [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48702) for that unless it was to threaten Fenris with a libel lawsuit? A stupid move from the get go. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/4 "2002-07-10T12:37:10Z")
[Fixed link](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=48702) Plus his post was Nov 2000. The announcement is from May 2002. I think he’s grandfathered in by about a … mile. ---
**Author:** ![kgriffey79](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@kgriffey79](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kgriffey79)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/5 "2002-07-10T12:38:38Z")
Coldfire, umm, the post wasn’t only about you, most of it wasn’t even about you. I know you want to be the victim here, but whatever. So yeah, move my post, make me look bad… (I accidently double clicked on the “Submit” button, give me a fuckin break) ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/6 "2002-07-10T12:39:35Z")
As I said in the copy of this thread, you would be hard-pressed to claim you had a reputation to damage. Satirising a lame website is not against the law. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/7 "2002-07-10T12:42:30Z")
Fuck, colour _me_ stupid. I didn’t even see that the OP was **20 fucking months old**. **kgriffey79** , Fenris made a joke by rephrasing a URL. As such, he did not put words in your mouth. _Moreover, **Ed Zotti** ’s message on the subject of falsely attributing quotes to other posters was posted almost 18 months after your OP, and Fenris’ reply._ Your complaint has no grounds whatsoever. I’m willing to leave this thread open for a little while for entertainment reasons alone, but bear in mind that if your sole reason for bumping a thread is a false allegation, you’re not on your way to become the board’s favourite poster. ---
**Author:** ![kgriffey79](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@kgriffey79](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kgriffey79)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/8 "2002-07-10T12:43:50Z")
Thanks for including the link, Osiris, I forgot to do that. Osiris, umm, grandfathered in by a mile huh? I wasn’t suggesting any any legal action, I was just saying, he shouldn’t do that. Maybe this does belong in the pit, but when I first started to post, I was just going to share why I thought it was wrong. I didn’t mean to rant on some ppl, I guess I didn’t think it through, sorry bout that :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/9 "2002-07-10T12:44:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kgriffey79 \* > **I know you want to be the victim here, but whatever.** Yeah, that’s why I took this job. People bitch at me all day, so I can feel persecuted. ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/10 "2002-07-10T13:04:21Z")
My local social action group is having a bake sale for persecuted messageboard moderators this Sunday. ---
**Author:** ![Denis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5e9695/32.png) [@Denis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Denis)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/11 "2002-07-10T13:05:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Coldfire \* > \*\*Yeah, that’s why I took this job. People bitch at me all day, so I can feel persecuted. \*\* Yeah, **Coldfire**! Yer ugly an’ yer momma dresses ya funny, too! :d&r: ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/12 "2002-07-10T13:11:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tansu \* > \*\*My local social action group is having a bake sale for persecuted messageboard moderators this Sunday. \*\* Put me down for a cake and a dozen of those little fancy cookies with the jam in them. Thanks! Robin ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/13 "2002-07-10T13:23:15Z")
Is _Appeal to dictionary_ a recognised logical fallacy now (I appreciate it would be just a special case of _Appeal to authority_, but it’s just so damn commonplace that I think it deserves a definition of it’s own. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/14 "2002-07-10T13:44:50Z")
Oh, I see it now, sorry I’m a bit slow. Yes, **Fenris** , you falsely changed the link in the quote to something entirely appropriate and it was very naughty of you not to have read the announcement [Don’t falsely attribute quotes to other SDMB members](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/announcement.php?forumid=3), don’t give me any lame excuses about the announcement being posted nearly a year and a half **after** you posted the original comment, it just won’t wash, you should have been using your time machine or your amazing powers of prediction, obviously. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/15 "2002-07-10T14:08:24Z")
Well, in the other thread, I did ask if he even knew what the word meant… ---
**Author:** ![CRorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CRorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CRorex)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/16 "2002-07-10T14:22:14Z")
LOL Umm yeah libel 🙂 _SNORT_ Must sue everyone who has a differing opinion… Actually the funniest thing about this is? You did a vanity search! hahahaha Unless you’ve been spending over a year slowly plotting your revenge. Which is still pretty damn funny imho. Anyway I do believe that you’re missing a HUGE point of a libel suit. YOU MUST PROVE DAMAGES. And lets face it. Until you bumbed your post, all of what 5 people even bothered to read that post? And boys and girls, the moral of this story is: If you’re going to say something stupid to promote your site, something along the lines that it’s the greatest thing since whatever, expect to be laughed at. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/17 "2002-07-10T14:33:11Z")
_Five_ people? Try **one**. ---
**Author:** ![CRorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CRorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CRorex)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/18 "2002-07-10T14:41:55Z")
One? LOL I’m not going to draw the conclusion in this one 🙂 [scottish accent] I wouldn’t want to get sued [/scottish accent] ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Babe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/19 "2002-07-10T14:54:41Z")
In the law, there is the possibility of being libel-proof. In that case, someone is so thoroughly reviled, mistrusted or offensive to the audience in question, that there is nothing a person could say about them that could possibly damage their reputation in the community. Osama bin Laden might be one (in America at least), as might Charles Manson. Our OP friend is making a run for the money on that one. Insert standard disclaimer about me not being your lawyer, don’t rely on what I say, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Scylla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Scylla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scylla)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2002, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232/20 "2002-07-10T15:01:32Z")
Fenris is so predictable. Always trying to follow in my footsteps. Somebody threatens me with libel, and it’s hardly a month later that he goes and gets himself threatened. I suppose imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but really. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/libel/118232.md?page=2)