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Social media and reputation lawyer’s 5 essential steps to dealing with online defamation
Victim of internet defamation
Online defamation is likely to strike without warning. This leaves you with minimal time to prepare yourself for an appropriate response to the defamation.Here are the 5 most important steps you must take as soon as you become aware of the internet defamation about you or about your organisation:
1) Be sensible. Evaluate whether it is in your interests to respond to the internet defamation. This depends on the nature of the defamation that you are experiencing. Be cautious about how people will perceive your business following your online response. Some victims of online defamation reply out of anger but… read more on our NEW social media solicitor blog.
Yair Cohen
Remove Defamation on Money Saving Expert. Defamation Lawyer Yair Cohen wins court order against Money Saving Expert
By Kit Chellel – Bloomberg News
Sep 30, 2011 12:00 AM GMT+0100
People who use fake names to post critical comments about companies on websites may not be as anonymous as they think, as firms use the courts to unmask online accusers.
MoneySavingExpert, a British personal finance site with 5 million readers, was forced to hand over personal details about three users calling themselves Againstjpc, GomerPyle and Ladybirds, following a London court ruling in August. The three wrote comments on the website accusing JPC Group Sales Ltd., an affiliate of a U.K. publishing company, of being a “criminal enterprise” and “a scam,” the company said in court filings.
Similar orders have been granted in the U.K. over comments posted on Google Inc. (GOOG) blogs and comment boards at its YouTube unit’s website, said Yair Cohen, a lawyer for JPC. Louise Rutter, spokeswoman for Mountain View, California-based Google, declined to comment.
“There have been a few of these cases and they are becoming more common,” said Korieh Duodu, a media law specialist at London firm Addleshaw Goddard LLP. “It is clear there is a significant footprint left by Web users, who are not always aware of how much information can be revealed about their identities when they publish material online.”
While Internet users have traditionally enjoyed the freedom to air controversial views without using real names, courts can order websites to hand over e-mail and Internet-protocol addresses, and other personal details, if anonymous comments go too far. A person who disrupts Web forums with inflammatory or offensive remarks is known as a “troll” in Internet slang.
‘Online Anonymity’
Disclosing the identity of Web users shouldn’t be taken lightly, said Eric King, human rights and technology adviser at advocacy group Privacy International. It could even be illegal, unless the comments caused serious harm.
“Online anonymity is a hugely important aspect of the right to privacy,” he said.
In 2007, the owner of a fan site for soccer club Sheffield Wednesday was forced to disclose the identities of several users after what a judge described as a “sustained campaign of vilification” against the club’s directors. Financial websites Motley Fool and Interactive Investor had to provide information about a user known as Zeddust in 2001, following a lawsuit filed by internet service provider Totalise Plc.
In the U.S., with stricter laws protecting freedom of speech, judges have sometimes found in favor of victims of online abuse. Former model Liskula Cohen won an order from a New York judge in 2009 requiring Google to identify a blogger who defamed her, while another model, Carla Franklin, won a similar ruling in 2010 over comments made on YouTube.
Court Order
Cohen, the JPC lawyer at firm Bains Cohen, said the company would now apply for an order against Internet provider TalkTalk Telecom Group Plc (TALK) to get the physical address of one of the individuals who posted the remarks on MoneySavingExpert. The company plans to sue the person for defamation, he said.
TalkTalk said in a statement that it “would never disclose any information” without a court order.
JPC, part of the Wyvern Media brand which publishes the Lincolnshire Telegraph and the North London Chronicle, said in an e-mailed statement that anonymous posters of abuse cost small businesses hundreds of thousands of pounds every month. “We are determined to bring our abusers to justice,” it said.
Brendan Perrett, head of operations at MoneySavingExpert, said the site hadn’t initially provided information about its users because of its privacy policy and the U.K. Data Protection Act.
“The job of balancing the consumer viewpoint and right to give their views without letting people unfairly tarnish companies’ reputations is never an easy one,” he said.
Duodu said the issue of freedom of speech had to be considered by companies deciding to tackle online abuse.
“The other concern for corporations is that they should be wary of stifling genuine debate. Seeking the closure of websites because of a few detractors can lead to a massive public relations own goal,” he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Kit Chellel in London cchellel@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net
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Business Reputation New Free Tip Of The Day
If at the moment the battlefield where you fight for your good reputation is based online and those on the other side, appear to have a reasonably good understanding of the battleground and of the basic tools and ammunitions which are required to cause you maximum damage, you might want to seriously consider moving the battlefield elsewhere where it will be harder for your reputational enemies to fight back.
Gold Dust Under the Radar™
Some internet posts are very old, perhaps they were first published on the internet 10-15 years ago. So why should you be bothered with the presence of historic postings on the internet, postings which you are told no one is likely to see anyway?
The answer is simple. Internet content is being recycled all the time.
People who run websites, the sole purpose of which is to display advertising, are very often too lazy to create their own original new content. So instead, they find old content on the internet and then use it to drive traffic to their own websites.
As their website becomes content rich, it attracts more traffic, which means that the historic postings about you or your business now start to be viewed by more and more web users and this in turn, increases the prominence of the negative historic posts.
SO WHAT if you could have your own full report which reveals all current and historic internet postings about you or about your company, going back up to 35 years and showing you everything which has ever been written in the past and everything that is currently published on the internet?
I know you would probably want one of these reports yourself because this information is like GOLD DUST and people in business can easily identify GOLD when they see it.
So we have developed the Under the Radar™ Reputation Report, to give you detailed research information on internet posts which are up to 35 years old! The Report is even divided into different geographic areas to allow you to see what results people find about you from different locations in the country!
Here is where you can discover more and order your own, personal Under the Radar™ Reputation Report.
Online Defamation And Your Stolen Lists
You get hit left, right and centre and with very little opportunity to defend yourself.
It is very difficult to describe the moment where you first realise that your business reputation is being tarnished all over the internet. This unforgettable moment normally follows by many sleepless nights, tiredness, frustration and of course money problems.
You see, some of your employees are likely to possess impressive amounts of knowledge about you, your business, your practices, your procedures, your errors, mistakes and regrets, as well as about your true feelings about things that matter to your customers.
You get hit left, right and centre and with very little opportunity to defend yourself.
In the meantime, the online defamation attacks are starting to increase. Links are being shared between people and more defamatory material is now being…. Read more on Online Defamation
How Tagging Is Used To Spread Online Defamation
Internet Defamation Case Study on How To Use Tagging To Spread Online Defamation – London Lawyers.
How To Destroy A Reputation In 5 Minutes. Don’t Repeat At Home!!!
Everyone has got their own soft spot. Depending on your profession, being called by a particular name in public, could cause you a lot of damage and harm your career. For a doctor, being commonly described as ‘negligent’, for a solicitor, being described as ‘incompetent’, for a builder, being described as ‘a cowboy’ or for a teacher, being described as ‘stupid’, would be regarded by any of these people as a personal attack on their reputation and integrity.
But not all insults are as harmful as the insult suffered by a top civil servant who worked as a social worker for the Children’s Service at a District Council in the North of the country. Having specialised for many years in children with learning difficulties….Read more on Internet Defamation By Tagging
Business Alert – Prevent Online Defamation By Employees
Online defamation by employee: Business Alert
The Director, who was well vested in the technical side of the internet, decided to take revenge by posting negative comments and reviews about his former employer on various websites and forums. The comments explicitly suggested that the company was fraud and that it was simply taking its customers’ money and never intended to deliver any work. Shortly after this Director left the company, its UK operation had almost died out. The telephone stopped ringing and current customers started to leave the company with various excuses.
Read Full Story on Online Defamation
By: Yair Cohen
Grooming Of Men On The Internet « Internet Law Expert
Grooming Of Men On The Internet « Internet Law Expert
via Grooming Of Men On The Internet « Internet Law Expert.
Many men whether rich or poor, married or single go chatting and in most cases quite innocently. It is just another way for many to relax from the days chores and have a relaxing conversation with other online chatters. It is normally a friendly place which at times, as you will find out, could become very dangerous indeed.
What many of these men don’t realise is that there are some dangerous predators out there, ready to eat them alive. Not literally but also not very far from that.
These dangerous predators I am talking about
What Is A Google Bomb
A Google Bomb. What a scary phrase. Surely you must have heard this term being used before and wondered what it actually meant.
So what does the term “Google Bomb” really mean, how can a Google Bomb affect you or your business and what can you do to protect yourself from being a victim?
Find a ‘live’ example of a mini Google Bomb on my Internet Law Expert blog.
Follow this link to read the full article on How To Create A Google Bomb
Internet Law Experts: What Is A Google Bomb | Internet Lawyers | via Internet Law Experts: What Is A Google Bomb | Internet Defamation
Social media lawyer Business Talks 