I'm Out

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I have left a couple forums before, mainly to to incessant vitriol that got tiresome.

When I did, I did so with a final "Swan Song" post. I felt the need to explain my departure, and also felt it was the polite thing to do - otherwise members would have been left wondering "Whatever happened to Fast Eddie?".

So I don't fault Captain for doing the same.

But...

...upon doing so, I closed the browser tab and got rid of any links/shortcuts to the forum. IOW, when I'm done, I'm done, and I close the door behind me.

Captain, disappointingly, appears incapable of doing so. So be it.

But the "lawyer up" sentiment was just dumb.
 
Some of our resident barristers or solicitors, I need some advice.

On what basis could someone make a civil claim against POA or any member on the basis of being "outed" with their real name online?

Potentially breach of contract, but I don't see anywhere in the ToS where the MC makes any kind of promise of confidence in your name or other identifying information.

Defamation: Let's look at that one. If the person is outed with their "real" name, then the simplest defense is "truth". Revealing that Captain's some random poster's real name is John Q. Public is, if that were his real name, not false, and thus not defamatory. Even if you could surmount that bar, how is saying someone's name somehow damaging to them?
 
JeffDG said:
Some of our resident barristers or solicitors, I need some advice.



On what basis could someone make a civil claim against POA or any member on the basis of being "outed" with their real name online?



Potentially breach of contract, but I don't see anywhere in the ToS where the MC makes any kind of promise of confidence in your name or other identifying information.



Defamation: Let's look at that one. If the person is outed with their "real" name, then the simplest defense is "truth". Revealing that Captain's some random poster's real name is John Q. Public is, if that were his real name, not false, and thus not defamatory. Even if you could surmount that bar, how is saying someone's name somehow damaging to them?
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There is no contract.

POA does not contain the elements required to create a contract with the user.


People threaten to sue people on forums all the time.

And they never do.
 
Aside from a few occasional sniper shots, like he did last night, I don't imagine "Captain" will ever be back as a participating POA member. But he may come back with a new username. We won't know until he starts a new "jerk" or "Bravo" thread.
 
JOhnH said:
Aside from a few occasional sniper shots, like he did last night, I don't imagine "Captain" will ever be back as a participating POA member. But he may come back with a new username. We won't know until he starts a new "jerk" or "Bravo" thread.
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He'll be back. He'll miss the attention he gets here.
 
JoseCuervo said:
People threaten to sue people on forums all the time.

And they never do.
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(Cough) SOMEtimes they do. At least two of us here on POA have been sued for activity on a forum. Though there's a lot of difference between suing someone for "Conspiracy to defame" (what we got sued for) and winning in court....

Ron "Well, hardly ever" Wanttaja
 
wanttaja said:
(Cough) SOMEtimes they do. At least two of us here on POA have been sued for activity on a forum. Though there's a lot of difference between suing someone for "Conspiracy to defame" (what we got sued for) and winning in court....

Ron "Well, hardly ever" Wanttaja
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Certainly not breach of contract.

And, yes people can sue for anything, and even more yes, winning is yet another thing...

How far did it get before tossed?
 
JoseCuervo said:
Certainly not breach of contract.

And, yes people can sue for anything, and even more yes, winning is yet another thing...

How far did it get before tossed?
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How much were your legal fees? And who paid them?
 
JoseCuervo said:
Certainly not breach of contract.

And, yes people can sue for anything, and even more yes, winning is yet another thing...

How far did it get before tossed?
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Initially tossed due to service issues (out of state court, used a PI for service instead of an approved server). Given six months to re-serve, didn't.

How much were your legal fees? And who paid them?
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Zero legal fees. Fifteen people were sued for "Conspiracy to defame", one was an attorney and handled all the legal matters for us. The Conspiracy lawsuit was actually a countersuit to one filed by the attorney to start with.

Ron Wanttaja
 
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JoseCuervo said:
There is no contract.

POA does not contain the elements required to create a contract with the user.


People threaten to sue people on forums all the time.

And they never do.
Click to expand...

It's an article regarding UK cases, and I believe the law there tends to favor the plaintiff more than in the US, but I'm sure US cases exhibits similar growth: "Libel cases prompted by social media posts rise 300% in a year":

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/libel-cases-prompted-by-social-media-posts-rise-300-in-a-year-9805004.html
 
Jim Logajan said:
It's an article regarding UK cases, and I believe the law there tends to favor the plaintiff more than in the US, but I'm sure US cases exhibits similar growth: "Libel cases prompted by social media posts rise 300% in a year":

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...l-media-posts-rise-300-in-a-year-9805004.html
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Certainly works for real people, but I wonder what sort of legal rights an alias has. If I write "'NetBoss' regularly has sex with underage male goats," has the unknown person who uses the handle been libeled? "Netboss" can't sue me, since he/she/it doesn't exist as a person.

The only way I can see it is if the actual identity behind "Netboss" is known, so that an average individual would know the actual person being referred to. But that would have to be to sufficient detail to unequivocally identify the person, and to show that the insulter *knew* what the real identity was.

Ron Wanttaja
 
wanttaja said:
Certainly works for real people, but I wonder what sort of legal rights an alias has. If I write "'NetBoss' regularly has sex with underage male goats," has the unknown person who uses the handle been libeled? "Netboss" can't sue me, since he/she/it doesn't exist as a person.

The only way I can see it is if the actual identity behind "Netboss" is known, so that an average individual would know the actual person being referred to. But that would have to be to sufficient detail to unequivocally identify the person, and to show that the insulter *knew* what the real identity was.

Ron Wanttaja
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and today's news, this one might have legs.....

Booster's Wife and Coach
 
This thread has run it's course and the MC has voted to close it.
 
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