I was at Panera’s waiting for a colleague, taking advantage of the black bean soup and free wireless, when I came upon this story about a Blogger jailed in Anna Nicole Smith defamation suit. I’m not going to discuss this case, I don’t care about it except as an example of why vengeance, stupidity, and cyberspace should not walk hand in hand, but what is interesting to observe is the increase in lawsuits filed against bloggers in the United States.
Up to a couple of hundred thousand blogs are started every day, so suing bloggers, especially if they own homes and have large bank accounts, big gossipy mouths, and not an ounce of common sense, could be quite lucrative. You can goggle Internet Defamation and see it’s a growing niche, the blogger version of ambulance chasers. There are also internet sites selling bloggers insurance, capitalizing on the fear of being sued niche. Media Bloggers is one to those. Thanks to our advancing technology we have a whole new niche, ripe for exploitation, and it involves lawyers and insurance. Go figure. If common sense would only prevail we’d have none of this, but somewhere along the line someone decided that freedom of speech meant something other that what it really means, and others have spent years making money from the confusion. It’s only going to get worse.
When people start yammering all over the internet they might want to delay reading about how to blog, how to get readers, how to get comments, how to get links and fame, and how make money. Instead, after reading a few simple books on basic writing, go directly to What is defamation, yes Virginia you can in some cases be sued for your opinion.
One thing I did find at Media Bloggers was a link to this mini course, Online Media Law, a joint project of “Media Bloggers Association; Citizen Media Law Project, which is jointly affiliated with Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and the Center for Citizen Media; City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism and Baruch College; and Media/Professional Insurance”, at News University. You have to sign up for News University, but it only takes two seconds, and after doing so you can enroll in the course at the bottom of the page. You can read through the course quickly. You can also take an assessment quiz before or after reading through it.
The assessment is common sense, if you don’t do well it would benefit you to read the course. I got 1 wrong. Erring on the side of caution, I presumed someone could be sued for calling someone a jerk. Hypothesizing the “what if the name caller had a PhD in jerks”, not the honorable degree in jerks that most of us think we have, but a real one, yeah lets just assume for a minute that there is such a thing. What if the Doctor of Jerks had a personal website, but his about page states his credentials and links to his authoritative research on jerks. Say he calls his neighbor a jerk, or calls someone a jerk in the comments of another blog. Is he more liable because of his expertise, even if he was just ranting in a non professional way on his or someone else’s personal blog?
Gets kind of murky there for me….
Some links:
Top Ten Rules For Limiting Legal Risks
Citizens Media Law Project
Center for Citizens Media
Teaching Copyright
peace
I knew there was a reason I don’t blog much, at least about anything significant. I bought my house when I was junior in college and finally have some money in the bank.
Doctor of Jerks? Am I close to the edge because I understand everything you write now?
I’m going over to take that quiz. I’ll let you know how I did.
I won’t lie. I don’t know where the line is so I stay far way from where I think it is because I’m not sure.
jake’s last blog post..Education Standards,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Going National
In your case it’s probably best.
I scored well. It’s why I don’t blog, I have too many opinions.
I almost spit out my gum on the “doctor of jerks,” , I then remembered where I was i was – in wonder land or not. I get your point.
i fear the comment too, they are fodder for litigation.
Tempted to comment with a simple “you are a jerk” but maybe another time. Good game cooper.
thanks joe.
The lawyers who used to work for the newspapers … and General Motors … had to find something to do.
the amoeba’s last blog post..Abort, Retry, Fail … Kill?
And they didn’t even have to be creative about it.
It’s a good-thing my site usually only revolves around a select few people that all know what they’re in for. They can’t sue me because they all know how much money I have. LOL
mojo shivers’s last blog post..And, Of Course, You Can’t Become, If You Only Say What You Would Have Done, So I Missed A Million Miles Of Fun
You’re one of the few I can’t imagine anyone wanting to sue. Keeping it safe and about you is a good bet for staying free from the law.
When I was a political blogger that scared me. I fact checked to death–something many people don’t know how to do. Factcheckdotorg or wiki aren’t sources. I only used them when I was lazy
But in America anybody can sue anybody. Though if a blogger becomes a “public figure” it should be more difficult. How one becomes a “public figure” as a blogger hasn’t been determined by the courts, I think though I’m pretty sure Perez Hilton is I don’t know if Digby is even though he’s picked up by MSM
pia’s last blog post..Life’s a bitch
That “fact-checking” point is crucial, Pia, and you are absolutely right, few people know how to do it, and universities don’t teach it much below the Ph.D. level (crede expertum). I cite Wikipedia in many of my posts, but only because (a) it’s free of charge to the reader; (b) it’s relatively free of endorsement implications for the blogger; (c) it offers readers an introduction to a topic with which they may not be familiar (a significant risk when I’m writing). I assume that readers will use that starting point to go forward, if they wish. Naïve of me, I know …
the amoeba’s last blog post..Abort, Retry, Fail … Kill?
Most won’t go forward, but face it most people aren’t reading blogs to read a dissertations, and most people do not have access to much of what might be considered good research or fact checking ie University library systems.
Open source is nice but academics fight against it in their given field, understandable in some cases.
Blogs are written quickly and usually for fun, but I can see the fun being squeezed out of them quickly once Doug starts suing because I write that he is a smelly dog.
If people would understand that opinion is not fact that would be a great place to start.
that public figure question has such a subjective answer it is hard to tell.
Some day, “F**k ‘em if they can’t take a joke” will be encoded into law. It actually is in the second amendment, I think.
Doug’s last blog post..Dissyllable
That’s rough doug.
That line, Doug, is something utilized by Rush and Billo and Coulter, et als, to get around the issue of their collective hate speech.
Of course, we got to see the great result of their collective words this week.
People sometimes need a good slap upside the head. On both sides. And in between.
Brer Kraut, I’m fine with their saying whatever they want to. If I say something stupid, stupid people will become my friends. That’s enough of a price to pay.
Doug’s last blog post..Dissyllable
So that’s what happened.
Well, I still have some smart friends around here. But, yeah.
Doug’s last blog post..Dissyllable
But, yeah. I’m just not one of them. hahahaaa!
“The blogger version of ambulance chasers” ha ha
It was only a matter of time before this started happening. People will sue for a lot of things related to blogs over the next few years I bet,. Fom impersonation ( Steven Tyler), to libel, to copyright. It should keep the lawyers in decent suits. They really need to make some laws to stop some of the more ridiculous of these because it is a waste of resources, on the other hand should my wife get desperate, and want to debase herself, she’d always have work.
I think as an authority in any field ie “professor of jerks” you’d have to hold your self to a higher standard even when writing your personal blog or commenting on the blogs of others.
jacob’s last blog post..Enjoy Your Weekend
Thank god I’m not a doctor of jerks then.
The opinion thing is murky for me too. I know that much of what is out there is opinion even though I sometimes see statements made as fact with no evidence of fact. It’s unfortunate that facts are not checked and it’s just as unfortunate that some people do not know how to express an opinion without making it libelous. The fact that it could be libelous to one person and not to another just begs for litigation even if it is wasteful litigation. That is what this country does – uselessly litigates.
i don’t let my 5th graders use wikipedia, but I know teachers who allow it.
kait’s last blog post..Great Ideas in Black and White
Good for you for making them work kait.
Combine lack of common sense, no reasoning skills, and greed and there ya go.
That black bean soup will kill you .
john’s last blog post..World Cup Soccer
No, I will die without it.
So I’m guessing “comedic immunity” is not a valid defense? Sort of like poetic license?
I suppose I’ll have to rely on “plaintiff’s poor reputation” along with my uncanny knack for remaining irrelevant.
Bone’s last blog post..Three-thirty-one
That will only get you so far Bone. I suggest you put all your assets in my name. To protect them of course.
A few years ago I had one commenter on my blog threaten to sue me because I said George Bush lied about Iraq. He stalked me for a little while and said he would find me one day all alone and take care of me. Haven’t heard much from him in a couple years. I assume he’s taking his medication now.
Chris’s last blog post..What America Is About
Either that or he finally volunteered to serve over there.
You know there is someone out there who is likely to jump at the chance to take that one on Chris.
Twitter is having some issues too. The Cardinal’s manger sued Twitter because someone was twittering under his name and twitter let them………….trademark infringement, trademark dilution, cybersquatting, misappropriation of name and likeness, invasion of privacy, and intentional misrepresentation.”
g’s last blog post..I’ll Be Busy Working During the Holiday Post
Yea like steven tyler, only tyler didn’t end up suing I don’t think. sue.
So could I be sued for saying I think Rush Limbaugh is a big fat bag of smelly gas?
Personally I don’t think so because I’ve seen images on the web of big bags containing smelly gas, and it is my opinion that he tends to favor it’s resemblance very accurately.
I hate using the same themes, but I do wonder if or when we threw away the understanding that EVERYthing is someone’s opinion unless you have many photos, videos, and loads of supporting factual evidence to your calms.
When did we lose this common sense understanding?
Oh Holy Lord, silly me….
Well more so if your were an expert on big fat smelly gas bags.
Oh Bennet, where the fuck have you been. They haven’t been using facts to report the news since I started reading it. How can anyone expect a blogger to actually know or use facts.
cooper, that’s only because your generation, and much of mine, get so much of there news online, and it is bad news…………………..in more ways than one.
I hope you know I was joking, that’s why I made a reference to Rush Limbaugh. Basically many bloggers use his the same journalistic methods. Read a few headlines, while taking meds, then form an opinion, and make it known that the opinion is a scientific fact.
I need to refine my sarcasm. Sometimes it’s a little too vague, and wrapped in symbolic metaphor.
yes of course. ;)