Internet Libel on Forums

[Nicole]

Hi All.

I run a small web design business. I recently discovered an ex customer stating things about my service that are untrue and completely the opposite of what they have said to me in emails. They have lied about the service I provide, lied about advice I have given them and generally made me out to be incompetent and unprofessional. All of which I take exception to.

Further more they have published my web site address in these posts. (Not this forum I hasten to add)

What can I do about this? The forum is one which targets my customer profile and I am worried and upset that I may have lost business and had my reputation damaged. Any advice would be gratefully received.

[Ian J]

Some people seem to have this daft idea that there is complete freedom of speech on the internet. Unfortunatly for them that isn't true and the laws of defamation still apply as much to the internet as anywhere else.

I would start off by approaching the Admin of the forum in question and asking him to remove the offending posts pointing out the defamatory aspects. It might also be worthwhile reminding him that he and his forum moderators could also be held liable for "publishing" the defamation much as a newspaper and it's editor can be found liable for articles written by it's journalists.

As ever in cases like this it's worth taking proper legal advice as at the very least you could probably do with a public apology

[Nick Dyer]

Hi Nicole,
Whilst it may be that you have a valid case please bear in mind that there are many variables involved including the geographical location of the hosted website. eg you can apply UK law against UK sites hosted in the UK by UK administrators, but you may not be able to apply a UK law against a Chinese website hosted in Russia by a Brazilian webmaster.
The following link may help clarify things for you.
http://www.website-law.co.uk/resourc...ite-libel.html