Posted on 11/06/2011 1:30:26 AM PST by Cardhu
Being defamed online can ruin lives and careers, but fighting back is always hard and often fruitless. Germany's Federal Court of Justice has now ruled that people defamed online can get information deleted, but it still forces Internet companies like Google to serve as unwilling judges and arbitrators.
If you surf the Web, it won't take long before you find what Jean-Remy von Matt, the Hamburg-based advertising star, must have meant when he referred to the " toilet walls of the Internet." For example, there are sites like the United States-based online portal PlateWire, which proudly advertises itself as the "voice of the road." On the site, users can post the complete license-plate numbers of supposedly bad drivers and specify exactly what they allegedly did wrong à la: "Of course, the idiot was on his cell phone."
On the hot-pink website DontDateHimGirl.com, women describe their experiences with bad lovers. The site includes a search function that allows users to look for the names of specific men.
In an age when anyone can Google job applicants or potential partners before getting to know them, these kinds of Internet posts can destroy careers -- and even lives. Still, fighting back against online defamation isn't always easy. It's hard to pinpoint exactly who has made slanderous comments, and the level of legal liability for Internet-based services was so far fuzzy at best.
Coming to a Head
Germany's Federal Court of Justice (BGH) reached a decision last Tuesday that is supposed to alter these circumstances. For the first time, the judges ruled in detail on the criteria under which someone confronted with defamatory rumors on the Internet can require an online service to remove the offending remarks.
But even in the wake of this decision, the future remains nebulous --
(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...
Now you guys and gals don’t go checking out “DontDateHimGirl.com”
"I voted for this guy named B.Hussein Obama for President and he turned out to be this psycho Marxist!"
"I voted for this woman named Nancy Pelosi for Senator and she's spending all my taxes on face lifts!!"
"I voted for this guy named Howard Dean and he doesn't stop screaming!"
Not a bad idea - but perhaps the psycho Marxist would sue you. :)
That seems to be more of a website for women to lash out at cheaters. Why do they call it “cheating” anyway? Is there some contest I’m not aware of when it comes to marriage or love affairs? “Hey I would have won but you cheated!”
Shame on you - I told you not to go there. :)
But your point of being some sort of competition is well tasken - but it is actually.
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