Thanks for the clarification.
Hillary? Hell no! [post 196]: "Would you please stop acting as though you know something about defamation cases? It is tremendously irritating to those of us who do. Yes, TommyDale, the term is "defamation." Not "libel." Not "slander." It's all "defamation" now, and failing to use the word "alleged" here does not rise to the level of defamation."
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What is it with you, Hillary? Do you specialize in being dead wrong?
If somebody is defamed in writing on the internet and his grievance satisfies legal criteria as outlined below, he has grounds to sue for libel arising from defamation. Contrary to what you have so dogmatically and falsely stated, it is very much about libel.
From the law website of David Potts, prominent libel lawyer -- he makes it quite clear that defamation in writing on the internet is the very definition of "cyberlibel" and that such definition may even extend to online visual representations other than writing.
From Findlaw Legal Dictionary --
['li-bel]
Anglo-French, from Latin libellus, diminutive of liber book
1: "complaint § 1" (used esp. in admiralty and divorce cases)
2 a: a defamatory statement or representation esp. in the form of written or printed words
specif
: a false published statement that injures an individual's reputation (as in business) or otherwise exposes him or her to public contempt
b: the publication of such a libel
...
A libel plaintiff must generally establish that the alleged libel refers to him or her specifically, that it was published to others, and that some injury (as to reputation) occurred that gives him or her a right to recover damages (as actual, general, presumed, or special damages). The defendant may plead and establish the truth of the statements as a defense. Criminal libel may have additional elements, as in tending to provoke a breach of peace or in blackening the memory of someone who is dead, and may not have to be published to someone other than the person libeled.
From the Maryland State Bar Exam Analysis --