Re: Defamatory posts - some guidelines

[ingsve]

I just want to ask one thing for clearance. Does discussing a rumour count as libel or is it only if you state something as if it was know fact that is libel?

Is there a diffrence between saying:

"Rider X is a doper I know he is I just can't prove it"

and

"There is a rumour that rider X was doped in such and such race" and then discuss that rumour.

Are both those situations equal or is it ok to discuss rumours on the bases of being rumours and thus having doubt associated with it.

 

[Anonymous]

only trouble is people have very different ideas around here as to what quantifies as "proof"

 

[ElChingon]

Well the main site (cyclingnews.com) posts rumors as well, but references them as such so I'd say yes.

We've all read about the guessing game of the OP list, haven't we. Then the speculations of the K named rider as of late.

 

[Laurent]

I thought that it's only harmful for cyclingnews if they read the posts? Otherwise the liabilty lies with the the person posting. Actually, the more I think about that ...

 

[lookkg386]

just type "alleged' in front of anything...then you can type whatever you like...allegedly

 

[thehog]

Post-Tour Crits. These races are carefully orchestrated, delivering the expected winner to the line and earning them some healthy bonuses as well:

Mark Cavendish won the Aalst nighttime criterium on Monday night, besting Robbie McEwen and Greg Van Avermaet at the line. This was McEwen’s first race back after a fall in the Tour of Belgium two months ago.
Andy Schleck was the winner in the Tour of Boxmeer, outsprinting Koos Morehout at the finish. Brother Frank Schleck rolled across in third.
Thor Hushovd won the Diksmuide crit, knocking back a recovered Tom Boonen at the finish. Jurgen Van Den Broeck came across in third.
Alberto Contador bested the Schleck Brothers in the Stiphout criterium.

 

[Bala Verde]

I just want to ask one thing for clearance. Does discussing a rumour count as libel or is it only if you state something as if it was know fact that is libel?

Is there a diffrence between saying:

"Rider X is a doper I know he is I just can't prove it"

and

"There is a rumour that rider X was doped in such and such race" and then discuss that rumour.

Are both those situations equal or is it ok to discuss rumours on the bases of being rumours and thus having doubt associated with it.

I thought it only applied to 'publications'. Are forum discussants publishing? It seems more like a meeting place like a college campus, a bar, a pub, or a race where people talk about events.

 

[ThisFrenchGuy]

I thought it only applied to 'publications'. Are forum discussants publishing? It seems more like a meeting place like a college campus, a bar, a pub, or a race where people talk about events.

Guess it depends on the country/law, but on a forum I moderated, we did receive a mail from a society calling out libel in several messages by one of the users. Was not the actual company mentioned, but a society that they paid to keep track of this for them.

I did some research and it turned out that they could indeed claim it was libel, except that the message were more than 3 months old (the timestamp serves as a proof there) so they were too late anyway.

The months delay and all actually come from libel/slander laws regarding press, newspaper, etc... Regulating the Internet is a difficult job, as the logic of it is very different from older medias. Hence the somewhat weird conditions.

But yeah in France, message boards messages could fall under libel/slander, like blog entries. But I guess that unless the offense is really bad, there is little point in wasting resources. In the case I experienced, they were trying to pressure the administrator so that he would delete the message they didn't like.

 

[workingclasshero]

just type "alleged' in front of anything...then you can type whatever you like...allegedly

i love this one. which obviously is wrong.

I thought it only applied to 'publications'. Are forum discussants publishing? It seems more like a meeting place like a college campus, a bar, a pub, or a race where people talk about events.

aye

actually from what i remember from law class; if you receive a txt message and send it on to your mate then no problem. if you send it on to a group (like your law class)

and also: the poster is not responsible for his statements. the publisher (which i guess is cyclingnews) is.

so if contador said "lance is doping and he uses HGH and EPO" and the times quoted him on this, contador wouldn't be the one being sued, the times would

 

[scribe]

As previously noted, it does matter on the country of the hosting site. Generally speaking, forums are hosted by a person or entity and they have a certain responsiblity for the content in the forums. Sure, an individual is responsible for what they post, but the forum moderation has the ability to remove or allow certain types of discussion.