‘Extreme and vicious’ Net libel campaign
p2pnet news view | Crime:- Following what was described as an, “extreme and vicious campaign of Internet libel” lasting four years, a man from Nanaimo in British Columbia, Canada, has been told to pay an Australian almost $180,000 in damages.
BC Supreme Court Justice D.A. Halfyard, “found Patrick Michael Sullivan defamed Robert Griffin, a 43-year-old resident of Sydney, Australia, in Internet postings from May 30, 2003 up until the trial in Nanaimo in April,” says The Province, going on:
“A war of words had erupted between the two men on a website used by depressed and suicidal people.”
Halfyard ordered Sullivan to pay $150,000 in general and aggravated damages for libel, $25,000 for breach of privacy and $4,600 in special damages, and ordered an injunction be imposed on Sullivan, “preventing him from posting any further defamatory messages on the Internet,” says the story.
“This was an extreme and vicious campaign of Internet libel,” said Griffin’s lawyer Dan Burnett.
“For over four years the defendant posted hundreds of outrageous accusations against the plaintiff, which he admitted at trial had no basis. The high damage award and the injunction reflects how much harm can be inflicted by a person bent on using the Internet for a smear campaign.”
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The Province -Australian wins blog libel case, July 16, 2008
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July 18th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Mr Burnett is also defending you in your libel cases I think.
July 18th, 2008 at 10:10 am
Correct.
Cheers!
July 18th, 2008 at 10:11 am
It’s about time an internet troll gets sentenced.
July 18th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
This is a fine example of how “freedom of speech” rights can be abused and for which accountability is required. In any case, the compensation should go a long way toward relieving Mr Griffin’s depression!
July 18th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
Hi Jon – as your readers may appreciate, this situation in my case was totally different to the one you have with NH and the frivolous suit that’s been filed against you. You could not have a better and more knowledgeable person than Daniel Burnett and a better firm than the Owen Bird Law Corporation to represent you. Having spoken with Dan broadly about the issues in your case, I know he is 100 percent committed to your case and the principles at stake in it. Libel law must be available to defend against lies, but it should not be for harassing those who report un-nice facts. With Dan on your side, Nikki is not going to stand a chance. Best wishes to you Jon, and I sincerely wish you every success – I’ll send you a black hat when you win (ask Dan about that next time you see him). RG.
July 20th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
If Patrick had a lawyer do you think Griffin would have won?