Wikipedia wins dismissal in defamation case
p2pnet news view Freedom | P2P:- When a Wikipedia post said literary agent Barbara Bauer was one of the “dumbest of the twenty worst” agents, she sued for alleged defamation.
The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) and Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton filed a motion to dismiss her lawsuit lodged against the Wikipedia saying, “federal law immunizes it against suits over statements made by its users”.
Now a federal judge has upheld the argument, says the EFF.
Among other things, “There have been a number of complaints on internet message boards about the fees that Bauer charges,” said the Wikipedia when the suit was launched, going on >>>
Bauer is also alleged to have made legal threats in order to suppress discussion of her business’s activities, especially on web sites. Reports of this behaviour are usually found on sites maintained by people who claim to have received such threats.
She is also alleged to have caused the popular website, Absolute Write, to lose its Internet hosting service in May, 2006.
“Section 230’s [Communications Decency Act] blanket protection of sites like Wikipedia does not mean that alleged defamation on the Internet cannot be challenged in court,” says the EFF.
“Instead, the law requires that litigants direct their efforts at the speakers themselves and not the forums where statements were made. This means that sites like Wikipedia, Craigslist, and other online communities can continue to include user-generated content without living in fear of costly lawsuits.”
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alleged defamation – Wikipedia v literary agent Barbara Bauer, May 2, 2008
EFF – Wikipedia Wins Dismissal of Baseless Defamation Claims, August 13, 2008
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August 15th, 2008 at 7:55 am
That’s a shame. Wiki needs to be taken down.
August 15th, 2008 at 8:35 am
hahaha, if Wikipedia lost, then every U.S. hosted site would have to consider censoring their users to protect themselves.
Look at the bigger picture.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
It’s not Wikipedia that should be taken down, but rather some harmful and malicious entities that should be disconnected from the Internet altogether. For example, RIAA for predatory legal actions and Indiana Gregg/Ian Morrow for posting off-topic in public forums (Wikipedia can be considered a forum to some extent).
There should be three-strikes policy for corporations connected to public networks.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
As big as Wikipedia is, they must get hit with a lot of libel lawsuits. Even tiny p2pnet got hit with one due to an anonymous user comment.