Woman sued for Twitter ‘defamation’
p2pnet news view P2P:- Big, rich companies terrorising ordinary people with no financial or legal resources with which to defend themselves …
It’s an online trend with Hollywood and the Big 4 record labels way out front. But as I pointed out yesterday, it isn’t only confined to them.
Friends of mine here on Vancouver Island have huge kiddie co Gerber (owned by Swiss drug firm Sandoz) after them for having the effrontery to use Onesies, a registered trademark often used in the United States as if it were generic, as the Wikipedia describes it.
A Onesie is a one-piece suit for children and, “When I do a Google search for Onesies I come up with ‘Results 1 – 10 of about 1,630,000 for onesie ‘and ‘Results 1 – 10 of about 17,500 for onezee’,” said Airiane Rogers-Baribeau, on the wrong end of a legal letter from Gerber, which’d frightened Etsy — online, place to buy and sell all things handmade — into deleting the mention. “Are all these boutiques, stores and designers also receiving cease and desist letters?” – Airiane wondered.
I’ve also had more than my share of bullying from heavyweights such as SOCAN and Sandvine, with a threat from Kazza boss Nikki Hemming still outstanding. This BBC story goes into detail and meanwhile, the case has been hanging over my head for three years already, and won’t be heard until February, 2010.
And now surfers have to worry about Twitter.
Pop quiz, says a post in The Register.
“You find a disparaging post about your company on Twitter that’s written by a client who’s followed by a mere 20 people. You fear the offhand remark about the poor quality of your service could harm your company’s reputation. What’s the absolute worst way to make it go away? Do you: A) ignore it. B) remedy the complaint. C) file a $50,000 libel lawsuit against the author to the sheer delight of tech hacks everywhere.
“Well, the Chicago real estate firm Horizon Group Management has chosen option C.”
The tweet, posted on May 12 on Bonnen’s since-discontinued account @abonnen, said, “Who said sleeping in a mouldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon Realty thinks it’s okay,” according to The Guardian, which goes on »»»
In its suit filed in the Cook county circuit court, the company claimed her post “maliciously and wrongfully” condemned her apartment and their service. It said the tweet was published “throughout the world” and severely damaged its good name.
Jeff Michael, whose family runs Horizon, told the Chicago Sun-Times: “The statements are obviously false, and it’s our intention to prove that.”
He said the company never had a conversation with Bonnen about the post and never asked her to take it down. “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organisation,” he told the paper.
Michael told The Guardian the crack was “tongue in cheek”.
Horizon wants damages, “in excess of $50,000 for the post, plus court costs and any other relief the court deems proper,” says The Register, adding, “A copy of the lawsuit is available here …”
JN
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
having the effrontery – Gerber Onesies vs Airiane and Doug, July 28, 2009
SOCAN – SOCAN threatens p2pnet. Again, August 2, 2007
Sandvine – Sandvine â branded, May 23, 2008BBC
– Free speech, libel and the internet age, July 31, 2006
The Register – Landlord sues tenant over moldy Tweet, July 28, 2009
The Guardian – Lettings agent sues ex-tenant over Twitter complaint, July 29, 2009
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July 29th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
I wonder if Horizon thought about how it would look to the average person on the street?
People won’t avoid Horizon because of one person’s moldy apartment complaint or even the possibility of management apathy. People will avoid Horizon because if they don’t “receive” the complaint or care, and you voice it publicly to make a change, they sue.
That’s what people will remember, and that publicity is far more damaging than someone’s moldy complaint.
Jeff Michael are you sure you made the right decision? You claim in the Register that her complaints were not resolved, did you investigate? Can you back this up? That would do far better than suing her. Prove you had a health investigator investigate her claims and conclude it was mold free like the rest of the tenants. That alone would sway the public to believe Brennon was just angry and had no real basis for her claims.
Suing makes you look guilty and as you know from the Twitter responses, you’ve hurt yourself more by suing than by simply proving she’s incorrect in the facts.
July 29th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
What a laugh… Even if the tenant was completely malicious, what an overreaction. And if the tenant hasn’t libeled, the management co. may have by commenting publicly outside of court docs. Actually, a defamatory quote in a newspaper, published online, indexed by Google, is potentially far far worse of a libel than some non-indexed, transient twitter comment.
Jeffrey Michael, whose family has run Horizon for more than 25 years, said… “We’re a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organization…”
Who would want to rent from these people with an attitude like that?
July 29th, 2009 at 6:35 pm
The word Onesie has existed (as spoken, not necessarily in print) for centuries. Little children are taught the rhyme “Onesie, twosy, threesy, foursie…”
Imagine if Xerox Corporation named themselves Photocopy…
July 29th, 2009 at 6:52 pm
We know EPIC FAIL Guinness World Records .
http://failblog.org/2009/07/13/omg-u-fail-so-hard/
These guys (Horizon Group Management) don’t learn from others’ mistakes, do they?
July 29th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
In Russia, it is not photocopy, it is actually “xerocopy”, because they were first.
July 30th, 2009 at 9:35 am
The accusation is that the person asked a question and gave an opinion.
“Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment is good for you? Horizon realty thinks it’s ok.”
There is nothing defamatory here.
A question cannot be defamatory.
Opinions are no defamatory.
The lawyer who filed the lawsuit is the one only who will profit from the lawsuit, as usual.
July 30th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
âWho said sleeping in a mouldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon Realty thinks itâs okay,â
Ya! this company is really bad! They also think that leaking ceiling cookroaches and flees are OK.
Don’t do business with Horizon Realty. You will be sorry. There is many good alterantive arround.
July 30th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
It’s happening again!
Someone tries to suppress information on the net and the next morning this information proliferated all other the Internet!
It happen to the recording industry, to the movie industry to the cult of scientology to the government of Iran, China, North Korea, the CIA, the German and British secret services to banks. . .
It never fails!
If there is some information on the internet you donât like donât stir it!
July 30th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
“Jeffrey Michael, whose family has run Horizon for more than 25 years, said⦠âWeâre a sue first, ask questions later kind of an organizationâ¦â
Who would want to rent from these people with an attitude like that?”
Agree.
July 30th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Does this mean that Nikki Hemming will travel all the way to Canada to appear in court and subject herself to probing questions? Somehow I can’t believe this will ever happen. Accused of major (possibly criminal) financial shenanigans, she obviously could have much to hide.