Should you be sued for libel on an Online Forum?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Only_in_f1
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Only_in_f1

Only_in_f1

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Ok I post on a Northampton Town FC board and recently a thread had come up suggesting that the chairman was taking money from the club as well as a couple more serious accusations.


Yesterday morning the thread was rightly locked and everyone moved on. At around 9pm a Northampton Town Club official had posted a statement. (http://www.smfserver.com/forums/thehotelend/index.php/topic,116.msg1481.html#msg1481) Link here.

To cut short read of the link it basically read that it was looking to take legal action against the main protagonist as these accusations we're very much untrue. Unfortunately the thread in question has been deleted.

So I want your opinions on this. Alot of members are actually agreeing with the action the club is taking.

Do you agree that people who post claims on message boards should be sued, or do you think its very much an overreaction?
 
You could get sued for saying someone was guilty of committing a crime of which they haven't been convicted. Why should the medium you use to communicate your unwise message make any difference to the defamed individual's protection in law?
 
People tend to think that in a forum thread they are untouchable and say anything they want. They're not! They're still in society so, as it could happen in a newspaper article, or in a pub conversation, if someone's claims an illegal action from someone else, they pretty much be prepared to face the consequences of it. So yes, I agree with the club's position.
 
Only_in_f1
Well I thought you might know about this, this happened a few years back on a OwlsTalk forum didn't it?
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Not sure. I actually dislike a lot of internet forums, and I think one populated exclusively by football fans - whatever the club - would be a disastrous place full of textspeak, badly obscured expletives, MIA shift keys and nine-inch-high signature images. And morons.

However, there has been a lot of... speculation amongst Wednesday fans regarding the money lost from the club and a former chairman's lofty personal ambitions. So it wouldn't surprise me.
 
I'll bet eleventy million pounds that...

  1. Their bark is worse than their bite, and they haven't even looked up their solicitor's phone number yet
  2. They'll never find out who it was anyway from nothing more than a dynamic IP address
  3. Even if they do *somehow* match a name or household to an IP address, they've no way of proving that it was he/she who posted the little defamatory rant.


I wouldn't hold your breath.
 
To be fair the worst part of football forums isn't what you mention above, its members joining under multiple accounts and fans from other clubs posing as fans and being general WUM's.

There nothing saying that the two members under question aren't the same person.

I mean I do agree with what the club are doing but its the first time i've seen a situation close up. I mean i've seen numerous posts about players private lives and the link but this seemed like a wind up or someone on a mission to prove something not many cared about. No one has suspected Mr Cardoza of any wrong doing apart from these 2 gentlemen.

Jondot
I'll bet eleventy million pounds that...

  1. Their bark is worse than their bite, and they haven't even looked up their solicitor's phone number yet
  2. They'll never find out who it was anyway from nothing more than a dynamic IP address
  3. Even if they do *somehow* match a name or household to an IP address, they've no way of proving that it was he/she who posted the little defamatory rant.


I wouldn't hold your breath.
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I agree with point one. I do think its very much a threat more than action.

And the last point, I believe it doesnt matter? When you sign up you are responsible for your account. Much like on here if my account was hacked and posted unreasonable posts I can still get banned. I do think that is how it works?
 
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Only_in_f1
And the last point, I believe it doesnt matter? When you sign up you are responsible for your account. Much like on here if my account was hacked and posted unreasonable posts I can still get banned. I do think that is how it works?
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I very much doubt it. You're responsible for your car and all the documents will be in your name. If your car runs over a family and leaves the scene, and somebody gets your plate number, the authorities would certainly still have to prove you were the driver to ring you up on vehicular manslaughter or worse. I don't see how this is too different.

Edit: I really don't know how I double posted. I really thought I was editing my previous post to elaborate. Turns out I made a new one. Sorry about that everyone.
 
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tyl0r_r
I very much doubt it.
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You are responsible for your account, if you stay logged in and someone else posts some nudes you are held responsible.

I believe this has actually happened before(or at least an infraction was given, albeit not for posting nudes).
 
Justin
You are responsible for your account, if you stay logged in and someone else posts some nudes you are held responsible.

I believe this has actually happened before(or at least an infraction was given, albeit not for posting nudes).
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I was referring -only- to the criminal matter. The people who own this message board can basically do whatever they want to with it, obviously. 👍
 
In the EU it's illegal no matter what medium you use. The problem, as mentioned, is to prove who is guilty of said fellony. I know there have been cases of similar things here, and with convictions. Though our penalty for murder is 12 years, (highest possible sentence) and i believe thats about what you get for stealing a pack of chewing gum other places hehe. So usually it need to be very harsh, or threatening, before action is taking, as it otherwise would be a waste of resources, conviction or not.
 

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