Legal Question in Technology Law in Illinois

Re: Defamation?

My areas of expertise are trademark, copyright, information technology and corporate law. I do not have experience with torts such as defamation, slander, negligence and the like. Nevertheless, with regard to your issue, you should note the My Space terms of use, the link for which is found at the bottom of the My Space home page, which provide among other things that:

"The following are examples of the kind of Content that is illegal or prohibited to post on or through the MySpace Services. MySpace reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against anyone who, in MySpace's sole discretion, violates this provision, including without limitation, removing the offending Content from the MySpace Services and terminating the Membership of such violators. Prohibited Content includes, but is not limited to, Content that, in the sole discretion of MySpace:

8.1 is patently offensive and promotes racism, bigotry, hatred or physical harm of any kind against any group or individual;

8.2 harasses or advocates harassment of another person;

8.3 exploits people in a sexual or violent manner;

8.4 contains nudity, excessive violence, or offensive subject matter or contains a link to an adult website;

8.5 solicits personal information from anyone under 18;

8.6 publicly posts information that poses or creates a privacy or security risk to any person;

8.7 constitutes or promotes information that you know is false or misleading or promotes illegal activities or conduct that is abusive, threatening, obscene, defamatory or libelous;"

The bottom of that page has a link to contact My Space.

There may be other actions that you may be able to take against this person who has urged others to boycott your business. I recommend that you contact an attorney who specializes in personal injury matters to learn more.

THE ABOVE ADVICE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT INTENDED TO CREATE AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS REGARDING ANY MATERIAL PRESENTED HEREIN, I RECOMMEND THAT YOU CONSULT AN ATTORNEY. THIS INFORMATION IS BEING PROVIDED BY AN ATTORNEY IN ACTIVE PRACTICE IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS AND CURRENTLY HOLDS AN ACTIVE LAW LICENSE IN THAT STATE ONLY.

Re: Defamation?

You may have a cause of action both for defamation and for commercial disparagement, which is recognized as a separate tort by Illinois courts.

The primary "action" that can be taken against someone in the instance you described is to sue the person. You might also give notice of the defamation and commercial disparagement to MySpace to see if they take action against the user, but other than in cases of copyright infringement (where certain specific procedures are required), the company providing the platform is generally reluctant to remove user-generate material.