Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

Re: Liability of poster and host on a public forum (BBS)

Before pursuing a case for libel and slander, your status should first be considered. If you ar e public official or person holding himself/herself out for public attention, your protections are more limited than those fo an ordinary person. If you fall into this latter category, certainly, calling a person a "child molester," if untrue, would be considered slander per se. If you are a public proponent of sexual intercourse with minors, then the court will have to evaluate whether the statement is libelous under the circumstances... ie. the Firts Amendment rights of the person making the statement would also be considered.

If you would like to discuss this matter further, please feel free to e-mail me. Our firm represents both public entities and private figures as well as a newspaper.

Re: Liability of poster and host on a public forum (BBS)

I believe I may have addressed a question from you previously on this issue.

When pursuing any course of action in a defamation case the first question that you must objectively answer is whether the statement can reasonably be viewed as a statement of opinion,

as opposed to a statement that was meant to be understood unequivocally as a statement of fact.

That is what the comment about rhetorical devise meant. There is specific case law on the subject of "Rhetorical hyperbole" in a letter to the editor of a scientific magazine, or in a public

community board forum (my "Von Gutfeld" case.)

I would need to see the entire satement in context. If you wish to discuss this, please email me the statemnt.

Re: Liability of poster and host on a public forum (BBS)

There is an overriding issue that was just decided in a legal decision this past month. On line administrators are exempt from defamation lawsuits as a matter of law. Even assuming the subject matter was defamatory, and not protected by any prvilege, the only recourse would be to sue the poster of the defamatory mateiral, not the web site administrator. Under interpretation of a 1996 Federal Statute, on-line billboards are considered like a fre bulletin board or a telephone service. And just as you cannot sue the owner of a billboard for what others say or the phone company for what others do, you cannot sue the administrator of a chat room or web site for the opinions or statements expressed by others. In this way web site administrators have more free speech protection than newspaper or magazine publishers.

Should you like to discuss this or any other legal matter, you can call my office to schedule an appointment for a consultation or in the alternative, I can be reached for on-phone low-cost legal consultation at 1-800-275-5336 x0233699.

Re: Liability of poster and host on a public forum (BBS)

If he called you a 'child molester', that is defamatory and you can sue (you v. john doe) and require the board administrator to disclose the identity of the poster.

My question is: are you identified personally on the Board, or by some code? That may be a loophole for the administrator.