Legal Advice regarding content...

[hbalagh]

I know that this partiular forum is more or less for legal issues with domains...how ever i have an issue regarding content on a personal blog post of mine that im looking for advice on...

---------------------------


I have a personal blog that i've been running for over 2 yrs now... and i started seeing someone almost 2 months ago (a woman), i never mentioned this persons name on my blog as being my girlfriend just as a friend (she has commented on blog post and she has pics on my blog) but i never said that she was my girlfriend in any of the post... however now things have gone down hill, and apparently her husband (who knew about us and he was ok with it) has had a turn for the worst because he found out she was cheating on him with another man amoung other things, and didnt' like it. So he is starting to take it out on me. He took a screen capture of this post i wrote last night and says that i have 24 hrs to remove it, other wise he is going to file a civil suit for slander and defamation of charachter.

the post is found here http://www.heathersblog.com/2007/loves-spare-tire/

basically i was writing how i will never get involved with a married woman again no matter if the husband knows or not and my thoughts on it and why i wont do , along with others peoples thoughts on it, in it all mixed up into the post...

do you honestly think i have anything to worry about? if your not sure, do you know which type of lawyer i should consult on this issue?

 

[nWo]

I know that this partiular forum is more or less for legal issues with domains...how ever i have an issue regarding content on a personal blog post of mine that im looking for advice on...

---------------------------


I have a personal blog that i've been running for over 2 yrs now... and i started seeing someone almost 2 months ago (a woman), i never mentioned this persons name on my blog as being my girlfriend just as a friend (she has commented on blog post and she has pics on my blog) but i never said that she was my girlfriend in any of the post... however now things have gone down hill, and apparently her husband (who knew about us and he was ok with it) has had a turn for the worst because he found out she was cheating on him with another man amoung other things, and didnt' like it. So he is starting to take it out on me. He took a screen capture of this post i wrote last night and says that i have 24 hrs to remove it, other wise he is going to file a civil suit for slander and defamation of charachter.

the post is found here http://www.heathersblog.com/2007/loves-spare-tire/

basically i was writing how i will never get involved with a married woman again no matter if the husband knows or not and my thoughts on it and why i wont do , along with others peoples thoughts on it, in it all mixed up into the post...

do you honestly think i have anything to worry about? if your not sure, do you know which type of lawyer i should consult on this issue?

If you posted no names on the blog, or been overly mean about him in any posts i can't see any issues on why you must delete any posts!

 

[hbalagh]

so you feel that he has no grounds for filing a suit against me?

 

[Bill Roy]

If the person cannot be identified then you have no major problem.

For safety sake take screen shots of visitor numbers and if possible geographic location of such visitors, this is so that if he does try anything you can point out how unlikely it is that any visitor would be able to identify the husband, important in a case of libel.

This advise is from a UK perspective but I would imagine in most States in the US the same is applicable, and always remember you have a right to free speech so if what you said in your blog was true then you have nothing to worry about.

I have not visited your blog as I did not want to inflate the number of visitors (more visitors = more chance of the husband being recognised = bad in court for you).

Good luck.

 

[Theo]

I'd be more concerned about him acting outside of the legal system. Frankly, you've put way too much personal information on the blog. My suggestion: take down the article, change your phone number and sleep better at night.

 

[Domagon]

You don't mention anything overly specific - ie. no other people's names, etc.

And more to the point, truth is generally a solid defense against a claim of libel.

I see such threats all the time on forums, blogs, etc ... such legal threats, the vast majority of the time, are nothing than hot air - to pursue a lawsuit costs money; unless he has some solid evidence, it's quite likely such a suit would be quickly thrown out anyways.

With all that said, Acroplex makes a valid point though about your personal safety ... if you feel he could get violent, then taking the article down (or hiding it from public view) may be prudent ... otherwise, my opinion is, stand your ground and leave it up.

Ron

 

[hbalagh]

neither one of them have a job and are living out of his moms house... so im not sure he can even come up with the money to file it....besides it's going to be very hard to prove who she is...being how i never mentioned who my g/f on my blog is...i never even mentioned on my blog that i had a g/f before that post... and I, IMO am not slandering either one of them just saying that i can't be involved like that anymore

 

[Dale Hubbard]

Take the article down. The whole thing is meaningless in a legal sense, but as Acroplex suggests, why make it a problem?

 

[PalmBeach]

Security Alert - Phone numbers on Google

Google has implemented a new feature which enables you to type a telephone number into the search bar and hit enter and you will be given the person's name and address. If you then hit Map, you will get a map to the person's house.

Everyone should be aware of this! It's a nationwide reverse telephone book.
If a child gives out his/her phone number, someone can now look it up to find out where he/she lives. The safety issues are obvious, and alarming.


Note that you can have your phone number removed or blocked. I tried my number and it came up along with the Google map and directions straight to our house. A little scary for some of us.
.
Look up your own numbe. In order to test whether your phone number is mapped, go to Google, http://www.google.com/

Type your phone number in the search bar (i.e. 555-555-1212) and hit enter. If you want to BLOCK Google from divulging your private information, simply click on your telephone number and then click on the Removal Form. Removal takes
48-hours.

 

[DomainBELL]

I agree wtih Acroplex.... just remove it...

It's not worth the hassel....


~DomainBELL (Patricia)

 

[jberryhill]

Okay... I want the last five minutes of my life back...

I can't for the life of me find anything in that article that could be considered in any way defamatory, even if it did identify an individual.

If you want to, you can say, "I'm not sleeping with Joan Smith anymore because her husband Bill Jones is a possessive jerk." It still wouldn't be defamatory.

In order to defame someone you must, at a minimum, publish factually untrue information about them which causes harm to them. And by "harm", I don't mean they feel bad about it.

There are some other bells and whistles there, but since I can't even find where you said anything in particular about anyone else, I'll stick with "Bill Jones is a possessive jerk."

That statement is not even capable of being factually true or untrue. What is a "possessive jerk", and how do we establish objectively whether he is either possessive, a jerk, or both? Not only that, but a good many people would believe, as Bill is married to Joan, that being a "possessive jerk" is a laudable quality of his. I mean, I don't know how to break this to you, but it's not as if the opinion of bi-sexual women is held in high regard by a substantial element of the public (and you know the kind of people I mean).

The point is, no judge or jury is going to consider the truth or falsity of the proposition of Bill Jones being a "possessive jerk", let alone what palpable harm has come to him by your saying it. You are as entitled to your opinion of him as you are entitled to write about it.

To be utterly frank, there is nothing more boring to me than the personal lives of others, regardless of how colorful or interesting they may believe their personal lives to be. I have happily reached the mental age of old fartitude, which I suppose is indistinguishable from being broadminded. Having served on a jury some months ago where three days of my life were spent pondering the cause of some woman's knee injury, I can only recoil in horror with empathy for the hypothetical jury empaneled for the purpose of probing the personal lives of three people and the consequences of your having mentioned anything about it on your blog.

I did, however, very much like the pictures of your trip to Morocco. No, I am not buying you a cup of coffee.

 

[Devil Dog]

I have happily reached the mental age of old fartitude, which I suppose is indistinguishable.

haha, fartitude...

This is why I like this man.