Irish Psychics Live Solicitor's Request for Apology and Removal of Defamatory Content on boards.ie
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Last week, we received a letter from McCann Fitzgerald, solicitors for Mr. Tom Higgins, MD of Realm Communications Ltd. which owns Irish Psychics Live.
To paraphrase, this letter referred to a number of defamatory posts on the site, and that weblogs (sic.) such as boards.ie should not be censored but the defamatory material had to be removed from this thread. In addition, there was a request for boards.ie to publish a sincere apology to Tom Higgins and Realm Communications Ltd. for one month, with an archived copy in perpetuity.
We agreed to remove the content, on the basis that it was not in line with elements of our acceptible use policy (which all individuals agree to on signup): "All messages express the views of the author, and neither the owners of boards.ie, nor Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd. (developers of vBulletin) will be held responsible for the content of any message." and "By agreeing to these rules, you warrant that you will not post any messages that are ... otherwise violative of any laws."
However, as a mere conduit, we saw no reason for boards.ie to publish an apology.
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"A simple email and we would
"A simple email and we would have taken the necessary action as we always do. It would have been a lot less expensive for their client."
Yes Roger, I couldn't agree more, but few lawyers will take the easy, inexpensive option, when their client can afford to pay them for the long, drawn out method. Bob.
[...] Even if such a case
[...] Even if such a case were pursued (and I don’t think it would be valid, since a poster’s opinions are their own [see previous Irish Psychics Live post]), it would only damage the overall boards.ie community (on the comments of one poster) and also the claimant’s reputation. Just ask us to remove dodgy content or defamatory material, and we’ll do it. Send us a solicitor’s letter and we will still do our best to remove problematic posts, but you will also get the extra negative PR associated with any bully tactics. [...]
Dead right John. You're
Dead right John. You're obliged to do something once it's brought to your attention - but no need for an apology.
I've had muppets sending 14 page faxes to me from Brazil, quoting the Brazilian constitution, with copies of Trademarks, affidavits, screenshots, the works for a relatively minor infringement of a trademark. A simple email and we would have taken the necessary action as we always do. It would have been a lot less expensive for their client.
Thankfully there are now a few instances of heavy-handed legal action backfiring on both lawyers and client which may push them towards a more simple approach of simply pointing out the problem and asking for it to be rectified.
Totally right Simon, there
Totally right Simon, there are some wonderful law firms out there and some even know the difference between a forum and a blog. I typed that comment too fast, thus all the mistakes, apologies to the clueful law firms out there. You know who you are.
Surely not all law firms can
Surely not all law firms can be clueless, Damien?
:)
McCann Fitzgerlad, the firm
McCann Fitzgerlad, the firm who keep press releasing about bloggers. See ENN,Siliconrepublic and some of the print publications for more details. I'm sure there are some law firms with their mouths wide-open dripping with saliva hoping to find a blogger they can sue. Law firms always like new territory or should I see potential new markets. Funny how they haven't a fucking clue about online matters when they can't tell the difference between a forum and a blog. Are they press releasing about things they do not understand?