Ok, probably like me, many of you express opinions on Consumer Sites on everything from cars to holidays to mobile phones. Wonder if these Consumer Sites ever get heavy Legal pressure to remove posts?

But if I have a personal grievance against someone or something, I'm just wondering how far you can go. You know how the petrol (gas) station guy used to pin up a dishonoured (bouncy) cheque/check years ago for all the other Customers to see? Wonder if in YOUR Country you can legally scan this cheque and post it on your website for all to see?

Wonder if the food was lousy yet they failed to even partly accommodate your complaint - you can just stick a notice on some free space you may have on the web "Don't eat at Joe's Restaurant 'cos the food is lousy".

I notice my own solicitors (lawyers) now have a whole department dedicated to internet law and misrepresentation.

A worthy discussion?

Tony.

No.

(just kidding)
So far I've only put good reviews up.
I once had a site that reviewed ZOOS in the USA...and I nailed a couple of 'big names' pretty hard for being a lousy value for the family buck. There was nothing they could do...it was personal opinion. Bottom line was...noby else gave a poop either...you basically waste your time. The closest thing to such mass posting of opinion is on eBay Feedback...pretty worthless in many cases because you don't dare post a negative because you will get a retaliatory negative screwing up your numbers. And again...who cares...people will belive what they want. The worst dog pit retaurants have their customers that think they fly with angels...your gripe is not likely to change that.

Doug

Have you never read a site like http://www.carsurvey.org ? Don't you believe something on this scale can affect buyers choices? Don't you believe that people type in Google - "Nokia phone reviews" or "Landrover Freelander reliability" etc. BEFORE making a major purchase (I don't own a Landrover!!)
But my point is about posting something like someone's rubber cheque. Even though nobody probably cares a poop, don't you think to the person who's given you that dud it would make them think about paying you and getting it removed? Or could this lead to the internet becoming a cesspit of lies, accusations and counter accusations?

"Or could this lead to the internet becoming a cesspit of lies, accusations and counter accusations?"

LEAD to? hahahaha. Now that's funny!

OK...if I got a bad check and it wasn't taken care, I guess I'd just go through the normal procedures. The problem I see is that things can escalate...he then posts on his website and now your name is mud for no reason either...I don't know...Revenge is just not my game and doesn't fit into my Golden Rule book...not yet anyway. I did buy a Baretta once...haven't had to use IT yet either.

I want to hear about your puppet!


Doug

Posting personal opinion on the internet is perfectly legal. However, it does come under the same rules as any other defamation so you should be careful what you say, and how you say it. Actually, if you are convicted of defamation it is tried in the country it was read, not the country of origin. This means that for one post on the internet you could be tried in......well, lots of different countries!!

However, to be considered defamation your statement (in most countries defamation law is fairly similar) must meet certain criteria, and generally, a personal opinion from a member of the public does not meet these criteria.
An Example: If Mr Gates was to post a nasty commment about a Mac computer that he just purchased, it would probably be considered defamatory (due to his vested interest in the computer industry). However, if I was to make the same post, it may not be considered defamatory.

Which puppet is that Doug? We have about 30.


Thanks Chris, 'kinda thought I'd gone up the Yellow Brick Road here with this one . . .