doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What is considered liable and slander

Seems I can't even ask a question without an attack....

sO I just deleted my question on "defamation of character and slander".

Libel is a written falsehood, slander a verbal one. If it is against a business, it can be actionable as disparagement. Generally, public figures have less standing to bring these actions than the private citizen. Damages can be difficult to prove, but so long as any damage can be established ($1.00) then the door is open for punitive damages. Finding attorneys to take the typical cases between individuals can be difficult as their time is valuable and such actions rarely offer a big pay off, so the plaintiff would have to have the deep pockets to fund the costs of the litigation. As others have stated, truth of the statement is an absolute defense. If the statement was clearly in jest, in many instances that will make an action in libel difficult to maintain.

In my opinion, because members of this forum go by "pen names" it would be very difficult to prove any damages. In fact it is entirely possible that the feuds we see here between two people, could actually be one person pretending to be two people. When writing about a businessman or a person and there is a clear message directed against a "real" person or entity, it is always a good idea to be truthful.

This might also be an appropriate time to mention that many posts on this forum by some members which may be intended to be cute, funny or patriotic (and ring of religious intolerance) are not only in very bad taste but very much contrary to the underpinnings of our great nation, which was founded upon the noble foundation of religious tolerance. When I see such postings on a thread, I have decided not to call the poster what he is (un-American, shallow and stupid in both thought and temperament), but to no longer post on any thread that has been so contaminated with stupidity. This is an international community and as an American, I do not wish to lend my support to such statements by silence. Thus, you will no longer see me participating in the damascus discussions or any other discussion that has been so contaminated by foul, intolerant, or un-American thoughts of others.

Doug

HomelessjOe
Member


Registered: January, 15 2006
Posts: 1918
Loc: Memphis Tennessee

"That "bloom" looks like something my dog left on my Persian rug."


The above post (posted just yesterday) by joe is the perfect example of the illiterate nonsense that spews from this member on a daily basis...he has completely ruined the "Damascus Explained" thread and still he will not stop as Dave Weber has insisted...When he can't find an insult to level against someone, he simply jams their postings whith misspelled nonsense designed to impress Lowell Glenthorne...who makes replies like "oh no no no jo jo" ...

This system no longer needs their pillow talk...the members no longer need having their academic threads jammed with talk of Lowell's underwear and nonsense about shooting trespassers found on property that he has deluded himself into thinking he owns...This system has no means of dealing with their sexual double entendre either...

I hope Dave stands you two punks in the corner for a couple of weeks. You just don't get it.

As long as we're on the subject, do the members or the owner of this system inadvertently incur any liability when a member openly demonstrates (post) racial hatred toward black people as Homelessjoe has done? Supposing some kid reads his posts and becomes seriously offended in a lasting way? Also, at the time, I demanded that he remove the posts. Even after being made aware of how damaging these posts could be to a young reader, he and Lowell refused to take the offensive material down. After that doesn't the responsibility fall to the moderators or site administrators? How far can this member legally go? How far do the members and web administrator allow this person to go before it's the proper time to protest his hurtful posts?

Listen Hansli,
Homelessjoe has made many sideways insults towards me since Dave has insisted "cease fire"...and the ONLY time you open your mouth is when I DEFEND myself...We were talking legality when you showed up with "punk" in your mouth...

If Dave revokes my membership for defending myself and others, it won't be temporary...because I will never post here again...due to the fact that I am the default librarian to a large percentage of the surviving data that has become the currecny of choice here, it would mean that he would pay a far larger price than I...and for what, to defend a couple of pigeons who bring him liability and discuss their underwear?

Hansli, you are slick...like you didn't notice that I had no participtation in this thread 'til joe made some veiled attempt to threaten me with a law suit...like you don't SEE that it is JOE WHO WON"T STOP

Robert-

Might I suggest that by you repeating the foul and insensitive rhetoric of others you are doing nothing more than publishing it again and thus giving it more life than it deserves.

Perhaps you should consider my approach and simply refuse to post on any thread where offensive comments have been made? Let those with their dirty minds remain together in the gutter and those who condone nasty or intolerant discussions become associated with the ugliness of others.

Realize we are all guests here and because it is not our house we have no power to ask anyone to stop or to leave. But we do have the power of self-restraint.

If enough good people leave when a bad person enters the house, then perhaps the host will consider whether the bad person is worth having in his house. If the ugliness of others ends valuable discussion, so be it, it is the host of this forum who can control it, not the guests.

Doug

Robert Chambers,
Data notwithstanding, I think your self absorbed treatises re: this 'dispute' are nauseating. If you were able to view your discourses as the rest of us have, you would be mortified. Stay away from the subject and spare us all. Punks is plural, by the way. Wake up, buddy. And that's all I have to say about that.

Thanks Doug,
I'm am agreement with you, but it's a little more complicated than that. The offensive posts were based on a photo that I had posted, suggesting that it was evidence. How do you respond in a situation like that? Insisting that he remove it from the thread that I had just spent several hours working on, was the only answer I could come up with at the time. He chose not to.

Robert-

I do understand your frustration. However, the expectation of ownership or control over a thread that you started or to which you have contributed is simply non-extant in the context of this forum. The host/moderators of this forum are the ones who police it.

If they do not share your respect for the time, effort or sensibilities of others, you will simply have to contribute according to their rules, or you can chose not to participate. I will continue to participate so long as the discussion is civil. When the discussion becomes debased, I will no longer participate. I've nothing to contribute compared to you and many others, so it is no great loss to the community. Should the forum lose your knowledge and resources, it would indeed be a great loss.

Because you asked, I would recommend you exercise self-restraint. If you do not care for the direction of the discussion, you can do as I have decided to do, and that is to simply end participation in the discussion.

Doug