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Potential litigation warning

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Post by Admin Wed 3 Apr 2013 - 10:12

We've had a business contact us today to report an abuse as slanderous or defamatory (Members may recall a Mr Claus and his business allegedly offering a dodgy service) The business has now been taken over by new owners and they were concerned that their business may be affected by the comments posted on the forum.

We have a terms of service policy on the forum, and have to abide by certain rules as we can find ourselves open to legal action regarding content published on the forum. I would therefore urge members to please consider this before posting any defamatory comments about any individual or business.

We have warned certain members of this before, and at least one I can think of Neuvosleeper took offense at his apparent 'lack of freedom of speech' and as a result left the forum. This forum was setup to bring members together to share a common interest in Auto-Sleepers and discuss such. We prefer to look on the positive side of motorhome ownership and as with everything in life there will always be certain negatives.

It's not only the financial side of legal action taken against us that is a concern, it could also more seriously result in the loss of the forum. As a result of the comments published in the thread in question, it has now been fully removed from this site.

Remember the quote: 'Loose lips sink ships'

Admin.

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Post by kernowmike Wed 3 Apr 2013 - 18:51

can I add my thoughts on legalities

it has always been my opinion that FREEDOM of SPEECH must remain and is the basis of our society .......however when putting my thoughts in writing I always start the sentence with IN MY OPINION if it is contentious ........... I even use the term "ALLEGEDLY" when quoting others

best intentions

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Post by CC Wed 3 Apr 2013 - 19:39

Hi Mike....

Members can have FREEDOM of SPEECH by creating their own websites or blogs. up!

CC

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Post by dandywarhol Wed 3 Apr 2013 - 22:00

CruizingComet wrote:Hi Mike....

Members can have FREEDOM of SPEECH by creating their own websites or blogs. up!

CC

I think that's a bit simplistic CC (in my opinion winks )

If there's no truth told or advice given to help others then what's the point of having a FORUM - after all, the function of a forum is a place to have a discussion or debate. Let's not take censorship/cotton wooling too far - I think Mike's point of covering oneself is reasonable.

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Post by Cymro Wed 3 Apr 2013 - 22:16

Admin wrote:

We have a terms of service policy on the forum, and have to abide by certain rules as we can find ourselves open to legal action regarding content published on the forum. I would therefore urge members to please consider this before posting any defamatory comments about any individual or business.

Admin.

Thank you for this timely reminder. Of course, it's not just the forum administrators who could be exposed to risk, but - as the recent Twitter litigation involving Lord McAlpine has shown - the individuals who post defamatory material on social media are also personally at risk. And rightly so. Nothing has changed at law. Of course, to run a civil action in defamation is very expensive - but, in certain circumstances, the resulting damages (with costs) can also be significant.

As long as we all continue to bear in mind that, if we do not know with absolute certainty that something is true, then we shouldn't say it, then all will be well. That doesn't limit free speech.
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Post by Admin Thu 4 Apr 2013 - 0:07

Hi Cymro

Thanks for understanding the seriousness of this situation.


dandywarhol wrote:If there's no truth told or advice given to help others then what's the point of having a FORUM - after all, the function of a forum is a place to have a discussion or debate. Let's not take censorship/cotton wooling too far - I think Mike's point of covering oneself is reasonable.

Hi dandywarhol

You are correct in that the forum is here to give advice, to offer help and advice to others and share a general interest. However, members DO NOT have the liberty to name individuals and/or any business in a derogatory manner be it factual or otherwise. The member posting this information doesn't share the same concerns as the staff of this forum as they have nothing to loose. (except for being banned)

In these situations If comments are not removed in a very short time scale after a report is made, then as far as our hosts are concerned, we have broken our terms of service. As a result of which, the forum can be terminated if we do not take appropriate action.

We have experienced a number of posts from certain members trying to influence other members to take action against Auto-Sleepers for example, which totally goes against what the forum was started for. Also some members have belittled the service or quality of certain businesses, some of these posts may have good intentions behind them but they are clearly defamatory, incidentally most posts of this nature are made by members who have a very low post count and who contribute little else to the forums in anyway.

We do not take censoring of any comments lightly, if posts are edited or removed it's done for good reason. We request members understand the seriousness of any legal challenges and the potential repercussions and resulting loss to all our members.

Thank you for understanding.



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