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Huma Yusuf at ABC News has a July 20, 2008, post headlined "Lawsuits Against Bloggers Seen Rising." Also see "Insurance Journal: 42 Lawsuits Pending Against Bloggers. You might find the posts worthwhile to reads.
By the way, I try to read various takes on a subject I intend to post about, hoping I'll come across new information. I also use various versions to try to determine whether the information is plausible.
"As of July 1, 2008, thirty-nine (39) states have seen 149 personal injury lawsuits and 11 criminal suits filed against bloggers," reports Christopher J. Boggs in a July 14, 2008, post at Insurance Journal. Boggs notes:
Forty-two cases are still pending and 18 suits were resolved through pre-trial settlement. Only seven lawsuits have resulted in judgment against the defendant blogger," he reports. Nearly 77 percent of ALL civil cases were found in favor of the blogger or saw the charges dropped by the plaintiff.
Boggs said "92 percent of blog-related suits making it to trial end in blogger triumph (additional information available at Media Law Resource Center). Odds at trial are overwhelmingly in the blogger's favor, but there is no guarantee that this propensity towards blogger victory will continue."
To read his entire post, please see "Blogs Can Get Insurance Clients 'SLAPP'ed!"
CHICAGO, USA -- Houston Chronicle correspondent R.G. Ratcliffe reported September 20, 2007, that, "An unlikely Internet frontier is Paris, Texas, population 26,490, where a defamation lawsuit filed by the local hospital against a critical anonymous blogger is testing the bounds of Internet privacy, First Amendment freedom of speech and whistle-blower rights."
According to Ratcliffe, "A state district judge [Scott McDowell] has told lawyers for the hospital and the blogger that he plans within a week to order a Dallas Internet service provider to release the blogger's name. The blogger's lawyer, James Rodgers of Paris, said Tuesday [September 18, 2007] he will appeal to preserve the man's anonymity and right to speak without fear of retaliation."
To read this important article, see "Suit against blogger weaves legal web in Paris, Texas." We need to monitor this case very closely.
The headline on my May 28, 2007, post headlined Dave Winer Gets Legal Relief From Defamation Suit" is erroneous. So is the following paragraph:
Dave Winer at Scripting News has posted good news about his legal problems with his former lawyers and UserLand. If you've followed Dave as I have, you most likely know that he was sued for defamation by Jack Russo of Russo & Hale.The California law firm sued Winer and Scripting News, Inc, Winer's company, in August 2006, on behalf of minority shareholders of UserLand Software, Inc. It also sued UserLand while representing the minority shareholders in the action against Winer. See "Register of Actions/ Docket in Russo & Hale, LLP, et al v UserLand Software, Inc, et al. The case is listed as "open."
But Winer was not sued for defamation. It was a "derivative action" against him. He was the majority shareholder of UserLand, and was sued by the minority shareholders "with regard to claims for breach of fiduciary duty, waste, unjust enrichment, and fraud."
According to Russo & Hale's Michael Risch, who brought the error to my attention in a May 28, 2007, e-mail:
The lawsuit at issue was not for defamation, it was a derivative action for misappropriation of corporate assets 2. The motion for reconsider [link added] referenced in your blog has not been decided. It is therefore inaccurate to call it either successful or unsuccessful.Risch is correct. It is "inaccurate to call it either successful or unsuccessful" as long as a ruling is pending on Russo and Hale's motion asking Judge Joseph Huber of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, California, USA, to reconsider his March 8, 2007, ruling that said Russo & Hale was
representing itself in a direct action against UserLand and Winer with regard to a claim that Russo & Hale LLP is entitled to a 10% equity interest in UserLand and NEWCo.Judge Huber, a Stanford Law School graduate, who was admitted to the bar in 1967 and appointed judge by former California Governor Gray Davis, noted in his decision on Winer motion's to disqualify Hale & Russo:
As was the case in Apple Computer, Inc v. Superior Court (2005) 126 Cal.App.4th 1253, 1273, we are dealing with more than speculative conflicts and the appearance of impropriety. Russo & Hale LLP has placed itself in a position of divided loyalties by attempting to represent the minority shareholders on a claim against the majority shareholder while simultaneously representing itself on a separate claim that is adverse to the minority shareholders. This a direct conflict of interest and a ground for disqualification. Accordingly, Russo & Hale LLP are hereby disqualified from serving as counsel in the derivative causes of action.
I welcome and accept Risch's opinion. I also accept that the motion to reconsider has not been decided, and that it is a question that could conceivably be appealed if Russo & Hale don't prevail in their motion.
Dave Winer at Scripting News has posted good news about his legal problems with his former lawyers and UserLand. If you've followed Dave as I have, you most likely know that he was sued for defamation by Jack Russo of Russo & Hale.
"Russo & Hale sued UserLand, Scripting News, and myself, in August 2006," he notes.
Interestingly, "Russo was UserLand's attorney, a board member, secretary and my personal attorney, from 1988 to 2005," which presented a conflict for the firm when it tried to represent minority shareholders against majority shareholder Winer, while at the same time suing the minority shareholder and Winer. Here's the legal opinion on it. Here's Russo & Hales' attorney Michael Risch's unsuccessful motion to reconsider and Winer's successful opposition to the motion to reconsider.
Fortunately, the case was settled through mediation before anymore expenses were incurred. On May 10, 2007, Winer wrote:
Amount spent so far defending against Russo & Hale lawsuit (my former lawyers): $115,000.As for conclusion of the litigation, Winer wrote on May 25, 2007:
It was a marathon mediation, starting at 10 AM, finishing at 9 PM, but we reached a settlement, drafted an agreement, and signed it. Most of the terms are confidential, but the important point is that we executed mutual releases, so there won't be any lawsuits.
Here is more background on the case. Here's is Russo & Hale's case docket on it.
Unfortunately, prior to this experience, Dave was like many people who go into business and do things on solely on handshakes rather than contracts. This utopian approach suggest that cutting corners is costly, and that you will likely pay the lawyers and the accountants sooner or later. He wrote on March 31, 2007:
... if I want to clean up the mess that UserLand has become, now I have the ability to do so. It will still cost me personally many thousands of dollars, but it's a price I have to pay for having cut corners over the years. If I want my freedom, a bunch of lawyers and accountants and the government have to be paid. So be it.
So, what's the lesson that Dave has learned from all of this: "I learned a very important lesson here, one that my friend Jason Calacanis [link added] said at the OPML Road Show in NYC in 2005. If a deal is worth doing, it's worth documenting with a good agreement. Anyone who is doing business with me these days knows that I have embraced this ethos wholeheartedly! Wish I had been following it through the 80s and 90s. A word to the wise." See "An Untold Story of UserLand."
Editor's Note: According to Wikipedia, the photo used in this article was taken by Betsy Devine in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, on January 3, 2006. It "is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike License v. 2.5: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/."
I glad to see that the libel suit against Abraham "Yuga" Olandres, proprietor of Yugatech, a popular technology news site in the Philippines, has been dismissed. He wrote about it in a May 27, 2007, post headlined Surviving a Libel Case.
Yuga provides background in the post and thanks those who helped him financially, legally and otherwise.
I've worked on hundreds of lawsuits and it's not easy enduring them emotionally, especially if you don't have the resources to fight a well-funded plaintiff, and you are intimidated by the legal process.
Abe, will you be going back to your role at The Blog Herald?
By the way, we can all learn from Abe's experience. Any of us can get sued at anytime. Don't think it can't happen.
Have you heard about the January 31, 2007, libel suit that Nashville, Tennessee, USA-Vlogger Ron Coons filed against "John Wayne Oliphant Jr., a staff lawyer for the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development"?
I hadn't either until I read about it in an Associated Press article published in the March 19, 2007, edition of the Knoxville News Sentinel. See "Internet postings prompt libel lawsuits."
I also read about it in Nashville Tennessean staff writer Christian Bottorff's March 15, 2007, article headlined "Web libel cases increasing locally." The Tennessean provides a link to "Coons' lawyer's letter to Oliphant" and a link to Oliphant's response.
According to the Media Law Resource Center (MLRC), Coons sued Oliphant, Jr. "over a [December 2006] message sent via the Evite invitation service and a MySpace page which alleged that he had drugged young women at parties. In his answer to the law, Oliphant claims that the challenged statements are either true or protected opinion."
The MLRC keeps track of "Legal Actions and Developments Involving Blogs."
By the way, the opening paragraph in the Tennessean staff writer's article and the AP's seem to be identical. I've e-mailed Bottorff about this.
On March 6, 2007, Dakota County, Minnesota Judge Timothy Blakely dismissed a lawsuit filed two years ago against blogger Michael Brodkorb, proprietor of Minnesota Democrats Exposed. See "Findings, Conclusions of Law & Order for Judgment." Also see "Two edges to ruling that bloggers are journalists."
Blois Olson, described by by D.J. Tice at StarTribune.com as a "public relations executive and DFL political analyst," filed the suit alleging that Brodkorb "defamed him and his public relations firm, New School Communications, by asserting that Olson became critical of the Colleen Rowley congressional campaign only after his firm was denied a contract to work for the campaign," Tice notes."
"Abe Olandres, previously the editor of The Blog Herald, is fighting a ridiculous personal legal battle that not surprisingly is taxing his finances," London-based tech blogger Everton Blair told readers of his ConnectedInternet blog in a February 14, 2007 post.
"If you can help Abe," he wrote, "then please donate to the Legal Fund the Blog Herald have set up." Here's some background on the case from Abe's perspective.
To read more, please see "Bloggers United - Please Donate To The Abe Olandres Legal Fund." Also see the Blog Herald article headlined "The Abe Olandres Legal Fund."
I also encourage readers to help Abe, a Filipino blogger I've followed for quite sometime. He's facing legal action today. It could be one of us tomorrow.
"Bloggers are liable for defamation — just as in other forms of communication, lawyers and other experts said," Anis Ibrahim, a staff writer at The New Straits Times of Malaysia, reported January 25, 2007.
The Straits Times and four of its employees have filed a defamation suit against Screenshots blogger Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin bin Attan, who blogs at Rocky’s Bru. The action is being widely reported and commented on around the world.
Ibrahim said, "Kuala Lumpur Bar chairman Lim Chee Wee said statements on the Internet were simply writings in a different medium."
"You can call them blogs, online forums, websites, they’re all subject to the same defamation laws if offending statements are published," Ibrahim quoted Lim as saying.
Ibrahim said, "Lim agreed with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who said in London on Tuesday [January 23, 2007] that although bloggers would not be restricted, they could be subject to defamation, sedition and other laws." See "Malaysian Prime Minister: 'We Do not Censor The Internet... But...'"
"They cannot hide or take advantage of a situation and do something against the law," he [Badawi] said, Ibrahim noted.
He quotes Lim as saying: "I also welcome the prime minister’s statement that blogs will not be censored."
To read Ibrahim's entire post, please see "Bloggers subject to same rules."
Jayed.us, which provides "Internet and Technology News from around the globe," has an informative opinion on the controversy surrounding the pro-government New Straits Times Press' (NSTP) defamation suit against Screenshots blogger Jeff Ooi and Ahirudin bin Attan, who blogs at Rocky’s Bru. The parties live in Malaysia.
Jayed.us notes that:
In a curtailed mainstream media environment blogging has emerged as the last frontier for press freedom. ‘’It’s that fresh democratic space that this action is endangering,” parliamentary opposition leader Lim Kit Siang told IPS. “The NST defamation suits will have a chilling effect as litigation is so expensive that the costs will cripple and paralyse the ordinary individual blogger, making no contribution whatsoever to a healthy process to delineate and define the legal rights of bloggers and citizen journalists.’’ ‘’The suits will have far-reaching consequences for the healthy, mature and democratic growth for free speech and expression,’’ said Lim an enthusiastic blogger.To read Jayed.us' entire post, please see "Case Against Bloggers - Test for Freedom.But the action is based on numerous postings criticising senior editors and top company officials of the NST. Ooi and Atan had published a series of stinging articles and allowed comments by others in a running dispute with the NST over various matters. Some relate to alleged plagiarism by a senior NST editor. Independent observers said the two bloggers had gone ‘out of their way’ to single out the NST and their senior officials for constant criticism. “They virtually threw the gauntlet at the NST,” a newspaper editor uninvolved in the controversy told IPS. “I see it as a personality clash combined with a clash between the old and new media.”
Cindy Tham, Kimberley Lau and Husna Yusop, reporters at Sun2Surf, a "Malaysian source for news and lifestyle," reported 
January 23, 2007, that "News of Malaysia's first defamation law suit against two bloggers [ Screenshots blogger Jeff Ooi and Rocky’s Bru blogger Ahirudin bin Atan] has led many in the online community and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to rally together to protest against the legal action." They were sued by pro-government New Straits Times Press' (NSTP) and individuals affiliated with NSTP.
The trio said supporters "are displaying web banners on their blogs, initiated an online movement named Bloggers United and are setting up a fund in the name of blogger solidarity and freedom of expression to defend their rights in the court of law."
To read more, please see "Bloggers out to rally support against suit. Also see the Malaysia Star article headlined Fund to help bloggers facing legal action and "NST suits not birds of ill omen."
Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has addressed the controversy surrounding the defamation lawsuit the pro-government New Straits Times Press' (NSTP) and individuals affiliated with the NSTP filed against Screenshots blogger Jeff Ooi and Rocky’s Bru blogger Ahirudin bin Atan.
According to Bernama.com, the Malaysian National News Agency, the prime minister told journalist on January 23, 2007:
"And if you want freedom, what is freedom without responsibility?" he asked. "I don't agree with freedom without responsibility. Freedom without responsibility is anarchy. Actually it becomes irresponsible."We do not censor the Internet and that's our policy, but they (bloggers) must understand that there are also laws on defamation and sedition, for example.
"These laws are enforced. They should bear in mind that they cannot hide and they cannot take advantage of doing something against the law." Speaking in London, the prime minister added:"The law is the law. They cannot hide and hope to be protected under some kind of a cover or whatever they think that they have.
To read more, please see "Govt Won't Censor Internet Bloggers But They Must Be Responsible, Says Abdullah.
"Leave bloggers in Malaysia alone!" says Kean-Jin Lim in a January 18, 2007, post at 4896.
Kean-Jin Lim, currently a researcher working in Turku, Finland, has found 118 blog posts on the "New Straits Times Press (NSTP) honchos' defamation lawsuit against Screenshots blogger Jeff Ooi and Rocky’s Bru blogger Ahirudin bin Atan." I suspect there will be many more.
By the way, if NSTP thought this story was going to remain a Malaysian drama they miscalculated or did not understand the power and reach of the Internet. Come on fellas. Drop the suit against Jeff and Ahirudin. Even if you win you still lose.
Nathaniel Tan, proprietor of the Malaysian blog jelas.info, contends in a January 18, 2007, letter to the editor at MalaysiaKini that "New Straits Times Press' (NSTP) defamation lawsuit against Screenshots blogger Jeff Ooi and Rocky’s Bru blogger Ahirudin bin Atan will draw "public scrutiny" and "embolden bloggers even more."
He has a point. I will definitely keep my eye on this case.
Tan's January 18, 2007, Jelas.Info post headlined "NSTP vs. Bloggers and the Truth: Like an embarrassed animal in a corner" provides some background on the issue.
"I understand that the exact posts in question [for which the bloggers were sued] have yet to be revealed, but it seems reasonable to assume (especially given the list of people suing) that directly or indirectly, this involves the case of Brendan Pereira’s alleged plagiarism," Tan wrote at MalaysiaKini. The NSTP appears to have foregone an opportunity to let this fade away into forgotten history."
"Ultimately, however, by seeking vengeance on this matter, they will only be drawing public scrutiny to the very things that will shame them the most." See this Jeff Ooi comparison of articles written by Pereira and Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom.
Albom's column headlined "Remembering the day before the day" was published on September 10, 2006 and Pereira's column headlined "How Dearly We Miss June 6" was published on October 30, 2006. The next day Ahirudin bin Atan published "BRENDAN MEETS ALBOM.
Is it plagiarism?
For more background see "Malaysia editor in plagiarism row" and "Malaysian Bloggers Jeff Ooi And Ahirudin bin Atan Sued.
Also see "Southeast Asian Press Alliance Opposes Legal Action Against Bloggers.
"Malaysian blogosphere is protesting the defamation proceding launched by the New Straits Times Press (NSTP) against two bloggers - Jeff Ooi who writes Screenshots and Ahirudin (bin) Atan who writes at Rocky’s Bru," according to the Global Voices Online blog. The sued bloggers have confirmed it in posts at their blogs. Ahirudin bin Atan calls this "Uncharted waters.
None of us have passed this way before, so I shall have to tread carefully I'll need you to tread carefully, too, when you leave your comments.To read more, please see Global Voices' "Malaysia: Bloggers Sued." Also see Atan's January 18, 2006, post headlined "Bloggers sued in Malaysia."I have been served the papers. They dropped them on Tuesday evening [January 16, 2007], around 9.30 pm, at the National Press Club. They are applying for an injunction against Rocky's Bru, this blog. They are suing me for libel.
To read Ooi's account of being sued, see his post at Screenshots headlined "Bloggers sued in Malaysia."
If University of Arkansas at Little Rock law professor Robert Steinbuch's voyeuristic, May 2005 invasion of privacy lawsuit against screw-and-tell blogger Jessica Cutler "goes to trial, its outcome will be important both to bloggers and to people who chronicle their lives on social-networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook," The Associated Press reported December 27, 2006. Steinbuch's suit, which even has the judge wondering why the case was ever filed, is a
civil action for invasion of privacy for public revelation of private facts arises from the dissemination, on the World Wide Web, of a “blog” compiled by the Defendant Jessica Cutler, describing in graphic detail the intimate amorous and sexual relationship between Cutler and the Plaintiff.Cutler published the defunct "Washingtonienne" blog, which she used to chronicle her sexual escapades with the politically connected, married and unmarried, sugar daddies she slept with in Washington, ostensibly to make ends meet. Among them was Steinbuch, who, at the time, was a counsel to Senator Mike DeWine ( Republican from Ohio) on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Cutler was a 24-year old DeWine aide living in Washington on a meager salary. She started blogging about her escapades in 2004. The stuff hit the fan when Ana Marie Cox, at time editor of Nick Denton's gossipy Wonkette.com, discovered the salacious blog and linked to it. When that happened, Washington was embroiled in yet another sex scandal. Cutler's men tried to lay low until things blew over. But not Steinbuch. He decided to file suit, which will rehash all the dirt he claims he was so embarrassed by. Of course, Cutler was fired. In 2005 she published a novel titled The Washingtonienne. Steinbuch became a law professor in Little Rock, where I once lived.
To read the AP report, please see "Suit over 'Washingtonienne' sex blog tests boundaries of cyberspace journals.
Will a September 19, 2006, verdict in which a Broward County, Florida, jury awarded Sue Scheff, "who runs a small educational business in Weston, Florida," a $11.3 million judgment against Carey Bock of Mandeville, Louisiana, put a damper on what people write on their blogs?
Ben Penserga of The Daily Times of Salisbury, Maryland, discusses the issue in an October 13, 2006, post headlined "Will court case calm bloggers' attacks?" He does a good job of putting the story into a local context.
For background on the Florida case, see "Sue Scheff And Florida Company Win Empty Victory Over New Orleans Mom." Also see USA Today's October 11, 2006, article headlined "Jury awards $11.3M over defamatory Internet posts.
Congratulations to Lance Dutson at Maine Web Report. He announced May 5, 2006 that, "After suffering a week of merciless bludgeoning in the media, Tom McCartin and the rest of Warren Kremer Paino Advertising have withdrawn their lawsuit against me." See "Warren Kremer Paino Withdraws Lawsuit."
Also see the Media Blogger Association's May 5, 2006 post headlined "Unconditional Surrender by NY Ad Agency in Maine Blogger Case."
Here's the ad agency's "...Notice of Voluntary Dismissal Without Prejudice..." Here's the "Complaint, Request for Injunctive Relief, and Demand for Jury Trial" that was withdrawn.
My thanks to Lance for posting the legal documents in his case. Since I review complaints and conduct discovery five days a week, I automatically look forward to reading complaints in any legal dispute. Wanting to see the documents is a carryover from the period 1973 to 1987 when I worked soley as a journalist.
Following is an update to "Maine Blogger Sued by Ad Agency: Why?" While reading Microsoft Technical Evangelist Robert Scoble's post headlined Will Maine lawsuit hurt Pop!Tech? I discovered a link to Scott Johnson's FuzzyBlog report on ad agency Warren Kremer Paino Advertising, LLC's lawsuit against Lance Dutson, proprietor of the blog Maine Web Report.
Johnson's post is headlined "A Conversation with Tom McCartin of Warren Kremer Paino." It's the result of a telphone interview he conducted with McCartin. Great job. More of us should do this.
I didn't because I prefer to rely on the ad agency's complaint in Warren Kremer Paino Advertising, LLC v. Lance Dutson, which is "an action for copyright infringement, and an action for defamation and trade libel/injurious falsehood under Maine common law."
Continue reading "Update: Warren Kremer Paino Advertising V. Dutson" »
"Warren Kremer Paino Advertising has filed a 3 count multi-million dollar federal lawsuit against me for the reporting I’ve done in this blog," writes Lance Dutson, proprietor of the blog Maine Web Report. He noted in an April 27, 2006 post:
"They are claiming defamation, libel, and copyright infringement.
Dutson said, "Getting the sheriff to deliver the suit to me, in front of my kids and neighbors, is the latest freaked-out situation this Office of Tourism has put me in. I have to say this has disrupted the Dutson household a bit, that’s what happens when someone files a crushing lawsuit that, if successful, would utterly destroy my life."
To read Dutson's entire post, see "State Contractor Files Federal Lawsuit Against Me." Here are Dutson's posts on the Maine Office of Tourism. Here is Kremer Paino complaint against Dutson, who is a member of the Media Bloggers Association (MBA) . See "MBA Member Hit With Multi-Million Dollar Federal Lawsuit."
I urge Blogging Journalists readers to visit Dutson's site. He needs whatever support he can get. One of us may need it tomorrow.
C|net News.com's Blogma, which covers "hot blog topics chosen by editors & readers," contends that,
To read more, please see "Even bloggers are split over Apple case.Some might argue that bloggers aren't he most objective sources of public opinion on whether online journalists deserve the same First Amendment rights as traditional reporters. But even they," the publication said, "like the courts, are conflicted about the issue as it pertains to Apple Computer's related case heard in a California appeals court today.
I'm late with this: On April 6, 2006, The Associated Press reported that U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman allowed Robert Steinbuch v. Jessica Cutler
"to proceed"
The AP said, "The case brought by Senator Mike DeWine's former counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Robert Steinbuch, alleges that Cutler ["the former Senate aide who posted details of her sex life on the Internet"] engaged in an invasion of his privacy in 2004 by publishing sexually explicit facts about a relationship with Steinbuch." See "Judge Allows Sex Blogs Lawsuit to Proceed."
On March 14, 2006, Variety reported that "Sarah Jessica Parker is teaming with scribe Vanessa Taylor ("Jack & Bobby") for a half-hour HBO comedy based on "Washingtonienne," the steamy D.C.-set novel inspired by the real-life sexcapades" of Cutler."
Note: Links added.
Captain Ed over at Captain's Quarters has a very informative post on "raconteur, bon vivant, and - occasionally - a Toronto-based lawyer, author and consultant" Warren Kinsella's February 10, 2006 libel lawsuit against Mark Bourrie, publisher of the blog Ottawa Watch. See "Kinsella Sues Canadian Blogger." Also see TBJ's "Ottawa Sun: 'Prince of Darkness' Sues blogger"
I intend to keep TBJ readers updated on this case. It's just a matter of time before we have one here that results from political commentary. If you are aware of one that has already been filed in the United States, please let me know.
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