The 'Industry' Of Liable is Nothing New.
Bocca della Verità is situated in the atrium of St. Mary's in Cosmedin church in Rome. According to popular belief it was said that anyone putting his hand in this mouth and swearing falsely, could not withdraw it.
Little known other ‘mouths of truth’ are in Florence and they were used for, some would say, less noble services. They were carved lions heads with a gaping mouth and were used by the local government for citizens to leave notes accusing fellow citizens of a crime. It is believed that Leonardo da Vinci was arrested on homosexual charges because of an accusation placed in one of these heads.
The idea was that an accuser should put his name on the sheet of paper and his accusations, if the accusation turned out to be false the accuser would suffer punishment. Of course the accuser often did not put his name or put a false name. Nevertheless, if it suited the authorities of the time the accused could suffer harsh penalties for his alledged (and often falsified) crimes. Da Vinci escaped execution (the penalty for homosexuality in those days) because the father of his ‘friend’ was a high powered nobleman. Da Vinci was let off with a ‘light beating’.
So here we have a 14th century medium where anonymous accusers can post a note accusing a fellow citizen of crimes for which he has little chance of rebutting, even if he does, his reputation is now lost in the mire of public opinion and the ‘no smoke without fire’ attitude.
Of course society progressed, the law made sure that you had the right to face your accuser in a court of law where you could defend your honor and your reputation. Then some guy invented the Internet and we made a technological leap into cyberspace. Unfortunately at the same time the Bocca Della Verita went global.
On early Internet boards you used to post your actual name, I remember I used to do it. You can bet your bottom dollar the first person to use a ‘nom de plume’ on the web was someone just about to defame someone else, and there we were back in the 14th Century only this time we would not be dragged in front of a local authority and beaten or fined, we would be pilloried by competitors or rivals.
Take the case of Sue Scheff, who runs a small educational business in Weston, Florida. She filed a lawsuit in 2003 claiming she had been subjected to 10 months of ugly criticism on the internet from Carey Bock. Ms Bock, from Mandeville, Louisiana, had posted the comments on Fornits.com, a board used by parents of troubled teenagers.
A jury in Florida awarded Mrs Scheff $11.3m (£6m) in costs and damages after the former acquaintance Carey Bock accused her of being a crook, a con artist and a fraudster on an internet talkboard.
The award, believed to be the largest verdict of it sort relating to individual postings on bulletin boards or blogs, was handed down by a jury in Broward County, Florida. The sum included $5m (£2.7m) in punitive damages.
With almost two new blogs created every second, and 1.6m postings each day the mass of unmediated comment from individuals is changing the face of media law. "This is a growing trend because of the exponential growth in the number of people publishing on the internet who do not have the training or oversight of traditional hardcopy publishers," said Dave Heller, a lawyer with the New York-based Media Law Resource Center which monitors legal actions arising from the web.
Craig Delsack, a media lawyer in Manhattan, said that many bloggers were publishing first, thinking later: "People are thinking they can say what they want but they don't realise the long-lasting implications of what they write and that they can be held accountable. Posting is not like having a conversation in the bedroom with your boyfriend."
Several cases have come to court in which individuals have been sued by companies for their comments on the web. It is less common for private individuals, without either huge personal wealth or public profile, to sue each other.
Lawsuits currently before the US courts include that of Todd Hollis, a Pittsburgh lawyer, whose name appeared on DontDateHimGirl.com, a website on which women comment about the men they claim to have known. He is suing women who posted claims he was a transmitter of sexual diseases, which he denies.
The Florida case arose after Ms Scheff helped Ms Bock remove her children from a special school in Costa Rica. She says Ms Bock grew belligerent after she refused to give her confidential information for a documentary she was working on.
Ms Scheff says she is still paying off the legal fees and accepts she will get little of the $11m. "But this award is vindication. I hope it does make people think twice about what they post on the internet. When people post they are writing from emotion, and it can be very damaging."
Because Ms Bock failed to defend herself, media lawyers say the award is less likely to set a precedent.
She told USA Today that she had no money to pay the damages, and said she had been silenced. "I don't feel like I can express my opinions. Only one side of the story was told in court. Nobody heard my side," she said.
Mrs Bock may have been an angry law abiding citizen who just got carried away, we don’t know, but what if you accuser has something else in mind, something far more sinister than vengeance for a supposed slight, what if the mouth of truth has been hijacked for commercial purposes?
The ‘industry’ of liable has been around for many years, but it used to be called blackmail. Basically I will tell someone what you don’t want them to know unless you pay me $X. The perpetrator, however, had to be very careful that he or she didn’t make a mistake and trap themselves into getting found out. Imagine if you were of the criminal persuasion and you knew you could get away with blackmail every time because you are protected by law? Cue Anarchy..
However, we believe that this kind of situation is existent on the web as we speak. No we are not conspiracy theorists on some mission to ban the Internet we are just pursuing what we believe is a sinister practice being perpetrated by sinister people.
This practice involves making up accusations about a company and then offering to help the company remove the offending posts. All hiding behind anonymous IP's and legal loopholes that protect internet publishers. It is is a criminals dream.
Bocca della Verità is situated in the atrium of St. Mary's in Cosmedin church in Rome. According to popular belief it was said that anyone putting his hand in this mouth and swearing falsely, could not withdraw it.
Little known other ‘mouths of truth’ are in Florence and they were used for, some would say, less noble services. They were carved lions heads with a gaping mouth and were used by the local government for citizens to leave notes accusing fellow citizens of a crime. It is believed that Leonardo da Vinci was arrested on homosexual charges because of an accusation placed in one of these heads.
The idea was that an accuser should put his name on the sheet of paper and his accusations, if the accusation turned out to be false the accuser would suffer punishment. Of course the accuser often did not put his name or put a false name. Nevertheless, if it suited the authorities of the time the accused could suffer harsh penalties for his alledged (and often falsified) crimes. Da Vinci escaped execution (the penalty for homosexuality in those days) because the father of his ‘friend’ was a high powered nobleman. Da Vinci was let off with a ‘light beating’.
So here we have a 14th century medium where anonymous accusers can post a note accusing a fellow citizen of crimes for which he has little chance of rebutting, even if he does, his reputation is now lost in the mire of public opinion and the ‘no smoke without fire’ attitude.
Of course society progressed, the law made sure that you had the right to face your accuser in a court of law where you could defend your honor and your reputation. Then some guy invented the Internet and we made a technological leap into cyberspace. Unfortunately at the same time the Bocca Della Verita went global.
On early Internet boards you used to post your actual name, I remember I used to do it. You can bet your bottom dollar the first person to use a ‘nom de plume’ on the web was someone just about to defame someone else, and there we were back in the 14th Century only this time we would not be dragged in front of a local authority and beaten or fined, we would be pilloried by competitors or rivals.
Take the case of Sue Scheff, who runs a small educational business in Weston, Florida. She filed a lawsuit in 2003 claiming she had been subjected to 10 months of ugly criticism on the internet from Carey Bock. Ms Bock, from Mandeville, Louisiana, had posted the comments on Fornits.com, a board used by parents of troubled teenagers.
A jury in Florida awarded Mrs Scheff $11.3m (£6m) in costs and damages after the former acquaintance Carey Bock accused her of being a crook, a con artist and a fraudster on an internet talkboard.
The award, believed to be the largest verdict of it sort relating to individual postings on bulletin boards or blogs, was handed down by a jury in Broward County, Florida. The sum included $5m (£2.7m) in punitive damages.
With almost two new blogs created every second, and 1.6m postings each day the mass of unmediated comment from individuals is changing the face of media law. "This is a growing trend because of the exponential growth in the number of people publishing on the internet who do not have the training or oversight of traditional hardcopy publishers," said Dave Heller, a lawyer with the New York-based Media Law Resource Center which monitors legal actions arising from the web.
Craig Delsack, a media lawyer in Manhattan, said that many bloggers were publishing first, thinking later: "People are thinking they can say what they want but they don't realise the long-lasting implications of what they write and that they can be held accountable. Posting is not like having a conversation in the bedroom with your boyfriend."
Several cases have come to court in which individuals have been sued by companies for their comments on the web. It is less common for private individuals, without either huge personal wealth or public profile, to sue each other.
Lawsuits currently before the US courts include that of Todd Hollis, a Pittsburgh lawyer, whose name appeared on DontDateHimGirl.com, a website on which women comment about the men they claim to have known. He is suing women who posted claims he was a transmitter of sexual diseases, which he denies.
The Florida case arose after Ms Scheff helped Ms Bock remove her children from a special school in Costa Rica. She says Ms Bock grew belligerent after she refused to give her confidential information for a documentary she was working on.
Ms Scheff says she is still paying off the legal fees and accepts she will get little of the $11m. "But this award is vindication. I hope it does make people think twice about what they post on the internet. When people post they are writing from emotion, and it can be very damaging."
Because Ms Bock failed to defend herself, media lawyers say the award is less likely to set a precedent.
She told USA Today that she had no money to pay the damages, and said she had been silenced. "I don't feel like I can express my opinions. Only one side of the story was told in court. Nobody heard my side," she said.
Mrs Bock may have been an angry law abiding citizen who just got carried away, we don’t know, but what if you accuser has something else in mind, something far more sinister than vengeance for a supposed slight, what if the mouth of truth has been hijacked for commercial purposes?
The ‘industry’ of liable has been around for many years, but it used to be called blackmail. Basically I will tell someone what you don’t want them to know unless you pay me $X. The perpetrator, however, had to be very careful that he or she didn’t make a mistake and trap themselves into getting found out. Imagine if you were of the criminal persuasion and you knew you could get away with blackmail every time because you are protected by law? Cue Anarchy..
However, we believe that this kind of situation is existent on the web as we speak. No we are not conspiracy theorists on some mission to ban the Internet we are just pursuing what we believe is a sinister practice being perpetrated by sinister people.
This practice involves making up accusations about a company and then offering to help the company remove the offending posts. All hiding behind anonymous IP's and legal loopholes that protect internet publishers. It is is a criminals dream.
It is going on and we aim to expose it and those who are perpetrating the act. However, we need your help.
Have you been accused of something on the web, only to then have been asked to pay for its removal?
Have you been vilified wrongly on a blog or bulletin board?
Let us know, as we want to here from you. We aim to give resources on this site that will aid you in your defense of such allegations. We suspect we will be unpopular, when the hunter becomes the hunted, anything can happen. We are not the only ones who are not happy about the situation and are frustrated at the lack of protection from the law… our inspiration is http://defamation-libel.blogspot.com. Go there, there are many resources that can inform and help you.
Have you been accused of something on the web, only to then have been asked to pay for its removal?
Have you been vilified wrongly on a blog or bulletin board?
Let us know, as we want to here from you. We aim to give resources on this site that will aid you in your defense of such allegations. We suspect we will be unpopular, when the hunter becomes the hunted, anything can happen. We are not the only ones who are not happy about the situation and are frustrated at the lack of protection from the law… our inspiration is http://defamation-libel.blogspot.com. Go there, there are many resources that can inform and help you.
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