Could I get sued for creating a consumer watchdog website ?

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  • Paul
    Confirmed User
    • Nov 2002
    • 2637

    #1

    Could I get sued for creating a consumer watchdog website ?

    I was wondering if anyone here could give me any insight into this ? basically I would like to create a website to make customers aware of bad companies. The website would have the ability for surfers to tell their stories about their bad experiences.

    My concern, could the website be sued for slander ?

    Any UK people know if http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog have ever been sued ?
  • Theo
    HAL 9000
    • May 2001
    • 34515

    #2
    in theory you can be sued
    in practise i doubt

    Comment

    • Paul
      Confirmed User
      • Nov 2002
      • 2637

      #3
      Originally posted by Soul_Rebel
      in theory you can be sued
      in practise i doubt
      You see this is my concern

      I was thinking that if each 'publisher' of information had their own account with the website then the publisher of the information would be responsible for the info they publish.

      Similar to forums, i.e gfy.com can't be responsible for the information that its users post on its forum, or can it ?

      Anyway I thought this might be a way around the problem, I need someone to confirm this though because I just don't know

      Comment

      • SmokeyTheBear
        ►SouthOfHeaven
        • Jun 2004
        • 28609

        #4
        Originally posted by Coatsy
        You see this is my concern

        I was thinking that if each 'publisher' of information had their own account with the website then the publisher of the information would be responsible for the info they publish.

        Similar to forums, i.e gfy.com can't be responsible for the information that its users post on its forum, or can it ?

        Anyway I thought this might be a way around the problem, I need someone to confirm this though because I just don't know

        anyone can get sued for anything.. winning is not as easy...

        Having a forum does not limit your liability. Do you think lensman would be a-ok if everyone posted cp or if everyone plotted to kill the prez, just because he didnt post it ? i think not..
        hatisblack at yahoo.com

        Comment

        • SmokeyTheBear
          ►SouthOfHeaven
          • Jun 2004
          • 28609

          #5
          oh and slander is spoken , libel is written...
          hatisblack at yahoo.com

          Comment

          • Rob
            I'm a great bowler.
            • Nov 2003
            • 13310

            #6
            Originally posted by Coatsy
            I was wondering if anyone here could give me any insight into this ? basically I would like to create a website to make customers aware of bad companies. The website would have the ability for surfers to tell their stories about their bad experiences.

            My concern, could the website be sued for slander ?

            Any UK people know if http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog have ever been sued ?
            As long as you don't make shit up then I don't see how they could have grounds to sue you. Movie companies don't sue critics for giving bad reviews. Consumer Reports has been around for ages and I'm pretty sure they haven't been sued.

            You are entitled to your opinion and I'm sure that if you share it or allow others to share their opinion then there is no fear of being sued. I think it's a good idea and go for it.

            Comment

            • Doctor Dre
              Too lazy to set a custom title
              • Jan 2001
              • 51692

              #7
              This kind of website have been arround for a while... I've never seen somebody get sued, however, Megatron's scam.com (guerilla) got DDOS badly by russiasn after he exposed the russian wife thing (wifeys going to us/canada to marry a man, then leave him with no credit, and just come back to her russian pimp like 2 years later)
              Originally posted by rayadp05
              I rebooted, deleted temp files, history, cookies and everything...still cannot view the news clip. All I see is that fucking gay ass music video from "Rick Roll". Anyone else have a different link to the news clip?

              Comment

              • Paul
                Confirmed User
                • Nov 2002
                • 2637

                #8
                Originally posted by SmokeyTheBear
                oh and slander is spoken , libel is written...
                Thanks for explaining that

                Originally posted by SmokeyTheBear
                anyone can get sued for anything.. winning is not as easy...

                Having a forum does not limit your liability. Do you think lensman would be a-ok if everyone posted cp or if everyone plotted to kill the prez, just because he didnt post it ? i think not..
                Thats certainly some food for thought

                Originally posted by Rob
                As long as you don't make shit up then I don't see how they could have grounds to sue you. Movie companies don't sue critics for giving bad reviews. Consumer Reports has been around for ages and I'm pretty sure they haven't been sued.

                You are entitled to your opinion and I'm sure that if you share it or allow others to share their opinion then there is no fear of being sued. I think it's a good idea and go for it.
                Cheers

                Originally posted by Doctor Dre
                This kind of website have been arround for a while... I've never seen somebody get sued, however, Megatron's scam.com (guerilla) got DDOS badly by russiasn after he exposed the russian wife thing (wifeys going to us/canada to marry a man, then leave him with no credit, and just come back to her russian pimp like 2 years later)
                Thats a quality domain name I guess I'll do more research myself and see if creating a website like this is worth the risk

                Comment

                • Mr Dickovitch
                  Confirmed User
                  • Jul 2004
                  • 1070

                  #9
                  What if you had a very profitable legitimate company, then some dickhead posts false information about your company on a website? What if your company was making so much money that a $100,000 lawsuit wasn't a big deal?
                  If you can make sure the things posted are true then it should be OK, but if you are going to post lies about companies then you'll probably get sued eventually and that'll be what you deserve.

                  Comment

                  • Paul
                    Confirmed User
                    • Nov 2002
                    • 2637

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Mr Dickovitch
                    What if you had a very profitable legitimate company, then some dickhead posts false information about your company on a website? What if your company was making so much money that a $100,000 lawsuit wasn't a big deal?
                    If you can make sure the things posted are true then it should be OK, but if you are going to post lies about companies then you'll probably get sued eventually and that'll be what you deserve.
                    Well that is one of the problems, how can I prove that what people post is the truth?

                    I've thought about the point you have made, unfortunately with the internet its very difficult to prove/disprove if someone is legit or making up false information.

                    I could certainly see how a company would be most upset if people where making up false accusations about their company and wanted to sue

                    Comment

                    • SmokeyTheBear
                      ►SouthOfHeaven
                      • Jun 2004
                      • 28609

                      #11
                      might wanna check out www.ripoffreport.com and see how they go about it
                      hatisblack at yahoo.com

                      Comment

                      • Paul
                        Confirmed User
                        • Nov 2002
                        • 2637

                        #12
                        Originally posted by SmokeyTheBear
                        might wanna check out www.ripoffreport.com and see how they go about it
                        Thanks

                        Comment

                        • EroticySteve
                          Confirmed User
                          • Mar 2005
                          • 4365

                          #13
                          It depends on how it's moderated too. I would suggest reviewing posts for spam as well as gross inaccuracies. I think if you're making a concerted effort to manage the quality of your information you should be able to limit your liability.

                          If a company contacts you, it would be advisable to listen to their concerns and delete posts that are baseless and perhaps inflammatory.
                          You deserve to make more money. I'll help you do that.
                          Our affiliates earn up to $3/email or $107/sale

                          email steve <at> eroticy.com - icq 290153464

                          Comment

                          • Marshal
                            Biz Dev and SEO
                            • Jun 2005
                            • 15223

                            #14
                            Originally posted by Rob
                            As long as you don't make shit up then I don't see how they could have grounds to sue you. Movie companies don't sue critics for giving bad reviews. Consumer Reports has been around for ages and I'm pretty sure they haven't been sued.

                            You are entitled to your opinion and I'm sure that if you share it or allow others to share their opinion then there is no fear of being sued. I think it's a good idea and go for it.
                            i totally agree!
                            ---
                            Busy ranking websites on Google...

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