Is Chat-Room Speech Protected?
 

"Attorneys for Superior Court Judge Jane Ore Melvin say the chat-room message, insinuating she illegally lobbied then-Gov. Tom Ridge to appoint a friend to a vacant spot on the Allegheny County bench, was defamatory.

Her defamation lawsuit is pending while her lawyers try to get America Online to disclose the identity of the author. The appeal argued before the state Supreme Court on Monday was from an appeals court ruling that said the author must be identified."

http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,57918,00.html

It's not considered free speech when you defame someone. I guess this'll all be based on how serious the person seemed when he said it. Could be considered parody I guess.

Cocksmokers, it depends. All I know is that all of you are cheating cocksmokers. Defame this :321GFY

The fact that it was on a chat room or in a conversation in a bar or written in a book, does not make it any different in the eyes of the law.

Slander and libel are illegal, the fact that is was in a chat room shows how little the guy speaking was thinking. Anyone could have been listening or it could have been copied down and posted somewhere.

Probably nobody would have even known about it had the person that was allegedly "defamed" not made an issue out of it. If I was the judge, I'd throw this bitch out like a $2 whore.

Defamations lawyers should start trawling for trade on GFY!