Google sued over defamatory postings

[Blue Velvet]

Before anyone gets too angry, this may be only applicable to UK companies and the case is in progress at the moment...

But ... if the plaintiff wins his case, we'll have to lay off having a go at Vodaphone, here on MacRumors, when they screw up our iPhone activations, won't we?

Google, the world's biggest search engine, is being sued by a London businessman in a landmark legal action that could hold the US-based company liable for the publication of inaccurate, malicious or damaging material on the internet.

The case, the first of its kind in this country that seeks to make search engines responsible for the content of the internet - could trigger severe restrictions on the free flow of information on the web.

Last night, internet experts warned that if the action was successful it would mean Google could be held liable for the content of 11.5 billion web pages.

The case is being brought by a 48-year-old man from Wembley who has instructed a City law firm to begin defamation proceedings after the search engine directed users to web pages that the businessman claims contained "deeply offensive and commercially damaging" material about his enterprises

US judges have ruled that search engines and other third party internet service and product providers are immune from defamation lawsuits. But in Britain, similar legal protection is conditional on the company not having notice of the complaint. And in Britain that area of the law is yet to be fully tested.

Mr Retkin, whose internet company is a domain name registrar (a company that allows customers to register domain names on the internet), says he has spent three years trying to persuade Google to permanently remove the libellous allegations from its search results.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2720094.ece

 

[xUKHCx]

Interesting case. personally i don't think the guy has a leg to stand on in this incident. If he wins then we will probably go back to a state where it is practically impossible to search the internet.

 

[0007776]

I hope that this guy loses the case and has to pay a lot in legal fees.

 

[Queso]

I smell the stench of Redmond influence

 

[Blue Velvet]

I smell the stench of Redmond influence

Open the windows, please.

 

[wintergreen]

www.dodgy.domains

I believe this is the guy who sells domains like http://www.mercedes.cars and http://www.space.shuttle

http://www.dotworlds.net

make your own minds up about this one.

w

 

[killerrobot]

Wow. Seems like a stretch to say Google is responsible to me, but I could see why the guy is mad if he's been trying for several years to get that site removed from the search.
I don't see why he doesn't try to close down the site that has the defamatory information on it instead of suing Google?

 

[Deepdale]

As is often the case, winners here will be the selected lawfirms on both sides that milk discovery and litigation for all they are worth.

 

[mkrishnan]

I don't see why he doesn't try to close down the site that has the defamatory information on it instead of suing Google?

The claim seems to be that the information keeps popping up (on forums, belike) here and there, faster than they can shut it down. But perhaps, if the information is truly defamatory, that means stricter actions should be taken against the sites that allowed the information to be posted in the first place (and perhaps also against the practice of allowing anonymous posting).

I don't think this is the right solution at all, but this certainly is an important issue with the substantial rise in user-generated content on the web in the past couple of years. There is a terrible amount of libel, defamation, invasions of privacy, etc, that goes on for instance at MySpace, and the response to it really hasn't been satisfactory to date. The system of moderators seems to work much of the time, although really only (1) on sites with well-behaved members and (2) if there are clear rules in place.

This person's case seems outside of the realm of impact on normal people, but consider defamation from someone's girlfriend or boyfriend getting drunk after a breakup and posting defaming or libelous or slandering information on their blog. That issue happens to plenty of people to be a concern.

 

[iMeowbot]

I don't see why he doesn't try to close down the site that has the defamatory information on it instead of suing Google?

I'm guessing that there are Google operations in the UK, and that the original material may be hosted in a different country. That would be very close to the situation that got Demon into trouble a few years ago.

 

[Deepdale]

... There is a terrible amount of libel, defamation, invasions of privacy, etc, ... from someone's girlfriend or boyfriend getting drunk after a breakup and posting defaming or libelous or slandering information on their blog. That issue happens to plenty of people to be a concern.

Good points raised in your post. Irresponsible behavior is a growth industry on the internet and reigning it in will be one of the monumental challenges facing users in the future. Personally, I think this monster will be very difficult to tame. The genie is out roaming freely and will not go quietly back into the bottle.

 

[killerrobot]

The claim seems to be that the information keeps popping up (on forums, belike) here and there, faster than they can shut it down. But perhaps, if the information is truly defamatory, that means stricter actions should be taken against the sites that allowed the information to be posted in the first place (and perhaps also against the practice of allowing anonymous posting).

That makes more sense. But still, if it's popping up in forums and all, how does Google become responsible? And what about yahoo or msn or any other search engine?

It is easy to start up a free site and flame whatever you want, so I guess something should be done but it just seems like it would be a hard thing to absolutely control (unless you're China ).