defamation

j3wish

Hi forum, can a person take action against someone who has maliliciously discussed there details on the net?

haz

j3wish wrote: »

Hi forum, can a person take action against someone who has maliliciously discussed there details on the net?

Try http://www.digitalrights.ie/2006/01/06/libel-laws-in-ireland/ and http://www.digitalrights.ie/category/defamation/ for an introduction to online defamation. If the material is not false or defamatory then there may be privacy issues. Legal action (or reputation management companies) may actually worsen the situation by creating additional exposure.

ISPs take a much weaker line of resistance than other media and the quickest, most effective action is to consult the ISP hosting the material and explaining if it is false, why it is malicious, etc. The IOL / Esat BT Acceptable Use Policy, for instance, allows termination without notice or explanation of a customer account (and deletion of their web content) for breaches of "6. Harass users (on Esat BT or elsewhere). Examples of harassment include sending email or real-time messages to a user who has asked explicitly and unambiguously that you not do this. Publishing someone's real-world data (phone number, address etc.) in a news group or on the web, etc. in such a way as to cause the person trouble or to incite others to do so (even if you do not do it yourself) is also forbidden. Establishing that the information you published is available, say, in a phone book somewhere does not constitute a defence of this kind of harassment. In some cases, an harassing user may be warned against engaging in similar behaviour with other users as well." (http://content.iol.ie/home/about-acceptpolicy.htm).

The previous version of this policy prohibited customers from "causing annoyance", which is so broad as to include differences of political opinion or comment about current affairs.

All ISPs have similar policies and telephone support - emails are generally ignored.