Libel on the Internet... Help please!

[David_Grant]

Great to find this forum, hopefully someone can help!

I have been a subscriber for a while now to a forum dealing with the media. This forum is populated by media professionals- but mainly by teenage media 'anoraks.'

As a multimedia producer- I have an MCPS licence, which allows me to use music from music libraries upon payment of a fee to the composer.

As I am bound to do- every time I see a post offering a 'CD Rip' of this music- I post a message which explains how this music is distributed and a link to the MCPS web site.

Several members have taken objection to this- however the owner of the board requested in the past that I keep 'an eye' on the situation for him - which I agreed to do to help.

Yesterday- a member posted a message which offended me in public- he called me a profanity, and said my company was nothing.

As most of my collegues look at this board- I immediately reported the member- and asked the owner to ban him- according to the forum rules.

He wasnt banned- he was warned- and today other messages started to appear in peoples signatures that are stating who's side they are on- mine or this other users'.

I have once again emailed the owner of this site.I don't expect to receive a satisfactory reply.

My question is- how do I stop this forum from damaging my reputation in this way? How do I go about starting an action? (I am in The Netherlands- the site is in the UK, although I hold a UK passport).

This is really beginning to affect my life and reputation- please help!

Thank you in advance,
David Grant

 

[Rathi]

Well David, remove yourself from that forum, and don't start things via the internet that could damage your private/public life.

I'm not sure what you hope to do here?? Sue the board owner? Arrest the people posting bad messages about you???

I'm not sure of what kinda content this message board you're on consists of, but if you're walking into a pirating gang, preaching about not pirating... Erm... Don't. lol

Just read my sig b4 ya take to much of this post to heart, oki!

 

[David_Grant]

Originally posted by Rathi
Well David, remove yourself from that forum, and don't start things via the internet that could damage your private/public life.

I'm not sure what you hope to do here?? Sue the board owner? Arrest the people posting bad messages about you???

I'm not sure of what kinda content this message board you're on consists of, but if you're walking into a pirating gang, preaching about not pirating... Erm... Don't. lol

Just read my sig b4 ya take to much of this post to heart, oki!

Thanks, but doesn't really help- any genuine advice?

David Grant

 

[Rathi]

Originally posted by Rathi
=

I'm not sure what you hope to do here?? Sue the board owner? Arrest the people posting bad messages about you???

I think an internet forum would be ran by an admin/owner of the site. As far as I know, they set the rules/allow access to their choosing.
If you're asking if the law could step in, to moniter forums, I don't think they can.
If you mean the admin should be responsible for the users, and what they post, I'm not sure I would know how to go about that. A forums TOS usually contains a paragraph or two when you register for that site, (like thelaw.com forum!), releasing the responsility for the content posted on the board. Usually mentions we will try to remove offensive material, but no promises.. If the admin doesn't think the other members actions are "that bad", then I was just sayin' you should find another site to post, and invite your friends there......

Maybe I'm just not understanding what you're asking I guess m8..

 

[Michael Wechsler]

There is very little one can do, if anything, from preventing a general opinion made in public, e.g. "I think you're company is deader than driftwood." I'm not sure that others can be banned if they want to take sides and I think it should be expected. For example, try to be righteous with a group of warez sharers and you might not find a captive, open minded audience.

On a legal note, I'm not sure what you can do unless something is said that clearly crosses a boundary where the freedom of speech impinges upon the law. Was there libel? I don't think so. Is there another remedy? I don't know as I didn't see the comments and retaliation. What you should really keep in mind is the audience -- the teenagers are likely acting like teenagers. If you keep your cool than your peers know what the score is...

Originally posted by David Grant
Great to find this forum, hopefully someone can help!

I have been a subscriber for a while now to a forum dealing with the media. This forum is populated by media professionals- but mainly by teenage media 'anoraks.'

As a multimedia producer- I have an MCPS licence, which allows me to use music from music libraries upon payment of a fee to the composer.

As I am bound to do- every time I see a post offering a 'CD Rip' of this music- I post a message which explains how this music is distributed and a link to the MCPS web site.

Several members have taken objection to this- however the owner of the board requested in the past that I keep 'an eye' on the situation for him - which I agreed to do to help.

Yesterday- a member posted a message which offended me in public- he called me a profanity, and said my company was nothing.

As most of my collegues look at this board- I immediately reported the member- and asked the owner to ban him- according to the forum rules.

He wasnt banned- he was warned- and today other messages started to appear in peoples signatures that are stating who's side they are on- mine or this other users'.

I have once again emailed the owner of this site.I don't expect to receive a satisfactory reply.

My question is- how do I stop this forum from damaging my reputation in this way? How do I go about starting an action? (I am in The Netherlands- the site is in the UK, although I hold a UK passport).

This is really beginning to affect my life and reputation- please help!

Thank you in advance,
David Grant