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0 pointsbduerst13y ago0 comments

Agreed - whether or not the CEO is an "unethical bag of scum", this person just made some colorful remarks about the CEO, and linked their real name in the same comment. All on Hacker News, which could be portrayed as a source of news for the industry, thus making the comment damaging.

This is very dangerous ground, and could be a case of libel if the "unethical" CEO catches this.

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6 comments · 2 top-level

unoti13y ago· 4 in thread

I'm pretty sure libel and slander are really hard to actually get judgements on. The information can't be true, and the victim has to be able to demonstrate damages. There may be other technical factors as well, such as whether the victim is famous and whether they rely on having a clear name to exist in the world. I'm not a lawyer, but my understanding is that people get more nervous about slander than they really need to.

mmcnickle13y ago

Not in the UK. The defendant must prove that the statement is true[1]. This is why the UK is a prime libel tourism destination, as the cost of defending the statement is often prohibitive to an individual.

Being a statement on the internet, I believe this case could be tried in the UK, hence the tourism aspect.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_defamation_law#Burden_o...

darkarmani13y ago

Luckily the US passed the SPEECH act: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SPEECH_act

Ridiculous libel judgements in the UK will not be enforced in the US if the judgements violate the First Amendment.

I'm just waiting for day when libel tourism results in no one visiting the UK -- actual tourism -- because everyone has UK libel judgements against them.

bduerstOP13y ago

This CEO would have to prove that they behave ethically, and then extrapolate the HN viewership with potential customers and thus lost revenue and/or a loss of brand equity.

This is certainly not a stretch for civil court, nor would it be inexpensive for either party involved.

dminor13y ago

It's not so much that you have to worry about losing a judgement, but rather that you have to spend time and resources fighting in court.

mistercow13y ago

I'm no lawyer, but I'm pretty sure that any US court would consider "unethical bag of scum" to be a statement of opinion, and thus not covered by defamation laws.

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