dontdatehimgirl.com [do you have a problem with it]

[Ezekiel]

[Sniper_Zegai]

I saw the woman for the first time on the Dr. Phil show. And he pretty much tore her apart, mainly becuase she was spouting legalese every ten seconds, clearly her lawyer was spoon feeding her before hand. In fact it was almost humiliating to see her coming out with all these legal phrases, to the point where the audience were plain laughing at her.
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[Ezekiel]

[Sniper_Zegai]

Yeah I found that hilarious as well.

The fact that Dr.Phil has a mostly female audience and she STILL got nailed to the wall. I hope she got her ass handed to her in court.
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[Wataru]

Well, from the media law courses I have taken in college this guy has one hell of a case.

In order for a defamation you need several things:

1. A statement must be made to a third party (so if I insult you to your face its not defamation, no matter what i say, but if I say it to someone else about you it is)

2. The statement must be made as a statement of fact (saying "I think he's a pedophile" doesn't count but saying "he is a pedophile" does)

3. The statement must do harm to the person's reputation in some way.

4. The statement must be untrue.

Truth is a defense against libel and slander (if its true it doesn't matter if its damaging), but in a situation where truth cannot be used (like in this case), it is usually not taken into account. The guy will say "I'm not a pedophile" and she will say "prove you're not." If someone accuses you of something like that the burden of proof is on THEM. If you call me something, I don't have to prove anything. You do.

If the guy is ruled to be a "public figure," however, the rules change. In that case, the accused has to prove that the defamer either knew the statement was false or didn't care whether it was true or not. And that is very hard to prove. Public figures tend not to win defamation cases, the papers just settle.

And the website owner's claim that she is not responsible for the content is bull. Newspaper have been sued successfully for printing information that was later found to be defamatory. Just because someone else said it and you're passing it along doesn't mean anything. According to the law, you don't have to originate the statement, repeating it to someone is the same thing. The only place in the US where you can make a statement and absolutely cannot be sued for defamation is on the floor of the US Congress.

I hope he wins lots of money.
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[Amyral]

[Wataru]

I didn't know websites were exempt from this. Wow. of course I did take that class in 1998. Back then the Internet wasn't even considered in lawmaking.

Laws never update for technology in time. A few years ago there was a case out here where a landlord broke into a female tenant's apartment while she was out and installed a hidden camera in her bedroom smoke detector. Her boyfriend noticed the camera and they sued, but the law at the time only covered surreptitious audio surveilance since video cameras were not widely available. They could only get the guy on a minor burglary charge and for tampering with a smoke detector. The law was changed right after that, but the damage was done.
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[Earthquake923]

Yes but creating a website based on slandering people in gerenal, you have to expect a lawsuit would happen.
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If anybody asks about the avatar, I did it for Jess.

[HarmonianHiccup]

I think the very fact that a website like this exists is really sad. It's a fault that must be pinned on both genders—if guys wouldn't act like jerks then girls wouldn't be angry. If girls did stretch things totally out of shape then they wouldn't feel the need to injure the person who had "hurt" them in such a permanent way.

Of course, if there really is abuse or pedophillia or other twisted things going on, other girls ned to know tis before they get mixed up with said guy. However, you can do that usually ust by being careful. Don't go out on random dates with people you've never seen before. Date in groups until you're comfortable by yourselves. Call his mom or his pastor or his bishop—just keep yourself safe.

...this is probably why I never go on dates anymore... :roll:
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Proud Owner and Operator of The Hiccup's Speciality Grassland Atelier, the only place to find Electric Whiffle Bats!

[Amyral]

[Earthquake923]

The point I was trying to make is if you create a website where people can post their opinions/expierences w/ other people slander will happen. The issue is there are 2 sides to each story. If a girl gets drunk and acts like an ass and the guy is turned off (I know it's a big what if) should she say he's not dating material because all she remembers if the fact he wouldn't by a drink. Even thou it's her 12th? I am just making the girl the "bad guy" since the site is made for girls. Guys can be just as messed up.
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If anybody asks about the avatar, I did it for Jess.

[Sniper_Zegai]

[ferrouslupusrex]

1. What do you think of this web site and law suit in particular?
The lawsuit can prosper. They may either aim for intrigue against honor as a cause for the suit or libel (depends really on how the justice would interpret libel, this varies from area to area but is usually based on the more general definition of the term).

2. Do you think websites that allow people to post personal information about people anonymously should even exist?
No. It's against the offended person's privacy and may prove dangerous if someone with criminal intent gets a hold of necessary information (like habits, schedules, addresses and whatnot) to concieve a particular crime that would benefit from that information.
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- 108 Soldiers, 1 for EVERY star.
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