[recession we had to have]

Something to be aware of-

Linket

Cyber poison-penner hunted down and sued

TONY WRIGHT
February 25, 2010 LEGAL counsel Martin Bennett has a short message for those who allow themselves to attack reputations over the internet, imagining they are safe under the cloak of anonymity. ''You can be hunted down and found,'' he said yesterday.

Mr Bennett has done just that for a Perth client, winning $30,000 in damages and costs, an apology, and undertakings from a Colac man that he won't post any more defamatory comments.

The hunt for the man's true identity proved the stuff of private detective novels updated into the age of blogs.

It is, Mr Bennett said, one of a very few such actions in Australia against the author of anonymous postings on an internet forum. He predicts it is the tip of a legal iceberg.

''There has been an increasing proliferation of internet chat sites where people feel free to hide their identities and make defamatory comments about companies and their executives and directors,'' he said in a statement released after the case in the Supreme Court of Western Australia was resolved.

The action against Graeme Gladman began after highly uncomplimentary comments appeared last November under pseudonyms on the HotCopper website, a stockmarket forum.

The postings related to technology security company Datamotion Asia Pacific Ltd and its Perth-based chairman and managing director, Ronald Moir. One posting appeared under the pseudonym of ''witch''.

Datamotion and Mr Moir hired Mr Bennett to launch defamation proceedings. But first Mr Bennett had to track down ''witch''. He asked HotCopper to reveal the identity of the person registered under that pseudonym, plus two others under different pseudonyms, but HotCopper refused.

Mr Bennett then took court action, forcing HotCopper to turn over its files. ''Unfortunately, the registered membership name appeared to be false,'' he said. ''It turned out to be attached to an escort service in Geelong.''

But Mr Bennett was not prepared to concede the trail was cold. He told The Age he did not wish to reveal the details of his next detective steps, but the upshot was a defamation action against Mr Gladman alleging that, as a result of his postings, Datamotion and Mr Moir had been ''brought into hatred, contempt and ridicule and thereby suffered damage''.

It was resolved last week, with Mr Gladman agreeing to pay damages totalling $20,000, taxed legal costs of $10,000, and to provide apologies and undertakings not to publish further defamatory postings.

Mr Bennett has launched two more cases. Both are pending before the WA Supreme Court.

[staringclown]

Yes, I saw this the other day and forgot to post it. Anyone who thinks it's their god given right to slag off other races under the cloak of anonymity may need to think again.

Govt to beef up internet racism laws-SMH

Quote

JOSH GORDON
February 21, 2010

Laws to tackle racism on the internet are set to be beefed up.

Authorities warn they are often powerless to act against online content, which is responsible for almost one in five racial vilification complaints.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland has ordered the Australian Human Rights Commission to conduct a sweeping review of ''arrangements for dealing with racist material on the internet''.

''While freedom of expression is one of the most fundamental rights, this is not at the expense of the rights of people, while using the internet, to be treated with equality, dignity and respect,'' Mr McClelland told Fairfax Media.

Mr McClelland said the government was exploring what action it could take on internet material that breaches the Federal Racial Discrimination Act.

Options include providing the commission with sharper teeth to order internet service providers to remove racist content, and changing the Racial Discrimination Act so it is easier to apply criminal sanctions.

Such changes, which are opposed by civil libertarians, could have a major impact on news websites that offer readers the opportunity to comment, and on internet service providers that currently work voluntarily with the Human Rights Commission to remove racist material.

At its most serious, online racism is dealt with under the Commonwealth Criminal Code, which can punish those who urge people to harm other Australians because of their race.

But when there is no obvious intent to incite violence, the commission has only limited powers.

Race Discrimination Commissioner Graeme Innes said there were clearly ''persistent pockets of racism in Australia'' linked to attacks on Indian students and cyber racism.

''There is no getting away from it,'' he said. ''Cyber racism is a result of that, as are the attacks on Indian students, and we need to address it.''

Mr Innes said complaints about cyber racism made up 18 per cent of all racism complaints received by the commission.

Currently, the Racial Discrimination Commission can only resolve racial complaints through conciliation with internet service providers and social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of apparently racist social networking groups such as SPEAK ENGLISH OR PISS OFF!!! (SEOPO), with almost 50,000 members, "F--- Off We're Full" and ''Mate speak English, you're in Australia now''.

But civil libertarians are concerned the changes could have unintended consequences, creating a divide and hardening racist attitudes in the community.

Liberty Victoria president Michael Pearce said legislating to police racism on the internet was difficult and the government would be better off putting resources into community education and improving social cohesion.

[tor]

Wow, that would have to be a wakeup call to anyone that thinks we are all anonymous people on the internet and so can get away with defamation whilst at the same time thinking they can start a police investigation into trolls.

It's almost like I had prior knowledge in some ways and knew that commercial dealings will always will dealt with before random non-hot button trolling.

Guess I should go get some experience working in the legal area like those people that don't believe my statements. Maybe then I would know what the reality of the world is rather than just the silly crap I spout at times hehehe

Apologies aren't necessary though, I know delusion can be a hard thing to work through.

[staringclown]

tor, on 25 February 2010 - 10:25 AM, said:

Wow, that would have to be a wakeup call to anyone that thinks we are all anonymous people on the internet and so can get away with defamation whilst at the same time thinking they can start a police investigation into trolls.

It's almost like I had prior knowledge in some ways and knew that commercial dealings will always will dealt with before random non-hot button trolling.

Guess I should go get some experience working in the legal area like those people that don't believe my statements. Maybe then I would know what the reality of the world is rather than just the silly crap I spout at times hehehe

Apologies aren't necessary though, I know delusion can be a hard thing to work through.

If I knew what this meant I would respond.

[tor]

staringclown, on 25 February 2010 - 10:49 AM, said:

If I knew what this meant I would respond.

You responded and so therefore you know what I mean? hehehe

[staringclown]

tor, on 25 February 2010 - 10:59 AM, said:

You responded and so therefore you know what I mean? hehehe

Tor, there are monastic cults in Tibet that spend years in meditation attempting to understand your meaning and fail. What hope do I have?

[tor]

staringclown, on 25 February 2010 - 11:06 AM, said:

Tor, there are monastic cults in Tibet that spend years in meditation attempting to understand your meaning and fail. What hope do I have?

ahahaha. Fair call.

[Charles Bukowski]

staringclown, on 25 February 2010 - 11:06 AM, said:

Tor, there are monastic cults in Tibet that spend years in meditation attempting to understand your meaning and fail. What hope do I have?

Haha going to try and memorise that