Suing For Libel Isn't Always The Right Decision
from the what-do-you-accomplish? dept
We've discussed repeatedly the so-called Streisand Effect, which suggests that just because you can sue over something, it doesn't mean it's the right decision. In many cases, lawyers get an itchy trigger finger, believing that suing over something they don't like, will make it disappear. However, instead, by filing the lawsuit they turn it into news, and suddenly what they wanted to disappear becomes much more widely known. The latest company to discover this may be networking firm Juniper. They were apparently so upset by some random messages on Light Reading's message board that they've filed lawsuits against 10 unidentified users who posted disparaging remarks concerning the company. Not to knock Light Reading -- which is a fantastic resource for telecom news, by the way -- but it's quite unlikely that any random message board postings on Light Reading are taken seriously enough to really matter. The audience isn't tremendous, and most readers there probably know enough to recognize that a random anonymous posting is, well, less than trustworthy. In fact, Light Reading removed the comments soon after they were posted for violating forum rules. So, until now, almost no one even knew about these postings that called the company unethical and accused execs of various scamming activities. However, now that the story is news -- a lot more people are hearing about the accusations, whether or not they're true. In posting about the lawsuits, Light Reading itself quotes a lawyer who points out that these moves "say as much about the company suing as it does about the message board users."
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
