Musk sent an email to Marc with some statements about Unsworth that potentially would be harmful to Unsworth's reputation.
Maybe for a while Marc believed the statements. But after some investigation he concluded that the claims were untrue.
This means that so far in the story no harm at all has been done to Unsworth's reputation. Unsworth could have gotten a bad reputation with Marc, but that did not happen.
So zero harm done. End of story? No.
What happens next is that Marc recapitulates Musk's story to the world.
Superficially, Musk's story about Unsworth actually sounds plausible. I know I definitely believed it for a while. Currently I don't believe it.
Marc's publication of Musk's story put Unsworths reputation at stake.
Is Musk responsible for what Marc chose to publish? Can Unsworth successfully sue Musk for that?
I believe Marc is not liable for what Marc published, because in the US there is something called ”Neutral Report Privilege” without which ”if you publish what another person has said or written and that statement turns out to be defamatory, you may be liable for defamation even if you stated that you believed the allegation was untrue.”
Note that I am asking about liability. Obviously Musk is ”responsible” in the ordinary sense of the word.
It seems to me that Musk might not be liable. Because look at this paragraph, from Unsworth's complaint:
”95. The republication of the Musk August 30 emails by BuzzFeed News was foreseeable and Musk is liable to Mr. Unsworth for their republication”
Unsworth's complaint points out that Marcs republication was ”forseeable”.
Is that important? Could this imply that Unsworth needs to prove that Musk foresaw the republication?
Of course Musk foresaw it! I believe he added ”off the record” to make the temptation even stronger. Of course Musk knows that's not how ”off the record” works.
But can it be proven? And how important is this question for the complaint?
If Unsworth looses this complaint, it will look like Musks allegations were true.
Could it be that Musk 1) insulted Unsworth, 2) tricked Marc into insulting Unsworth to the world, and then 3) tricked Unsworth into suing him only to loose and make the insult stick even more?
So, don't tell Musk to shove things or you'll get a three stage rocket in your face.
No, actually naming him would have been odd. Swedish media typically does not name people sentenced. This is a different tradition from US media. I work in Swedish media.
Stop worrying about the state participation in this. This is dark fiber infrastructure. Like public roads. There will be no state monopoly on the Internet service, but quite the opposite — operators will rent fiber, you will have a functional market on top of this dark fiber, with real competition, as opposed to most industrial countries where operators are monopolies or duopolies (tele and cable).
And guys, this is expensive only if you are not used to dealing with big budgets. Think of it instead as comparable to a few years or less of what is spent on road traffic infrastructure. Also: this is fiber, so it is an infrastructure investment that will last virtually forever.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Jan Tĺngring.
Outstanding
Your reporting is outstanding in so many ways. Unique.
Thank you!
Re: What if Unsworth looses? (as Jan TĂĄngring)
”They are a practicing entity.”
But less so by the minute in the US because the are being banned.
Re: What if Unsworth looses?
There is no edit?
What if Unsworth looses?
Maybe for a while Marc believed the statements. But after some investigation he concluded that the claims were untrue.
This means that so far in the story no harm at all has been done to Unsworth's reputation. Unsworth could have gotten a bad reputation with Marc, but that did not happen.
So zero harm done. End of story? No.
What happens next is that Marc recapitulates Musk's story to the world.
Superficially, Musk's story about Unsworth actually sounds plausible. I know I definitely believed it for a while. Currently I don't believe it.
Marc's publication of Musk's story put Unsworths reputation at stake.
Is Musk responsible for what Marc chose to publish? Can Unsworth successfully sue Musk for that?
I believe Marc is not liable for what Marc published, because in the US there is something called ”Neutral Report Privilege” without which ”if you publish what another person has said or written and that statement turns out to be defamatory, you may be liable for defamation even if you stated that you believed the allegation was untrue.”
http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/neutral-report-privilege
But is Musk liable for what Marc published?
Note that I am asking about liability. Obviously Musk is ”responsible” in the ordinary sense of the word.
It seems to me that Musk might not be liable. Because look at this paragraph, from Unsworth's complaint:
”95. The republication of the Musk August 30 emails by BuzzFeed News was foreseeable and Musk is liable to Mr. Unsworth for their republication”
Unsworth's complaint points out that Marcs republication was ”forseeable”.
Is that important? Could this imply that Unsworth needs to prove that Musk foresaw the republication?
Of course Musk foresaw it! I believe he added ”off the record” to make the temptation even stronger. Of course Musk knows that's not how ”off the record” works.
But can it be proven? And how important is this question for the complaint?
If Unsworth looses this complaint, it will look like Musks allegations were true.
Could it be that Musk 1) insulted Unsworth, 2) tricked Marc into insulting Unsworth to the world, and then 3) tricked Unsworth into suing him only to loose and make the insult stick even more?
So, don't tell Musk to shove things or you'll get a three stage rocket in your face.
Re: Re:
No, actually naming him would have been odd. Swedish media typically does not name people sentenced. This is a different tradition from US media. I work in Swedish media.
This is not expensive and it creates a market with competition (as Jan TĂĄngring)
And guys, this is expensive only if you are not used to dealing with big budgets. Think of it instead as comparable to a few years or less of what is spent on road traffic infrastructure. Also: this is fiber, so it is an infrastructure investment that will last virtually forever.
Techdirt has not posted any stories submitted by Jan Tĺngring.
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