Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 22:11
Gone Bush is correct in the fact that we have neither a bill of rights nor freedom of speech in Australia.
The reality is that if an individual or company feels aggrieved by something written on a public
forum, they have the right to litigate against the operators of the board, regardless of whether what is written is true or not.
I've seen legal proceedings commenced against 2 other boards that I frequent. In both instances the owners were required to hand over information identifying the offending posters, or face fighting the claim themselves.
No prizes for guessing what they had to do
So don't think that you can hide behind a pseudonym.
The outcome was that the posters had to make public apologies, and the owners of the boards subsequently adopted a "no bad press" policy, banning any "naming and shaming" of businesses, whether they deserved the criticism or not. Good for the businesses, bad for us consumers.
FollowupID:
727227