2Clix withdraws lawsuit

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

An Australian software firm, which was suing a broadband community website over unflattering comments published on its message board, has said it would drop its case.

2Clix, which sells an accounting program, sued Whirlpool owner Simon Wright for "injurious falsehood", asking for $150,000 in damages and an injunction requiring Whirlpool to remove forum threads highly critical of 2Clix's software.

But while legal experts doubted the ability of 2Clix to win the case from the outset, it could have had major ramifications for website operators and their users. A win for 2Clix would have set a nasty precedent and seriously limited the ability of web users to criticise companies' products and services.

Read more here.