Record online libel damages awarded in UK

The Guardian reports on record online libel damages awarded in the UK:

A social housing firm and its owner have been awarded the UK's highest internet libel damages at the high court after an anonymous news and discussion site agreed to pay £100,000 compensation following a campaign of defamation and harassment.

Gentoo, formerly the Sunderland Housing Group, became the subject of an attack by "a seriously defamatory, abusive and scurrilous anonymous website at dadsplace.co.uk", according to a statement read in open court by the organisation's counsel, Hugh Tomlinson QC, before Mr Justice Eady today.

"From behind their cloak of anonymity, Dads Place used their publications and in particular the website to conduct a malicious, unpleasant and relentless campaign of libel and harassment," Hugh Tomlinson QC told the high court.

...

Tomlinson told the high court: "Those responsible for the publication of the Dads Place Publications took careful steps to conceal their identities and it took many months of painstaking investigation to identify just some of those responsible for Dads Place and bring proceedings against them.

"As a result of those proceedings the website was finally shut down in July 2006."

[Gentoo chief executive, Peter] Walls added: "It has taken us almost three years for this company to achieve this crucial result. There is no doubt that the internet can be a fantastic tool for good but we urgently need legal change to enable victims of internet abuse to have a quicker and more effective route to justice."

Olswang associate Ashley Hurst, who acted for Gentoo and Walls in the case, called for a code of conduct for web publishers.

"It is difficult to see how the government can legislate effectively in this area because technology moves faster than the courts and there are always new technical loopholes to exploit," Hurst said.

"But one option may be to develop the remit of the Press Complaints Commission, or develop a voluntary code of conduct so that at least reputable websites can distinguish themselves from the rogue ones by signing up to the code as a badge of credibility."

Read more here.

Comments

[Michael Roberts of Mile2 IT Security Discusses Libel Google Reputation]

Michael Roberts of Mile2 IT Security Discusses Libel Google Reputation

http://michael-roberts-mile2-xellex-mile-2.com/Michael_Roberts_Mile2_Libel.html

[Eddie]

It's funny how the one person who has attempet to smear the reputations of other would somehow claim damage. Michael Roberts has lied and distorted the truth for years. Just check out Iowa court records and look the greaf he has put his xwife Tracy through. That does not even take into account all the people that he his spead his untruths too.

[Michael Roberts of Mile2]

Thankfully, law-enforcement is beginning to see through the charming façade of my antagonist. On May 12, 2009, she was someone on her behalf, posted more scathing allegations of moral and social dysfunction against me on a blog site under a pseudonym. Ironically, that very same day she was arrested for criminal impersonation. After spending some time in jail she was released on bail. Shortly thereafter at a temporary hearing she was arrested again pending extradition to another state for similar crimes. She was released from jail again on Thursday, June 18, 2009. The anonymous and libelous attacks began once again the next day, presumably by the same person but once again under pseudonyms.