In article <3c3cd4f0-0190-4dda-8689-
3bfe65...@k4g2000yqn.googlegroups.com>,
fitnessf...@yahoo.com
says...
Probably not.
Here's my link again. I hope everyone reads it this time.
https://www.eff.org/issues/bloggers/legal/liability/defamation
Highlights (although I probably went overboard, and the EFF will now
have to sue me for a copyright violation):
The elements that must be proved to establish defamation are:
1. a publication to one other than the person defamed;
2. a false statement of fact;
3. that is understood as
a. being of and concerning the plaintiff; and
b. tending to harm the reputation of plaintiff.
If the plaintiff is a public figure, he or she must also prove actual
malice.
Further:
Courts look at whether a reasonable reader or listener could understand
the statement as asserting a statement of verifiable fact. (A
verifiable fact is one capable of being proven true or false.) This is
determined in light of the context of the statement. A few courts have
said that statements made in the context of an Internet bulletin board
or chat room are highly likely to be opinions or hyperbole, but they do
look at the remark in context to see if it's likely to be seen as a
true, even if controversial, opinion ("I really hate George Lucas' new
movie") rather than an assertion of fact dressed up as an opinion
("It's my opinion that Trinity is the hacker who broke into the IRS
database").
A statement of verifiable fact is a statement that conveys a provably
false factual assertion, such as someone has committed murder or has
cheated on his spouse.
A private figure claiming defamation?your neighbor, your roommate, the
guy who walks his dog by your favorite coffee shop?only has to prove
you acted negligently, which is to say that a "reasonable person" would
not have published the defamatory statement.
A public figure must show "actual malice"?that you published with
either knowledge of falsity or in reckless disregard for the truth.
This is a difficult standard for a plaintiff to meet.
When libel is clear on its face, without the need for any explanatory
matter, it is called libel per se. The following are often found to be
libelous per se:
A statement that falsely:
Charges any person with crime, or with having been indicted, convicted,
or punished for crime;
Imputes in him the present existence of an infectious, contagious, or
loathsome disease;
Tends directly to injure him in respect to his office, profession,
trade or business, either by imputing to him general disqualification
in those respects that the office or other occupation peculiarly
requires, or by imputing something with reference to his office,
profession, trade, or business that has a natural tendency to lessen
its profits;
Imputes to him impotence or a want of chastity.