ARE LAWS REGARDING DEFAMATION APPLICABLE TO E-MAIL AND OTHER ON-LINE ACTIVITIES?
Absolutely! If a person commits liable (false and unprivileged publication or assertion of a fact, which exposes any person to hatred, contempt, ridicule, or which causes him/her to be shunned or avoided, or which has a tendency to injure him/her in his/her trade or occupation) against you through e-mail or other on-line activities, the publisher, and any re-publisher, of the offensive statement can be held accountable for damages. For the defenses against liable, see our section on Libel.
Passing fraudulent information about can get you into trouble, whether you try to profit from it or not. Because if the victim is harmed by your action, you can be held liable for his or her losses. Stock manipulation schemes are no more legal on the Internet than they were in the mail or over the telephone.
If you think you've been defrauded by false information passed on by a computer channel, defamed, or worry about whether you can make an aggressive advertising claim, it might be worth talking to a lawyer -- remembering always that prevention is a lot cheaper, and faster, than any cure.
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