To: Matthew J. Landi who wrote (1439 ) 7/21/1998 2:18:00 AM From: Lazarus Respond to of 2595
>>>>It libelled employees of the company, issued threats of stalking, a whole range of ethnic slurs.... <<<< Matthew, your gonna watch it "real close." ...and for what may I ask? Do you see people saying things on this board that have any resemblance to what was said about Philip's Services? Who has been libeled here? Have there been threats of stalking on this board? Hey - Araldica is distinctly Italian.and I have yet to see a single ethnic slur Give me a break! Did you see 60 minutes two weeks ago. They did a story on McDonalds going after a couple of people who said some nasty things about them in print. McDonalds decided to sue. Well, that opened up the McDonalds to the scrutiny of the two people who said the nasty things. They were able to force McDonalds to produce thousands upon thousands of pages of information on the company. The case took years in court [ I think 7 ] and cost McDonalds more than 16 million dollars, making it the most expensive court battle in history. McDonalds got so frustrated they offered to settle out of court with the defendants - but they refused. As it turned out some of the things they said were untrue, many of the things they accused McDonalds of the court found to be TRUE. Now there is a website where you can read all about the case: mcspotlight.org In today's litigious environment, it is often wisest to let the other side to initiate the court action, rather than to go at them headlong. The burden of proof rest with the plaintiff, and a well-prepared defendant is devastating. READ PROV. 25:8 You have a good point though: keep an eye out for how the internet law unfolds. >>>Court decision gives beleaguered company access to names and addresses of people who have made negative comments about the firm in Internet chat rooms....<<<< It should be interesting. For example: will real time screen captures of chat forum discussions be allowed when used in conjunction with other corroborating evidence/testimony. I don't think this one has come up yet. [your recording a conversation, but not telling pple they are being recorded] But it is very simple to have your windows clock open along with your chat software and the little box showing the user info of the chatter.and then do screen captures and save the file. One of the biggest dangers in the internet environment is not that somebody dumber than wood can pull the wool over your eyes and make you think they are smart.al contraire.it is that some very smart people are able to pass themselves off as being dumber than wood. Anyway - as for me --  I will get my wine from the VINE Barginstocker