What is slander?

D

Dr sharp

Joined
Oct 20, 2003
Messages
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If you buy a product and you thought it was junk or wasnt happy with it are you alowed to tell people about it , as in on a forum?
 
Dr sharp said:
If you buy a product and you thought it was junk or wasnt happy with it are you alowed to tell people about it , as in on a forum?
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Depends where you are, what you're talking about, how you phrase your comment, the rules of the forum and any laws that might apply where you happen to be.
 
Generally speaking, the truth is a defense against slander or libel. Slander refers to telling people about it, libel to writing about it, libel taking place in a more permanent medium.
 
As I understand it:

The Surefire E2E has poor battery life = fine
The Surefire E2E causes tumors in small children = slander
 
I seem to recall seeing a news story at some point about the truthfulness of the statement not being a valid defense against an accusation of slander/libel in ... I want to say the UK, but I'm not sure. In other words, check your local/national laws if you're that worried about it.
 
FoxholeAtheist said:
I seem to recall seeing a news story at some point about the truthfulness of the statement not being a valid defense against an accusation of slander/libel in ... I want to say the UK, but I'm not sure. In other words, check your local/national laws if you're that worried about it.
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The truth of an accusation is not necessarily a defense in Australia. That's why I made my original statement about it depending on where you are.
 
notdos said:
That is incredible,,I guess the Truth won't set you free.
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I guess that depends a lot on what you mean by "truth" and "free". We could argue over those terms endlessly!
 
Problem is, if you are sued for slander, especially by a company with bottomless pockets, you need to be able to prove you were telling the truth.

Andrew.
 
The Australian model seems unfair at first, but think about it...imagine you had a criminal record and someone who hates you publishes "ads" in newspaper, local radio stations, places signs near your home emphasizing the fact that you've been to prison. He told the truth, but at the same time he made sure that you won't get a job in that area anymore and that you are a social outcast.

Edit (just happened to find this old thread looking for something different and decided to re-read it): just wanted to stress that I'm talking about having a record for something "minor", not sex offenses or something like that of course (the latter category certainly deserves that the government publishes their names). And no, I do not have a criminal record.
Just for the record, because I'm sure sooner or later someone will stumble across this old thread.
 
NeedleRemorse said:
The Surefire E2E causes tumors in small children
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Aw crap! My 5-year old EDC's an E2D in a neck rig for school. Do the E2D's cause them too?

Man you can't trust ANYBODY to make safe products anymore...
 
Quiet Storm said:
someone who hates you publishes "ads" in newspaper, local radio stations, places signs near your home emphasizing the fact that you've been to prison.
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That's the idea behind sex offender lists, which are not only legal, they're published by the government. Even if it were illegal for a private citizen to do it, it would have to fall under harassment or stalking, not libel.
 
w crap! My 5-year old EDC's an E2D in a neck rig for school. Do the E2D's cause them too?

Man you can't trust ANYBODY to make safe products anymore...
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Nope, the E2D is tumor free, but watch out for spontaneous hemhorraging and blood clots :eek: ;)
 
Dr sharp said:
If you buy a product and you thought it was junk or wasnt happy with it are you alowed to tell people about it , as in on a forum?
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Yep, at least here in the good old US of A. In order to be successfully sued for slander or Libel the plaintiff must show malice and Damage. In order to recover any statutory compensation they must demonstrate malice. That your intent was to harm rather than to diseninate information. In order for the plaintiff to recover actual damages they must demonstrate you caused actual harm. In order to get punitive compensation they would also have to prove malice.

However, The standard of "proof" is different in civil law than criminal law. In civil law the burden is proof by a preponderance of the evidence, as opposed to criminal law where it is beyond a reasonable doubt.

Companies don't sue people who post on discussion boards. I would think it would tend to drive away more business than bad product.
 
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