Home » Post Item » A Birthday, A Ruined Treat and a Case of Libel in the Blogosphere
A Birthday, A Ruined Treat and a Case of Libel in the Blogosphere
June 25, 2008I was actually in a really good mood when I got to the office today. Sure, I’ve finally hit the big three-oh but I actually feel a hell of a lot healthier than I did 5 years ago. I was in such a good mood in fact that I was thinking of treating my officemates to some cheeseburgers.
Unfortunately I received a rather strongly worded email today that completely ruined my cheery disposition. Someone was demanding that we remove some allegedly libelous content from one of our user’s site. It went on to ask us to prevent our user from ever posting anything negative about him or his companies. As it is, we have been given 48 hours to comply or else face "adverse and strong action" against us. Whoopdeedoo!!!
I don’t know about you guys, but I seriously do not appreciate receiving threats on my freaking birthday!
Previous Comments
I hope it turns out well for you and the i.ph user.
Posted by Ria Jose at June 25, 2008, 10:03 pmI dunno about you guys, but I don’t think that the blog or the offending entries should be taken down. Freedom of speech. What do you guys think?
Posted by Ade at June 26, 2008, 12:04 amZOMG, the captcha word was DUCKY!!!!
But you got cake!!! Two cakes!!! What’s a few threats
Kidding. Happy birfday!
Awww. Napaka-gandang birthday gift LOL
For me in depends on how libelous the content is. The person can file a case against the author but not against the blog host
I hope the Chao Fan I gave you and Ade made you smile naman haha
Catcha Word: Saved haha
Posted by Mica at June 26, 2008, 12:24 amThanks for the kind works folks and yes Mica, the Chao Fan helped cheer me up. Oh and the cake did too Helga. Thank you.
Personally though, I think they really don’t have a case against us as the blog host. They do however have the resources to drag this on and bury me deep in legalities. This could very easily escalate into a persistent annoyance.
Truthfully, it’d be easier for me to just take down the said content. Less hassle. But I’m not in any way inclined to do that.
Posted by Peter "The Mordo" Juan at June 26, 2008, 12:43 pmWhy would it be hard to delete the content then? I mean your internet firm is in danger of being dragged in a case that you have no knowledge of.
Posted by Jayvee at June 26, 2008, 12:53 pmgeez, it’s a PERSONAL blog for chrissakes. if that email sender has a problem with its contents then he should harp on the writer not you.
Posted by Penny Lane at June 26, 2008, 4:52 pmTwo words Jayvee. Free speech. I have no qualms taking down content, specially if it’s proven to be plagiarized or if it pornographic or illegal. In this case, the content remains to be just allegedly libelous. Should the content in question be proven libelous, then I won’t hesitate to take it down, but not before.
Oh and I’m fairly sure they’re already harping the writer, Koryn. That’s my beef actually, that they are demanding us to do their dirty work. That’s how I feel at least.
Posted by Peter "The Mordo" Juan at June 26, 2008, 4:59 pmJayvee, how would you feel if i.PH suddenly takes down your blog without your express permission or even your knowledge just because somebody threatened i.PH with a lawsuit? Lets say your blog did not break any of the TOS. Let’s say i.PH just took down your blog for convenience. How would you feel?
Posted by Ade at June 26, 2008, 8:19 pmHogwash, I’ll have to agree with Penny Lane. If they have a problem with the content, let them run after the writer and not the host.
First and foremost, you don’t have control over what your subscribers post. Unless the aggrieved party expects you to scan through all blogs every day, in which case is not really your job.
I’d consult legal about this, ask if you can counter sue an obnoxious company who thinks they can bully smaller companies.
Oh yeah, welcome to the club Mr. Mordo, you are now part of the thirty somethings. Hahahaha!
Posted by virus at June 27, 2008, 2:55 pmIs this the one about Facial Care Centre? They’ve been scaring the hell out of everyone blogging about them. Maybe you should ask the help of one of the ICT law experts locally, who happens to be very close to i.PH.
@bogs
No, no, it’s not about Facial Care Center. However, I’ve created a thread in our forums to discuss this, I’d like to hear your feedback there:
http://www.i.ph/forum/index.php?topic=713.0
Posted by Ade at June 27, 2008, 5:00 pm









Can they do that? Is it actually libelous? I mean, maybe he just spouted opinions.
Posted by Comicology at June 25, 2008, 8:57 pm