An Interesting Read For Judges And Juries Sitting Here

[Considered Opinion]

BLOGGERS beware: thoughtless musings in cyberspace can have costly consequences.

That's one lesson that might be gleaned from a Florida jury's decision last week to order a Louisiana woman to pay $US11.3 million ($15.2 million) in compensation, after she used an internet forum to accuse another woman of being a con artist and a fraud. The damages award is believed to be the largest relating to amateur postings on the internet.

The Louisiana woman, Carey Bock, posted the accusations against Sue Scheff, of Florida, on Fornits.Com, a bulletin board used by parents of troubled teenagers.

For Australian defamation experts, the US jury's order is a reminder that online communications are subject to the same legal risks as older media such as newspapers.

"Bloggers do need to take care because liability can attach to what you write," said a defamation law lecturer at the University of Sydney, David Rolph. "Given the global nature of the internet, they could be liable under not just Australian law but under the laws of other places as well."

A blog entry about a person will be considered defamatory if reasonable people would think less of the person because of the entry.

Other lawsuits before the US courts include that of Todd Hollis, a Pittsburgh lawyer, whose name appeared on DontDateHimGirl.com, a website on which women comment on men they claim to have known.

Ms Scheff said she was still paying off the legal fees for her action and accepted she would get little of the $US11.3 million. "But this award is vindication," she said. "I hope it does make people think twice about what they post on the internet. When people post, they are writing from emotion, and it can be very damaging."

Dr Rolph said Australian laws would not allow compensation orders here to be as large as that awarded in Ms Scheff's case. Uniform defamation laws, which came into effect in January, cap damages at $250,000 and prohibit the awarding of punitive damages. Make an online accusation against an American, though, and a damages bill in the millions could yet eventuate.

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