The owner of an eBay business who sued an unhappy customer over a negative feedback item is contrite. Mostly, he’s very sorry that he (allegedly) never read the lawsuit filed on his behalf accusing his customer of defamation. He should probably also be sorry that the customer has a relative who works in the litigation department of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. The seller has used lawsuits to bully customers into retracting feedback before, and may have done it again if not for Public Citizen. [More]
eBay Seller Who Sued Customer Claims He’s Sorry, Has Filed Dozens Of Feedback Suits
By April 19, 2013
Don't Talk Smack About Ohio Businesses Or They Can Sue You In Ohio
By June 10, 2010
The Columbus Dispatch says that the Supreme Court of Ohio has decided that its perfectly OK for Ohio businesses to sue residents of other states for defamatory comments made on the Internet, as long as people from Ohio saw the comments. [More]
Congress Considers Federal Anti-Slapp Law To Protect Consumers From Angry Businesses
By June 2, 2010
The New York Times has an article about Justin Kurtz, the college student who angered the owner of T&J Towing by creating a Facebook page about the company and who is now fighting a $750k defamation lawsuit. That sort of lawsuit–the kind meant to intimidate an opponent into silence–is called a “strategic lawsuit against public participation,” or Slapp. Now two Representatives are sponsoring a bill that would create a federal anti-Slapp law to protect consumers from vengeful businesses. [More]
