Venting Online, Consumers Can Find Themselves in Court

[ShockediSay]

Source: NYTimes

After a towing company hauled Justin Kurtz’s car from his apartment complex parking lot, despite his permit to park there, Mr. Kurtz, 21, a college student in Kalamazoo, Mich., went to the Internet for revenge.

Outraged at having to pay $118 to get his car back, Mr. Kurtz created a Facebook page called “Kalamazoo Residents against T&J Towing.” Within two days, 800 people had joined the group, some posting comments about their own maddening experiences with the company.

T&J filed a defamation suit against Mr. Kurtz, claiming the site was hurting business and seeking $750,000 in damages.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/us/01slapp.html

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In my opinion,

anything published as an opinion is entirely protected by the First Amendment

e.g. "I think I was unfairly towed by T&J.

I think/thought my permit allowed me to park without the threat of towing."

I believe that anything expressed as a fact is subject to a suit for defamation
while matters expressed as an opinion are virtually if not completely protected
by the First Amendment.

[Cirque du So-What]

1. That towing company's lawsuit could trigger a tsunami of backlash

At least I would HOPE that's the result. This is a 1st-Amendment issue if ever one existed. Besides, I thought all speech - no matter how derogatory - was protected as long as the person believed it to be true. I believe this towing company has bitten off more than they can chew.

[tomm2thumbs]

2. all depends what was written and who did the writing

Hopefully if this is a frivolous suit the court will see to it that it's tossed

[Occulus]

4. This will destroy the company, and it's waaaay past time that happened

T&J Towing is locally known for damage to and destruction of properties they impound, severely illegal towing (like the car of a guy delivering pizzas), and removal of residency stickers. Cars are routinely removed from their lot with items missing. Many people will not do business with retailers who have a contract with this piece of shit company.

Seriously. This company is bad news, a lawsuit is several years overdue, and the discovery process will expose them for the filth they are. They get away with it by targeting college student areas; students don't have the time or money to file suit against them. T&J is absolutely terrible. I hope the business is destroyed by this.

[laughingliberal]

9. We had some like that around here. They were finally shut down. This may well backfire on them.

Let's hope so.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

11. Have you followed the outing of their spotter

There are some interesting discussions going on the FB page

[ironrooster]

3. Hmmm.., I thought I saw the guys from T&J Towing screwing my pet marmoset/nt

[onehandle]

5. They fondled my underage platypus. nt

[Ignis]

6. A defamation suit in the US? Get real!

This isn't England, and the business-friendly libel laws we have should be more than overshadowed by the 1st Amendment in matters of private opinion.

What's next? Take down Consumer Reports because they give a product a bad review? :crazy:

[tblue37]

8. Don't forget, this is the same country where the state of Texas had a law

that allowed Oprah to be sued for defaming beef! (In fact, Dr. Phil got his start when he helped Oprah's lawyers with their jury selection process during that suit.)

I remember some other state passed a law that forbade the criticism of vegetables grown in the state. I don't know wether that law was rescinded, though.

The Texas beef industry eclaimed Oprah's show about Mad Cow disease had hurt their business, and the state with the veggie law was worried that its produce industry might be hurt by some scare like the one that turned people against apples from California one year.

[pepperbear]

7. How can "Angie's List" be perfectly legal and this guy's situation be defamation?

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. Angie has money, this kid doesn't

One of the reasons I remain in CA is the ant slapp suit laws.