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Blogger Lawsuits on the Rise
Too Much Media LLC (“Too Much”), a New Jersey-based software developer, has sued Shellee Hale, a blogger from Bellevue, Washington, for comments made in online forums. In December 2007, Too Much became aware that its computers may have been breached by an unknown intruder, but stated that such breach was “of limited duration and scope” with no harm to consumer data. Ms. Hale, however, subsequently posted comments on Oprano.com, an online forum, alleging that personal information of customers had indeed been compromised. While Too Much has accused Ms. Hale of engaging in “a campaign to defame and malign [them]” through her online posts, Ms. Hale argues that her comments are covered by New Jersey’s journalist shield laws, intended to protect reporters from lawsuits. Ms. Hale claims that she had made such comments to solicit interview subjects for a freelance article she was working on. A New Jersey superior court judge is expected to decide on this case in July.
This lawsuit is only one of a growing number of lawsuits against bloggers. Such lawsuits appear to be on the rise due to the growing number of online bloggers, expansion of social-networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, as well as use of search technology to identify infringing or problematic online content. These lawsuits, which involve claims of defamation, invasion of privacy and intellectual property infringement, are normally thrown out of court or settled before trial, but can still pose an enormous financial burden on defendants. Bloggers, therefore, may wish to consider some form of insurance to protect them against such claims.
For additional information, visit:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124287328648142113.html