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The Courts

Submission + - Software Company sues Whirlpool Forum operator

Submitted by von Stalhein
von Stalhein writes: Whirlpool founder Simon Wright is being sued by accounting software firm 2Clix Australia Pty Ltd for alleged "injurious falsehood". The Statement of Claim from the company alleges that Simon Wright allowed statements "relating to the Plaintiff and its software product that are both false and malicious" to be published on the Whirlpool forums. 2Clix is suing for at least $150,000 (plus costs), and is demanding that two forum threads be removed from the site. This case has ramifications for anybody that runs a forum where posters might give their opinion on a company/service/product. Australians don't have a right of free speech enshrined in our Constitution, and this case could set a nasty precedent. I hope it either never gets to court, or is lost (badly!). Original situation is here — http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/479484.html
The Courts

Submission + - 2clix vs Whirlpool Founder - Simon Wright (whirlpool.net.au)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: "Whirlpool founder Simon Wright is being sued by accounting software firm 2Clix Australia Pty Ltd (ACN 118 044 198) for alleged "injurious falsehood". The Statement of Claim from the company alleges that Simon Wright allowed statements "relating to the Plaintiff and its software product that are both false and malicious" to be published on the Whirlpool forums. 2Clix is suing for at least $150,000 (plus costs), and is demanding that two forum threads be removed from the site. Whirlpool believes the action has no merit and will defend the matter vigorously, despite being a community website with little resources."

Link: http://whirlpool.net.au/article.cfm/1753
Censorship

Submission + - Firm sues forum to silence critics (smh.com.au)

Submitted by izz0
izz0 writes: In a move that could set a nasty precedent for Australian website operators and their users, a software firm is suing a community website over comments published on its message board. The firm, 2Clix, is suing the owner of the popular broadband community site Whirlpool, Simon Wright, for "injurious falsehood", asking for $150,000 in damages and an injunction requiring Whirlpool to remove forum threads highly critical of 2Clix's accounting software. Dale Clapperton, chairman of the online users lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia, said 2Clix was using the law to silence its critics. He said if Wright lost "it might mean the end of criticising companies' products and services online", as "any company will be able to demand that people's criticisms of them be deleted off websites, and if they don't comply they'll sue". Amanda Stickley, a senior law lecturer at the Queensland University of Technology, said if 2Clix won there would be severe consequences for website operators as they would have to be "very vigilant in checking material on the website and remove anything that could cause injury to someone's business reputation". In a statement of claim filed with the Supreme Court of Queensland, 2Clix said the comments, published in two threads between between late last year and July this year, led it to sustain "a severe downturn in monthly sales". It specifically referenced more than 30 comments by Whirlpool users, many strongly advising people to avoid the software at all costs and complaining that advertised features were not actually available in the product. One of the comments cited by 2Clix read: "The software became such a problem that we threw it out recently ... We stuck with it for over two years but in the end the many hundreds of lost hours of work and high stress levels was not worth it." 2Clix claimed the statements were both false and malicious, and said it contacted Whirlpool about the matter this year but Whirlpool refused to take the forum threads down. Wright did not respond to requests for comment, while a 2Clix spokesman this morning declined to comment. But Stickley said it would be very difficult for 2Clix to successfully sue Wright for injurious falsehood over comments made by Whirlpool users. It would have to prove the statements were false, that they were made in malice, that 2Clix actually suffered damage in the form of monetary loss and, critically, that Wright had intended to cause 2Clix monetary loss by allowing the material to remain on the website. "I don't think you could actually prove that for a web operator, that they personally intended the damage because of their malicious intention, especially when it's posted by a third party that they've got no relationship to," Stickley said.
The Internet

Submission + - Legal Case Threatens Internet Freedom of Speech

Submitted by Jumbled
Jumbled writes: An Australian ISP, 2Clix Australia Pty Ltd, has launched a legal case against a respected online forum, Whirlpool Broadband News, attempting to claim damages for negative reviews posted on the forum by users. 2Clix have described reccommendations that broadband customers avoid their service as "false and malicious." Whirlpool's founder, Simon Wright, intends to fight the accusations. He has observed that the case could have huge consequences, potentially threatening the rights of internet users to engage in free discussion. A more detailed report has been published in the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Courts

Submission + - Popular OZ broadband site sued for forum comments

Submitted by Stony Stevenson
Stony Stevenson writes: Whirlpool, a popular community-run broadband discussion forum, is being sued by accounting software firm 2Clix Australia for alleged "injurious falsehood". The Statement of Claim submitted by 2Clix's legal representatives to the Supreme Court of Queensland, alleges "registered users recorded statements on the Defendant's website relating to the Plaintiff and its software product that are both false and malicious".

If the software company is successful in its claim, it could raise a nasty precedent for Australian website operators and their users. Pundits are are already speculating that if Whirlpool loses, it might mean the end of criticising companies' products and services online.
Censorship

Submission + - 2Clix Software sues Whirlpool over forum threads (whirlpool.net.au) 1

Submitted by
bigpondluser
bigpondluser writes: "Whirlpool founder Simon Wright is being sued by accounting software firm 2Clix Australia Pty Ltd (ACN 118 044 198) for alleged "injurious falsehood". The Statement of Claim from the company alleges that Simon Wright allowed statements "relating to the Plaintiff and its software product that are both false and malicious" to be published on the Whirlpool forums."
Censorship

Submission + - Whirlpool Founder Sued for User Submitted Posts (whirlpool.net.au)

Submitted by
craznar
craznar writes: "Whirlpool founder Simon Wright is being sued by accounting software firm 2Clix Australia Pty Ltd for alleged "injurious falsehood".

Whirlpool is a privately run, very large broadband discussion forum in Australia — it attacts no advertising revenue and is entirely run from the pocket of a few dedicated individuals.

The founder (Simon Wright) is being sued for AU$150,000 + Costs for an article and subsequent thread posted by the user base.

Should a company be able to sue based upon opinion, posted on a public forum ?


Full story http://whirlpool.net.au/article.cfm/1753"
Censorship

Submission + - Holocaust Dropped From UK Schools

Submitted by
dteichman2
dteichman2 writes: "It appears that UK schools are ignoring The Holocaust. A government-backed study, funded by the Department for Education and Skills, found that some teachers are reluctant to teach history lessons on The Holocaust for fear of offending Muslim students whose beliefs include Holocaust denial. As such, many schools are not covering the subject. Additionally, similar problems are being met with lessons on The Crusades because these lessons contradict teachings from local mosques.

Isn't there a law that requires UK schools to cover these topics? Should there be?"
Power

Submission + - Implications of Peak Oil for Global Warming.

Submitted by
msevior
msevior writes: "The OilDrum is running a story about a paper by Climate expert Jim Hansen, who examines the implications of the finite reserves of Oil, Gas and Coal on the total Global Warming effect. He finds that conservative (large) estimates of the total world Oil and Gas reserves place substantial constraints on the eventual CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. However unrestrained use of coal will put the world into dangerous a warming scenario."
Power

Submission + - Implications of Peak Oil for Global Warming.

Submitted by
msevior
msevior writes: "Noted Climate expert Jim Hansen, examines the implications of the finite reserves of Oil, Gas and Coal on the total Global Warming effect. He finds that conservative (large) estimates of the total world Oil and Gas reserves place substantial constraints on the eventual CO2 concentration in the atmosphere. However unrestrained use of coal will put the world into dangerous a warming scenario."
Google

Submission + - Google talks about future of Google News

Submitted by Stony Stevenson
Stony Stevenson writes: One of Google's most popular and controversial services, Google News, is the aggregation and search site that media companies love to hate because it has become a major source of Web traffic and frustrations for many of them.

In this interview, Nathan Stoll, a Google product manager involved with Google News, discusses the future of Google News and a possible marriage with YouTube.

Some of the future additions: "In an ideal world, Google News would show you who broke the story and the other articles that built on that. There are places where we're not doing that perfectly today."
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Tech Support - Hall of Shame

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: The folks over at PC Pitstop are sharing a recording of a less than stellar Gateway Tech Support call. The call itself is enlightening. The discussion that has ensued on the PC Pitstop Tech Talk forum (apparently involving other Gateway technicians) is down right entertaining.
Mars

Submission + - Surprising Further Evidence for a Wet Mars

Submitted by
Riding with Robots
Riding with Robots writes: "When the robotic geologist Spirit found the latest evidence for a wet Mars, "You could hear people gasp in astonishment," said Steve Squyres, the lead scientist for the Mars rovers. "This is a remarkable discovery. And the fact that we found something this new and different after nearly 1,200 days on Mars makes it even more remarkable. It makes you wonder what else is still out there." The latest discovery, announced today, adds compelling new evidence for ancient conditions that might have been favorable for life, according to the rover team."

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