People think they can make defamatory statements on an internet forum and get away with it, believing they are anonymous. Wrong, WA legal counsel Martin Bennett said yesterday that they can be hunted down and found.
"There has been an increasing proliferation of internet chat sites where people feel free to hide their identities and make defamatory comments about companies and their executives and directors" he said.
Someone made nasty comments last November under pseudonyms on the stockmarket forum HotCopper website. They related to technology security company Datamotion Asia Pacific Limited and it's Perth-based Chairman Ronald Moir. One posting appeared under the pseudonym "witch". Datamotion and Mr Moir hired Mr Bennett to find him.
He asked HotCopper for the real name of "witch" plus two others under different names but they refused, so he took court action forcing them to turn over their files. But the registered membership name turned out to be false. He won't say what he did next, but it was pretty clever because he found the culprit, a Mr Graeme Gladman and he was found responsible for Datamotion and Mr Moir being "brought into hatred, contempt and ridicule and thereby suffered damage".
It was resolved last week with Mr Gladman agreeing to pay $20,000 damages and $10,000 costs. He also had to apologise and promise he won't publish any more defamatory statements.
It's so easy to be brave with words when you think no one knows who you are. If you stay on a forum long enough, you will find there are a minority of people who enjoy hurting others with words, they just can't resist it, thinking they are safe. Not any more. Mr Bennett has launched two more cases of brave men/women hiding behind an anonymous name, both are pending before the WA Supreme Court.
Graeme Gladman is founding principal and creator of BrandQuest. Also creative director of Myer/Grace Brothers, Beaurepairs, Amcal Chemists, Mazda, BP, OPSM, Katies, Bendigo Bank, Commercial Union Insurance and Optus, just to name a few. He is partner and Managing Director of his internationally-owned Advertising Agency Batey Gladman.
you could be sued for that!
ReplyDeleteyou have put the details of the wrong Graeme Gladman
hope you have a good lawyer
Anna,
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow director of BrandQuest and colleague of the Graeme Gladman you have pictured and profiled on this blog entry, I need to say that you have perpetrated the exact crime of defamation that you are seeking to highlight. Our Graeme is in no way connected to this crime you your article not only defames him, but our company as well.
I refer you to Andrew Bolt’s blog http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/be_warned where he has not made the same mistake as you. I ask you to remove all references to Graeme Gladman the Director of BrandQuest otherwise we will be forced to press this matter further.