On commenting in digital space

Last week in Image and Data Manager Online, there was a news report about a company suing the owner of a popular technology online discussion site here in Australia, called Whirlpool.

The report said that an accounting software company, 2Clix, was suing Whirlpool for allowing negative comments about the company’s software to be made on two online threads.

Another report released yesterday now says that the legal action has been withdrawn.

I will not hazard a guess as to why 2Clix has decided not to continue its legal proceedings. However, the issue is something that will no doubt crop up again with companies wanting to take action through the courts for comments and opinions made by individuals in the digital space.

Indeed, there was the case in France that I blogged about a few months ago where an employee had a personal blog about her life as an expatriate in Paris and was taken to court by her employer. The employer lost the case. In that situation, the employer took legal action against an individual. I am sure there are other similar cases.

However, I’d be keen to hear of any good examples where a company has taken an ISP or site owner to court for alleged negative comments on online discussion forums, blogs or web sites that supposedly affected sales or brand image.

Overall, it’s just another reminder that content in the digital space needs to be thought through carefully.