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I would suggest the admin or moderator to write something as follows:
"I, the administrator of Valuebuddies, have taken off the post (Title and Name of Company) as requested by the legal counsel who has deemed this thread to be defamatory."
That it.
However... to many other investors including myself, this very thread of having a legal counsel to take action to request that company to be taken down would be a BIG highlight what exactly this company has done to take such an action.
And more likely than not, I will avoid this company and encourage all my friends to avoid this company to do so as well.
I do not trust any company who threatens legal action without even a single polite request.
To be fair to us the readers, this forum moderators as well as admin, we cant always pander to whoever Tom, Dick, Harry's company with some $$ who threaten us with legal actions.
Just think of the ramifications if every few days some unkindly words were to be made about a certain company and volia!
YOU GOT MAIL!! From your friendly neighbourhood legal counsel of some XXX company.
If they wish to do so, in all fairness to the existence of this forum, if needed to be taken down so be it.
But leave a note behind to highlight exactly WHICH company that is.
The quality of this forum will go down if even basic expression of emotions against certain companies or top mgt cannot be expressed out.
Think what? This forum is another clone of Singapore political landscape?
Get a life dude.
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22-02-2012, 10:32 PM
(This post was last modified: 22-02-2012, 11:51 PM by cfa.)
I am rather passive in this forum, read more than write.
So far i don't really come acrosse any personal attack or defamatory posts , the most i felt the posts were more ' frank and outspoken ' , perhaps the truth hurts.
Very surprise to know the management of this company bother to spend time mornitoring internet forum ?
Was the letter/mail received by Administrator of this forum, really come from the company's legal council or just a member of this forum, really worth pondering.
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(22-02-2012, 10:32 PM)cfa Wrote: Very surprise to know the management of this company bother to spend time mornitoring internet forum ?
Was the letter/mail received by Administrator of this forum, really come from the company's legal council or just a member of this forum, really worth pondering.
Hi all,
Just to shed some more light on the matter.
Yes, it was a letter from a legal counsel to the administrator via email.
Personally, I was surprised too because in my opinion, the posts itself were not outright defamatory. At most, a sentence or two.
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. As far as possible, I believe we would want to share the entire details of the entire incident with all Buddies so that we can all learn something from it but without the advice of someone with legal expertise/training to advice us further, it's a little unnerving to proceed. Have to understand that the admin and moderators are in a position of liability and hence we would prefer to proceed with caution.
Still looking for any Buddies with legal expertise/training or if you know of anyone who can help, please PM cyclone, Musicwhiz and myself!
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23-02-2012, 09:37 AM
(This post was last modified: 23-02-2012, 09:39 AM by kichialo.)
(22-02-2012, 09:54 PM)arthur Wrote: I would suggest the admin or moderator to write something as follows:
"I, the administrator of Valuebuddies, have taken off the post (Title and Name of Company) as requested by the legal counsel who has deemed this thread to be defamatory."
That it.
However... to many other investors including myself, this very thread of having a legal counsel to take action to request that company to be taken down would be a BIG highlight what exactly this company has done to take such an action.
And more likely than not, I will avoid this company and encourage all my friends to avoid this company to do so as well.
I do not trust any company who threatens legal action without even a single polite request.
My thinking also same. To me it shows the management of the company not up to par and I will pay even greater attention to whatever info it is they are unhappy about.
edit: To Admin, can reveal the name of the company? Doing so is just factual and not defamatory.
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23-02-2012, 09:43 AM
(This post was last modified: 23-02-2012, 09:51 AM by cfa.)
In any legal suits, the one who has more money to burn always has a upperhand. We are small flies , can't afford expensive legal costs, Court fees, etc....
This company should spend times and resouces in their biz , moreover it is a public company.
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A few opinions and suggestions for consideration/discussion:
1. A forum rule for all members to include a standard statement in their signature "The above posting are purely of my own and does not represent the position of the forum or any other individual and am solely accountable for my actions on this forum, blah blah blah. Please contact me directly should you find my remark controversial." This way, the onus is not on the forum owner and moderators. Mods can simply leave the comments there for the members to self edit/delete. There would also be externalisation of self moderation. Members are less prone to be irresponsible in their online actions. Mods then need only ensure that all members have that standard signature and hide all their posts until the signature is shown.
2. Even if the details of the letter cannot be shared, let's have a post to at least inform members of the company that issued the lawyer's letter, and which member's post on which topic was in question. Let us members then evaluate the post vs the actions of the company. We may even perhaps contact the investor relations of the company to seek clarification.
3. Close the forum to the public i.e. only members who are logged in are able to view posts. This will limit the "damage" done by defamatory posts, reduce likelihood of catching company attention, etc. When a lawyer's letter is received, we know then it is from within the member circle.
4. Put in disclaimer to protect the forum owner and state the onus on the members themselves. State that the forum moderators will not take action until the lawyers have contacted the members themselves. Moderators will however assist to contact the member via sending email to the member's registered email and PM.
5. Instead of deleting the posts, hide the posts or move them to another forum area that is open only to moderators.
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23-02-2012, 10:01 AM
(This post was last modified: 23-02-2012, 10:12 AM by cfa.)
Have consulted my cousin who is in law practice.
He said all legal correspondences between lawyers are strictly confidential, only c.c. clients. , not supposed to disclose to the public or irrelevant parties.
The high profile law suit between OHL and citibank was one good example. They settled out of court but they were not supposed to reveal any details of their settlement.
He also said the rich can always use lawyers to threaten the less welloff, even they are being unresonable ( e.g. So what if you think i am unreasonable , i have the money to fight the case , i can afford to lose the case but can you ? )
Just have to accept life is never fair.
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23-02-2012, 10:21 AM
(This post was last modified: 23-02-2012, 10:32 AM by egghead.)
I like bb88's suggestion of adding disclaimer to indemnify the forum admin/moderator against potentially defamatory comments.
Perhaps the disclaimer can appear once at the top of each thread and at the sign off of each post.
Perhaps the disclaimer can be added at the top of each thread instead of appearing at the sign-off of each post.
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(23-02-2012, 10:01 AM)cfa Wrote: Have consulted my cousin who is in law practice.
He said all legal correspondences between lawyers are strictly confidential, only c.c. clients. , not supposed to disclose to the public or irrelevant parties.
The high profile law suit between OHL and citibank was one good example. They settled out of court but they were not supposed to reveal any details of their settlement.
He also said the rich can always use lawyers to threaten the less welloff, even they are being unresonable ( e.g. So what if you think i am unreasonable , i have the money to fight the case , i can afford to lose the case but can you ? )
Just have to accept life is never fair.
Out of court settlement is always confidential, quite standard. However the public do get to know there is a suit between OHL and Citibank, with some details on what the suit is about, and these are facts and cannot be hidden or deemed confidential to reveal. So at the very least we need to know which company it is and what the issue is about. Even the current defamation matter between LHL and TRE the public also get to know what the matter is regarding.
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sue here sue there, this kind of censoring using threats of legal action counter productive will only bring more unwanted attention to what the issue was.
not very smart public relations
give a hint ler ... company start with what letter? say? say? 
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