Courts asked to crack down on bloggers, websites

Courts all over the U.S. are being asked to crack down on bloggers and web sites, as those who are being attacked online are arming themselves with attorneys and filing libel lawsuits. We even saw it in Winnebago County earlier this year as Diane Fremgen, our county clerk of courts, struck out against the Full of Bologna web site after one of its regular posters made a series of what Fremgen believed were libelous and defamatory comments. Though quickly settled, the operator of the FOB web site was temporarily shut down and ordered to take certain precautionary measures before being allowed to go back online.

A story this week in Folio Magazine entitled Bloggers: Lawsuits Won’t Stop Publishers From Blogging explores what, if any, this new rash of lawsuits might have on the blog-publishing industry.

One thing those lawsuits are doing, an article in USA Today says, is changing the mindset of those bloggers who think they are “judgment proof” and can basically say anything they want about someone else because they’re not a big-name publisher or because they don’t have a lot of money.

Both articles are interesting reading and should be food for thought for anyone who thinks they can just maliciously say things about others that aren’t true, especially if it taints or damages someone’s career or reputation, and that they are somehow protected because they’re “just blogging.”