Hi everyone, Many will remember that I have been involved with Greenzap for some time, have invested in the company, and have continuously dug for the so-called dirt that is so often suggested about this company, only to find that most of it is on forums, some on websites owned by people who hate Greenzap or its CEO, and none of it has any substance. Believe me, I would be the first one to post any sad facts about the company, if I could find any. It would not be the first time I've eaten crow about a company I've been promoting, and would likely not be the last. None of us can control companies we don't personally own. Here is the latest from Greenzap, sent to me, today, in an email from CEO, Damon Westmoreland: GreenZap Files $57.5 Million Lawsuit Against Bloggers and Website Hosting Company SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GreenZap®, Inc. (Pink Sheets: GZPN - News; the "Company"), an online payment provider, has filed a lawsuit against website-hosting-company Liquid Web, Inc. and Vodien, Inc. for a total of $57.5 million. The suit is the first of many GreenZap is preparing against individual bloggers and hosting companies that maintain websites where defamatory comments are being posted concerning GreenZap and its executives. You can read the rest of the article at: http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070212/20070212006456.html?.v=1 If you read the article, you will find that this is NOT a precedent-setting case. Another such case has already been tried. In October 2006, a Florida jury awarded $11.3 million in an Internet defamation lawsuit. The plaintiff filed a lawsuit after a blogger called her a "crook," "con artist" and a "fraud" on an Internet message board. This goes to underline something I have said more than once in articles, forums and blogs: Do your due diligence! Freedom of speech does not mean you can make false statements about a person or business. Expect to see more cases like this, as more and more companies are right now watching and preparing their own lawsuits. Note that if you HAVE made any unsubstantiated defamatory posts about a company or one of its officers, NOW is the time to take them down. The standard practice is for a company to first ask that the post or article be taken down and a retraction posted, but why take the chance? Like it or not, you need to be careful what you say in print. God bless, Dave http://www.greenzap.com/icanhelp

Hi Dave,

I have no knowledge of the company you refer to, but your point is very well made.  Even when writing my book I was very cautious in this area.

However - and I am prepared to be corrected on this, as I understand English Law on the subject the best thing to always do is to add the phrase ' in my opinion etc........'  As (again I believe) people are entitled to hold an opinion. I was told this by an ex-brother-in-law of mine who was Editor of the now-defunct Punch satirical magazine in the UK.

The problem, as you point out, is when people state something as a Fact and not an Opinion and as such is deemed to be provable, and and thus defendable.

I am not a lawyer, but I recall this as a basis of all my copywriting experiences in Advertising.  

I would be very interested in hearing whether my understanding is correct under any legal system.  It is a very important point and we should all remember that Freedom of Expression does not, or should not, be Freedom of Abuse. A very few people on Adland Pro should be very careful in this area.

Good thinking - as ever Dave.

Norm

http://www.career-training-on-cd.com

http://www.lulu.com/norman-clark

Hi Leon, I'm sure Damon will appreciate the email. As I pointed out in a previous post (quite some time ago), I did some serious digging into Damon's background, as he seems to often bear the brunt of the slander, and found... get this... not ONE provable claim against him. Yes, he has been involved in several businesses that are now in the hands of others and that did not go as planned, but that is the risk of business. The people who continuously bad-mouth him and his business, in my opinion, are mainly a bunch of whiners who didn't make it big in his previous businesses, and are now sour graping because they're still a part of the 95% who never make it. My advice to these people is, get over it! And make sure you can provide real evidence to back up all your wild claims! Or maybe enjoy being the target of a nice, fat lawsuit... Thanks for posting, Leon. And yes, I think I'm up-to-date with P4P. God bless, Dave http://www.greenzap.com/icanhelp