jettlager
On page 23, you invited
Guardian 1 to
do some reading on defamation laws.
Permit me to provide you (and others) with some gratuitous legal advice on defamation.
You are certainly free to express the opinions of others as communicated to you. But you are not free to breach any copyright or other intellectual property interest held by another party. If you do, you may be sued.
And if you communicate or publish material to another party that lowers a person’s personal, professional trade or business reputation in the estimation of the average person in the street, then you run the risk of being sued for defamation in all Australian jurisdictions.
Where the person isn’t named, the test which decides whether the words used refer to him/her is whether the words used are such as would reasonably lead persons acquainted with the subject to believe he/she was the person referred to.
The author of material who communicates it electronically, such as via an electronic bulletin board, is deemed to have communicated or published it, and will be liable if the material is defamatory.
Subject to the defence of innocent distribution, any other person, such as PPRuNe, who intentionally or negligently takes part in, or authorises the publication of material, is said to have published it and is liable to be sued for defamation as well.
The ACT is the most generous jurisdiction in Australia in awarding damages for defamation. Just ask Tony Abbott, Peter Costello and Bob Ellis. Don't forget the legal costs involved; usually paid by the loser, that is two sets of costs. And PPRuNe is capable of being accessed in the ACT.