Liberty Natural Products, Inc. is an importer, producer and distributor of over 1000+ botanicals and extracts to the US and abroad since 1982.

Liberty has filed claims alleging defamation for the defamatory Ripoff Reports#425980 and #408898.   The action is not against ripoffreports.com as they have indicated that they are not responsible for defamation posted by third parties because of the 1996 Community Decency Act law, which protects online blogs and forums. 

Ripoff Reports has further advised that its policy is not to remove defamation without court order.

There are many interesting aspects to the developing law regarding internet defamation. 

Informative Internet Defamation Links:

Internet Defamation Law Blog

Defamation Lawyer: Dozier Internet Law

It is the opinion of many legal scholars that as long as the defamatory content originates from a third party, the service provider, has no liability for defamation.

The public purpose in creating an open environment for free speech and the protection of service providers from the libelous acts of others is understood.

However, the failure to balance the public interest in limiiting the liability of service providers with the due process rights of individuals and businesses is not understood.

Did Congress in enacting the CDA intend to give internet service providers carte blanche to promulgate defamation in seeming contradiction to the Constitution?

There are a number of circumstances that one would reasonably expect would subject a service provider to liability.
1.  Where the service provider creates an environment encouraging defamation and profits from doing so.
2.  Where a service provider fails to remove content when defamation has been found in a court of law and an injunction has been issued.
3.  When a publisher of defamatory material acknowledges the defamatory content and requests the service provider to remove the content.

John Dozier Jr. in his book, Google Bomb TM, puts forth an E-Bill of Rights addressing changes in the law that would put back in balance an individuals right to be free of false attacks against reputation, without impinging on the freedom of speech..  This is a book worth reading. 

It is truly ironic that individual liberty can be seriously threatened by free speech allowed to run amok in an environment of CDA anarchy on the internet. 

Jim Dierking,

President

Liberty Natural Products, Inc.