“You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named "Bush", "Dick", and "Colin." Need I say more?” - Chris Rock
“You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named "Bush", "Dick", and "Colin." Need I say more?” - Chris Rock
“You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named "Bush", "Dick", and "Colin." Need I say more?” - Chris Rock
Who here has identified "Drummond" as a result of his username and/or the name calling?
There is the Communications Decency Act, Section 230, to protect you (the forum owner) from a civil action over defamatory statements made by others on your site, if you do not contribute to or encourage the publication of the content.
As to the anonymity provided by user names: If an unnamed individual can be identified by others through description or circumstance, this can be enough of an identification to meet that element of defamation.
“You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named "Bush", "Dick", and "Colin." Need I say more?” - Chris Rock
For those who read the other legal board site - seems a few on the legal side say to just ban the person with the accusation. This is not my intent nor was it ever. I still believe in freedom of speech and am allowing this to go as far as possible. My last resort is to simply zip this thread up eventually. But ignore calls for bans, not my intent or style. Attorneys will of course advise to walk away from such issues when accused, just in case. But I don't see anything going that far. Ignore any of that talk.
“You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named "Bush", "Dick", and "Colin." Need I say more?” - Chris Rock
And unless I can get one of them to go get citations, or want to spend any more energy on this - I think the best we will get is what they have written. They wouldn't decide a case. They do show that the person would need to be identified. The case would be difficult, if not impossible. But as they say - "anyone can sue anyone for anything". That surely doesn't mean they'll win though, or not have it tossed out of court. I posted from the DMLP earlier, showing the latitude one has when choosing to make such statements. Then we all know there are no damages. Even if such a thing ever reached the inside of a courtroom, no way would all of the elements be met.
When name calling and such matters is when the shit is stated about public figures. But hell, go out there and swear up and down that Hillary is REALLY a conservative. While a retarded comment, even she wouldn't successfully be able to sue. Why? No one would believe it to begin with. Then again, the public has MUCH more latitude when speaking of political figures.
Bottom line, the public would need to know who the offended party is. The offended party would need to suffer damages. I don't care HOW MUCH someone is insulted by this - can you imagine being in front of a judge, and he asks what the issue is - "Well, your honor, she called me a liberal" - "Oh, and your honor, this took place on an internet message board".
So, either SUE, or get off the pot, or move on, or whatever. But the issue is DEAD here on DP. Time to move on now. The show is over.
“You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America's Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn't want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named "Bush", "Dick", and "Colin." Need I say more?” - Chris Rock