Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoPoto
I don't think Greg meant to opine that Trout had a case, per se. The question for a lawyer here (focusing on the semantics) would appear to be whether typing verbiage into a public "chat room" like Net54 is considered written or spoken "speech".
If chat rooms have displaced town gatherings as common forums for public discourse, it seems logical that laws regarding spoken speech might be deemed applicable in lieu of laws regarding written speech, such as newspapers and other "published" material.
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Libel = written and Slander = spoken, at least in the state where I have since retired from the practice of law.
Damages awarded under successful defamation claims are often a function of the number of people exposed to the defamatory speech. Whether that speech is libelous (written) or slanderous (spoken) is less important than how many people read or heard that speech -- and whether that speech is permanent.
To that end, messages posted in a chat forum such as this one (which appear to be searchable on the internet forever) would likely be considered written speech. But I defer to someone whose legal experience is more recent than my own.