Expert: Charles W. Field - 1/27/2005

Question
Dear Mr Field

I live in NY and am in the unenviable position being talked about on a public message board. The forum is a breakaway board from a commercial board where I was an active participant and welcomed by the members and the board owners. I helped a lot of people on and off the board.

A clique group evolved whose behaviour eventually disrupted the board. The board owners eventually took action against them by reformatting the board, deleting many of their posts and posting some policies about behaviour. They then left. They developed a dislike for me as I tried to help the owners maintain a semblance of order on the board. Their dislike was thinly veiled in many of their final posts.

They started a new board and invited many of the people from the old board to join them. A minority went and posted. The majority stayed. On that new board they have increasingly made derogatory comments about me to the extent of stating untruths. As a result of them visiting my charity board (See below) uninvited, I posted on their forum and asked them to stop. In response I got attacked by one woman who I then advised that I would take legal action against her if she did not cease. It has not stopped others posting. I notified the board hosts about what is a breach of the terms of service and they stated they would take no action.

I notified the board "owner" (the person who created this particular board and therefore responsible for its conduct) that I wanted all posts that named or referred to me to be removed and gave her 24 hours to do so before I sought legal advice. Her response was to claim I was "harressing" her by contacting her and that she would see her own laywers. No posts were deleted.

I know this is a very pathetic situation but I run an online business and searches regarding me and my site will eventually lead to this forum where my reputation is being ruined. I also have plans to start an online not for profit and again ths situation could clearly impact its success.

Would you be so kind as to advise me if I have any protection under the law in the US/NY against what is happening to me?

Thanks for your time.  

Answer
Any legal action against anyone who has defamed/harrassed you will need to be taken in the state and county of the residence of the offending party or parties. Since these laws vary from state to state, I can't be of much help since I only po. I would suggest that you at least start with a local attorney who may be able to help you.