January 17, 2005

• UPDATE
  
  (on top to save those who already know what it’s about from having to
  go through it again — but if you don’t know, you can still go down and
  read the rest)

  Predictably, when I told Greyfox about the libelous allegations, he was
  all for suing the Amazing Randi.  I didn’t think that would work,
  since he’s probably protected from liability for statements made by
  others on his bulletin boards.  Greyfox suggested that I look up
  internet libel laws.  I did.  It was an interesting trip.

  I found a list of precedents on the Phillips Nizer website, and a detailed article
  from Jack  M. Balkin in which he says that new laws, protecting
  ISPs and website owners from liability for the actions of third
  parties, don’t protect the individual writers themselves from suit for
  libel.  For example, if someone posted a libelous statement in a
  chat room, the host and moderators would not be held legally
  responsible, and if someone posted a libelous comment on this blog, I
  could not be sued for it, but the one who posted the comment could be.

  
  **sigh…**

  I don’t think that ignorance is bliss.  To me, ignorance is a
  state of unknowing, a lack of knowledge or education.  This is why
  I really like my new x-Tracker. 
  I have only had it a couple of days, but without it I wouldn’t know
  that I’m being libeled.  I checked the log for KaiOaty and
  followed the link to the referring page from which a “guest”
  (non-Xangan) reader had come, and Voila!  — lies, dirty,
  defamatory lies.

  Of course, if I didn’t know I’d been libeled, I wouldn’t need to decide
  whether to take any legal action on it.  I suppose that’s what
  that old saying about ignorance being bliss really means.

  Here’s the story:  somebody here at Xanga got a bug up her ass
  over something about my KaiOaty site.  She’s not someone I usually
  read, but for some reason (maybe I’m psychic or something) I happened
  to read her blog the day she was bitching about it in an oblique
  fashion.  I asked her what was troubling her, but she didn’t
  respond to that opening.

  Instead, she posted on a BBS devoted to debunking psychics some lies
  about me along with links to some pages at KaiOaty which, when taken
  out of context, don’t make much sense.  When one follows the trail
  I built over there and pays attention, it makes sense.

  The out-of-context page isn’t a major concern.  It’s a snide
  little joke I made, but I still feel it’s appropriate.  Without a
  direct link to it such as she posted, the only way anyone would find
  that page would be to ask repeatedly for something I had previously
  repeatedly said I don’t do, such as giving lucky numbers or investment
  advice.  Anyone who bothers to read and follow the instructions
  would never see it.  A few people have deliberately clicked on the
  stupid choices to see where they went, and have let me know they
  appreciated the joke.

  The libel is the part I don’t like.  She claims that I charge in
  advance for readings and then refuse to give refunds.  Everyone
  who has ever had a reading from me knows that I don’t charge in
  advance.  Technically speaking, I don’t “charge” at all since no
  fee is set and the client is asked only to pay what they feel the
  service is worth.  Besides that, nobody has ever asked me for a
  refund, but this misguided miscreant has invented some “friend” of hers
  named Robin to whom she claims I have refused a refund.

  Months go by sometimes between the times that I think of Roger Aloysius
  McShea, the Anchorage lawyer who won a settlement for me seventeen
  years ago when my car and one of my knees were totalled by a drunk
  driver making an illegal left turn.  I like Roger.  I haven’t
  talked to him in years.  He has written a novel and had it
  published since the last time I saw him.  I know he’s still in
  practice, because I just checked the latest phone book and there he
  was.  Maybe I should call him.

  My dilemma is manifold.  I ask myself if it’s worth the
  bother.  I know I’d probably have to go to Anchorage — yuk. 
  I might even need to go to court, which is something else I don’t
  particularly enjoy.  Heaven knows, I could use some money, since
  at least half of the readings I do end up being pro bono because all I
  get for them is a thank you. (and I want to take this opportunity right
  now to thank those of you who have paid me for my work)  But maybe
  this tight-jawed and loose-lipped lass has no money.  Who
  knows?  Her true identity is not revealed on her Xanga site. 
  She might even be a he, for all I know.

  I’m thinking it over.  I’m remembering all the crap I went through
  with the last lawsuit, the time spent with the economist Roger hired to
  determine a documentable figure for my lost potential income, and the
  trips to town, etc.  Even if Roger would do it on a contingency fee
  basis, multiple trips to Anchorage would cost a lot, both in money and
  in terms of my scarce physical resources.  On the other hand, my
  sense of justice is outraged.  I hate lies, not just the
  defamatory ones told about me, but any lies about anything.  Liars
  are the lowest form of life.
  

  • 1:29 am
  • 14 Comments