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Topic: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Topic: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

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Paul Graham
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Member Since: 1/18/2005
Location: The Plains, OH
Post Count: 1,424

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OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 12/4/2014 7:55:47 AM

Lets all agree to never end up with a thread like this!

http://csnbbs.com/thread-711516.html

The Situation
General User

Member Since: 7/12/2010
Location: Columbus, OH
Post Count: 957

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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 12/4/2014 9:13:29 AM

Dare I say, negative contributions on the Western Michigan football message board had a negative, not negligible, impact on the Western Michigan head football coach?

Fascinating thread.

Last Edited: 12/4/2014 9:16:07 AM by The Situation

C Money
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Member Since: 8/28/2010
Post Count: 3,420

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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 12/4/2014 9:17:35 AM

>types humorous comment
>>deletes it, doesn't want to get sued
>>>types serious comment
>>>>deletes it, doesn't want to get sued

Man, lawyers ruin everything.

OhioStunter
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Member Since: 2/18/2005
Location: Chicago
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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 12/4/2014 9:47:43 AM

"I do retract the 3 emoticons that were posted as a reply to the original comment that in fact did reference a specific individual of whom I in fact have no first hand knowledge of any of said persons personal activities."

"I believe to the best of my ability that this matches the same size type and has been posted in the same manner as the original posts in the "Fire Fleck" thread."

Wow.

JSF
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Member Since: 1/29/2005
Location: Houston, TX
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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 12/4/2014 9:50:31 AM

Thankfully, we've never had anything like this.

But how embarrassing for the posters?

"Loyalty to a hometown or city is fleeting and interchangeable, but college is a stamp of identity."- Kyle Whelliston, One Beautiful Season.

My blog about depression and mental illness: https://bit.ly/3buGXH8

L.C.
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Member Since: 8/31/2005
Location: United States
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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 12/4/2014 10:05:55 AM

That brings me back to a congratulations to Ted, Jeff, and Ryan, who have done a great job of running this board so as to avoid issues like that. I know that sometimes people are offended when posts are deleted, but they usually are quick to delete posts that are potentially slanderous.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

Ted Thompson
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Member Since: 11/11/2004
Location: MAC Play
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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 12/4/2014 4:12:35 PM

And only two people have threatened to sue me in the history of BobcatAttack.

Follow Ohio Football recruiting on the BobcatAttack.com football recruiting database.

Pataskala
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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 12/4/2014 8:31:35 PM

C Money wrote:

>types humorous comment
>>deletes it, doesn't want to get sued
>>>types serious comment
>>>>deletes it, doesn't want to get sued

Man, lawyers ruin everything.

That's our job.

We actually take a course called "Ruining Everything 101."

We will get by.
We will get by.
We will get by.
We will survive.

Brian Smith (No, not that one)
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Member Since: 2/3/2005
Post Count: 3,016

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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 12/4/2014 11:57:37 PM

As a person currently dating an attorney, those first few posts use the same tone I employ in apologetic dinner conversations about my actions.

"My phrasing and tone in describing your choice in attire was both regrettable and unfortunate..."

Last Edited: 12/5/2014 12:00:59 AM by Brian Smith (No, not that one)

MedinaCat
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Lakewood, OH
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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 12/5/2014 8:20:37 AM

Ted Thompson wrote:

And only two people have threatened to sue me in the history of BobcatAttack.

I am curious if you can explain without implicating anyone? Were they posters or people/business/organization who happened to be topics of conversation?

The Optimist
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Member Since: 3/16/2007
Location: CLE
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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 12/5/2014 9:46:46 AM

LOL.

I've seen crazier things happen.

OhioStunter
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Location: Chicago
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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 12/5/2014 5:53:13 PM

Ted Thompson wrote:

And only two people have threatened to sue me in the history of BobcatAttack.

1. The giant pretzel manufacturer
2. The guy in your avatar

TheRealMikeDrake
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Delaware, OH
Post Count: 300

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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 2/5/2015 2:58:34 PM

The saga continues

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2015/02/def...

Paul Graham
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Location: The Plains, OH
Post Count: 1,424

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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 2/5/2015 5:13:25 PM

Oh wow.

Urban Bobcat
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Member Since: 9/14/2007
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 829

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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 2/5/2015 5:46:40 PM

That is just messed up. Wow indeed.

Now with that said we all know what Asst. Coach Tim A. and Rufus the Bobcat have been doing for years!

Ole Rufus has been conjuring all of the offensive play!!! Or maybe he should be.

URBAN BOBCAT

The Optimist
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Location: CLE
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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 2/5/2015 6:20:05 PM

CSNbbs is a clown show.

I've seen crazier things happen.

Paul Graham
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Member Since: 1/18/2005
Location: The Plains, OH
Post Count: 1,424

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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 2/5/2015 6:33:47 PM

Imagine a BA.com lawsuit...Monroe's lawyer going with an insanity defense. (J/K Monroe!)

Last Edited: 2/5/2015 6:34:05 PM by Paul Graham

OhioCatFan
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 14,661

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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 2/5/2015 7:01:23 PM

I'll make a bet that she won't be successful with this law suit if it ever actually goes to trial. However, it may likely get settled out of court. It'll be interesting to watch how it develops.

The only BLSS Certified Hypocrite on BA

"It is better to be an optimist and be proven a fool than to be a pessimist and be proven right."

Note: My avatar is the national colors of the 78th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, which are now preserved in a climate controlled vault at the Ohio History Connection. Learn more about the old 78th at: http://www.78ohio.org

L.C.
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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 2/5/2015 7:16:16 PM

OhioCatFan wrote:

I'll make a bet that she won't be successful with this law suit if it ever actually goes to trial. However, it may likely get settled out of court. It'll be interesting to watch how it develops.

I'm not so sure. The last time we checked in on this, people were being offered the chance to retract their statements and to be forgiven. As a result, I'm surprised it's come this far, because it seemed that everyone was retracting their statements. Did these three refuse to retract their statements? If so, they may have to prove the truth of whatever they said.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

perimeterpost
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Member Since: 7/6/2010
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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 2/5/2015 8:34:57 PM

one of the defendants who goes by "Chipdip2" is a real piece of work, you might know him better by his BA name "Chipdip49". The guy was relentless in defaming CMU's player on every CMU opponents' message boards. Real internet tough guy type.

http://www.bobcatattack.com/messageboard/topic.asp?FromPa...

MY STATE. MY TEAM.

L.C.
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Location: United States
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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 2/5/2015 8:41:56 PM

perimeterpost wrote:

As yes, I remember him. Ted had to edit his post here to correct it to say that the CMU player had been convicted of a misdemeanor (as opposed to a felony).

Last Edited: 2/5/2015 8:47:27 PM by L.C.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

OhioCatFan
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 14,661

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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 2/5/2015 8:43:49 PM

L.C., it seemed to me that those that retracted their statements on the board were those who were being sued. I could be wrong about this. Retractions, of course, don't remove your liability but they will tend to mitigate the damages that can be collected. The other question I have is whether she is known well enough that she could be considered a public figure and thus allow the defendants to invoke the Times criteria of actual malice. This effectively flips the burden of proof and places it on the plaintiff. It makes the state law basically irrelevant and places the Federal standard, as defined by the Supreme Court in Times V. Sullivan, as the ruling criteria. At one point any one in the news was considered a public figure (sort of a bootstrap logic); however, in recent years the Court has pulled back on this and it is now much harder to get a person categorized as a public figure in this context. Originally you had to be an elected or appointed public official to be considered a public figure, but after being expanded to an almost absurd extent the Court's pullback has left that line somewhat blurred. It's been several years since I've studied this aspect of Mass Communication law, so I stand ready to be updated on this issue. The bottom line is the libel law is a complex issue.

L.C.
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Location: United States
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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 2/5/2015 8:49:36 PM

I believe she threatened to sue all those people by initiating suit against "John Does", and then let the ones off who apologized and retracted their statements. My feeling is that those that refused to retract their statements, in doing so, reaffirmed their statements, and effectively showed actual malice. I don't know if that matches the legal principles, however. On the other hand, I feel absolutely no sympathy for those that refused to retract their statements when given the chance.

Last Edited: 2/5/2015 8:50:36 PM by L.C.

�We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.� ― Epictetus

OhioCatFan
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Member Since: 12/20/2004
Location: Athens, OH
Post Count: 14,661

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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 2/5/2015 8:53:08 PM

Probably would meet the state definition of actual malice, L.C. The Federal definition, if applicable, would require proof that the defendants had either reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of their statements or that they made "knowingly false" statements.

Last Edited: 2/5/2015 10:37:24 PM by OhioCatFan

C Money
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Member Since: 8/28/2010
Post Count: 3,420

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RE: OT - A Cautionary Tale from WMU's Message Board

Posted: 2/5/2015 9:46:14 PM

Man, this whole thing is giving me flashbacks to my 1L torts class. This absolutely will make it onto some law professor's final exam as an essay question.

Last Edited: 2/5/2015 9:46:37 PM by C Money

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