You Are Being Sued
May 19 '00 (Updated May 21 '00)
The good and the bad, isn’t this site wonderful. We get to express ourselves on products, member advice and share recipes. We capture a thought into our mind and work so diligently to transform those into a painting composed of words. This makes this site great.
Except, when those thoughts are based on speculation and bad assumptions. They then can transform into someone’s heartache, pain and give a general bad impression of this place we so enjoy.
Abuse on this site is following many paths, obscene material, copyright infringement, multiple accounts, etc…. I have also seen abuse to innocent members when rank speculation and assumptions were made. There have been those occasions where citizens of this community and staff have made those assumptions, which have negatively affected others. Simply, because they did not take the time or effort to thoroughly check things out.
One such incident included a respected writer who had his writings on another site using a different name. He later posted one of those to this site, which is permissible according to Epinion’s TOS. He was reported as a plagiarist and a ticket was issued before the facts were checked out (thank goodness another member knew him under both names and the matter was cleared up quickly).
One other, was when someone took a number of another Epinions member’s reviews from this site and posted them to another. One of those reviews was reported stolen to Epinions and it was assumed that she had stolen it. Her account was ticketed for a couple of days and she received no assistance except from other members. The clear evidence finally vindicated her, but why was she ticketed based on speculation and assumption? This is something no one should have to endure.
Another incident hit a lot closer to home this week as one member has dubbed my wife a thief. Not just any thief, but one that steals from her church. The real story begins.
About 4 years ago my wife and two other ladies from her church decide that publishing a church cookbook might be a profitable fundraiser. They took their idea, gathered recipes, edited them and sent the collection to the printer. The books were a hit and sold 500 copies in less than two weeks. These ladies kept only the monies they expended and donated all profits to the church. The ladies were not acting as an agent for the church, nor did the church incur any financial expense. By the way, they raised enough to start a playground for the kids.
With that out of the way, I shall continue my journey to the point. I had been a member of this site for 3 months and had tried to get my wife to join me in my pleasures. She finally nervously agreed and decided to start out with an easy post, you guessed it, a recipe from the cookbook and cited her source in her review. The post was up about a month and a half and had received numerous high ratings when all of a sudden a “NR” appears with a comment stating she gained the recipe from a book therefore she earned the “NR” because of that copyright infringement. She responded to the member, briefly stating her case, and was (in plain language this time) dubbed a thief by this person based on rank speculation and assumption. When, according to my attorney, she is in fact, co-author, co-editor and co-publisher of this book.
My best advice to all that read this review is that things are not always black and white. If you find yourself in a situation where you are questioning something, ask yourself a few questions. Have I checked out all the possibilities? Am I basing my conclusions on assumptions or facts? Have I completely checked out all the facts? Does the evidence support those facts?
Please, don’t have the misconception that someone can make accusations and hide behind a computer monitor and not be found. When the subpoenas come raining down, these Internet sites start jumping through their tooshies to accommodate these court orders. They are willing to give someone up in a heartbeat. After all, do you really think anyone connected to a site is willing to go to jail to further someone else’s misconceptions?
Everyone needs to understand that, in a court of law, when accusations are made it is the accuser’s burden to prove those allegations (as it should be on this site), not the accused to prove they are false. What would be black and white would be the document someone could receive with the first line saying, “YOU ARE BEING SUED.”
Definition Source: Mirriam-Webster Online
Main Entry: 2slander
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English sclaundre, slaundre, from Old French esclandre, from Late Latin scandalum stumbling block, offense -- more at SCANDAL
Date: 14th century
1 : the utterance of false charges or misrepresentations which defame and damage another's reputation
2 : a false and defamatory oral statement about a person -- compare LIBEL
- slan·der·ous /-d(&-)r&s/ adjective
- slan·der·ous·ly adverb
- slan·der·ous·ness noun
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Epinions.com ID:
slick4591
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Member: Dennis Hughes
Location: Farmersville,Texas
Reviews written: 40
Trusted by: 132 members
About Me:
BBQ and fine dining caterer.
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