First let’s look at some statistics. Technorati says:
- Since March 2004, the “blogosphere” has doubled in size every five to seven months.
- There now are more than 53 million blogs.
- There are 150,000 blogs created each day, or nearly two blogs per second.
- There are 1.6 million daily postings, or more than 66,600 per hour.
- 39% of the blogs were in English; 31% in Japanese; 12% in Chinese; 2% in Spanish.
- 40% of those who start a blog are still posting on it three months later.
Now let’s look as some recent news. From USAToday:
A Florida woman has been awarded $11.3 million in a defamation lawsuit against a Louisiana woman who posted messages on the Internet accusing her of being a “crook,” a “con artist” and a “fraud.”
Legal analysts say the Sept. 19 award by a jury in Broward County, Fla. — first reported Friday by the Daily Business Review — represents the largest such judgment over postings on an Internet blog or message board. Lyrissa Lidsky, a University of Florida law professor who specializes in free-speech issues, calls the award “astonishing.”
Lidsky says the case could represent a coming trend in court fights over online messages because the woman who won the damage award, Sue Scheff of Weston, Fla., pursued the case even though she knew the defendant, Carey Bock of Mandeville, La., has no hope of paying such an award. Bock, who had to leave her home for several months because of Hurricane Katrina, couldn’t afford an attorney and didn’t show up for the trial.
Scheff says she wanted to make a point to those who unfairly criticize others on the Internet. “I’m sure (Bock) doesn’t have $1 million, let alone $11 million, but the message is strong and clear,” Scheff says. “People are using the Internet to destroy people they don’t like, and you can’t do that.”
Wow. $11 million for talking bad about someone on a blog. Let’s continue:
The dispute between the two women arose after Bock asked Scheff for help in withdrawing Bock’s twin sons from a boarding school in Costa Rica. Bock had disagreed with her ex-husband over how to deal with the boys’ behavior problems. Against Bock’s wishes, he had sent the boys to the boarding school.
Scheff, who operates a referral service called Parents Universal Resource Experts, says she referred Bock to a consultant who helped Bock retrieve her sons. Afterward, Bock became critical of Scheff and posted negative messages about her on the Internet site Fornits.com, where parents with children in boarding schools for troubled teens confer with one another.
In 2003, Scheff sued Bock for defamation. Bock hired a lawyer, but he left the case when she no longer could afford to pay him.
When Katrina hit in August 2005, Bock’s house was flooded and she moved temporarily to Texas before returning to Louisiana last June. Court papers that Scheff and her attorney David H. Pollack mailed to Bock were returned to Pollack’s office in Miami.
After Bock didn’t offer a defense, a Broward Circuit Court judge found in favor of Scheff. A jury then heard Scheff’s arguments about damages. Pollack did not seek a specific amount for the harm he says Scheff’s business suffered.
So:
(1) Sue Scheff of Weston, Fla, runs a referral service called Parents Universal Resource Experts.
(2) Carey Bock of Mandeville, La, had twin sons in a boarding school in Costa Rica.
(3) Carey Bock asked Sue Scheff to help her get her sons out of the school.
(4) Sue Scheff referred Carey Bock to a consultant who helped Bock retrieve her sons.
(5) Carey Bock became critical of Scheff and posted negative messages about her on the Internet site Fornits.com, accusing her of being a “crook,” a “con artist” and a “fraud.”
(6) Sue Scheff sued Carey Bock for Slander, Defamation, and Invasion of Privacy.
(7) Carey Bock’s lawyer ran away when Bock ran out of money.
(8) When Katrina flooded Carey Bock’s home, forcing her to move away for awhile. But the case continued with her in absentia.
(9) The jury voted in favor of Sue Scheff and awarded her $11 million.
Did Bock go overboard with her comments? Maybe.
Did Scheff’s business suffer? Maybe.
But to continue the case when Bock’s home was underwater, and then to award Scheff with $11 million, seems a bit over-the-top to me. Isn’t that like kicking someone that’s crippled? Somehow I find it hard to believe that worse words have never been said about or to her, especially if she runs a business. Somehow I don’t think the entire truth about this has been told yet – and now probably never will be.
Dr. Phil McGraw seems to like Sue Scheff, recommending her PURE organization to parents of troubled teens. So maybe I’m wrong.
But I won’t comment any further. Sue Scheff, you scare me. I don’t have $11 million. I won’t say another word about you. I merely pray that you receive all the blessings that you give others.
What’s worse: people using the Internet to destroy people they don’t like, or people using the courts to destroy people they don’t like?
Sue Scheff, Carey Bock, Parents Universal Resource Experts, Fornits.com
