How to get Yahoo/Geocities to shut down a libelous site?

[iseedebtpeople]

What is the name of your state? Nebraska

This site is in violation of many of Yahoo/Geocities TOS rules. I am one of the people being defamed by this person along with several others (she adds new people now and then and removes old ones--it never ends). She also is defaming our minor children (or has in the past...not sure if anything is still there about our kids).

All of us have repeatedly complained to Yahoo/Geocities and pointed out all the specific violations of their TOS agreement, but it falls on deaf ears. We just get the standard "We are unlikely to remove the site...." and also the information that they are not legally responsible for what their members post on their sites. I'm cool with that, however, all I want is them to REMOVE the site from their server that is blatantly in violation of their TOS.

The woman is in Australia, so I know I have no legal recourse against her, which is also fine. But her allegations that we are attacking her website and putting viruses on her computer are completely and utterly ridiculous. She thinks that we are submitting her site to search engines and she believes that links to her site infect her website with viruses. LOLOLOL I had never heard of this woman until someone who is being harassed by her by email let me know that she was also attacking me on her website.

Anyway....if you want to read the ramblings, you can click here:

http://www.geocities.com/kangagurl_63/ourbitterenemies2.html

http://www.geocities.com/kangagurl_63/ourbitterenemies3.html

http://www.geocities.com/kangagurl_63/ourbitterenemies.html

I would normally let this roll off my back but we are a loosely connected network of parents who have children with a rare syndrome. If a new parent finds her site, they may be very scared of seeking future support & information for their gravely ill or profoundly handicapped child. Families in Australia tell me that they are genuinely scared of her and fear for their safety. Don't have that fear here in the States, but the allegations do make me uncomfortable and could tarnish my reputation. I don't want to be known as a computer hacker and virus spreader. I wouldn't know the first thing on how to do either which makes this even more laughable. For some reason her site is widely linked to in search engines, which is doubly scary for those of us with children with the syndrome.

I guess my question is....how can I get this site shut down? How do I make Yahoo pay attention and actually uphold their rules?

Thanks!

 

[Zigner]

I would suggest that YOU not advertise her sites...

 

[seniorjudge]

I would suggest that YOU not advertise her sites...

And, since our poster published the websites, our poster cannot claim defamation.

In other words, poster, you have done shot yourself in your own foot!

 

[iseedebtpeople]

I don't want to SUE her....not that I could anyway, she's not in the USA, and even if she were, I wouldn't bother. I just want to get Yahoo/Geocities to stick to their TOS and shut her site down as they should. They shut people down for much less than this, so it surprises me they just let her go on and on and violate multiple terms in the TOS. All I get is a canned response from Geocities so I doubt they even looked at her site. I didn't know if there was a better way to get their attention.....that's what I wanted to know. I doubt my posting here is going to matter one bit to Yahoo.

As far as I know, it's not illegal to post a link to a site. She put her site on a public host, and has multiple links to it throughout the internet. If you Google her Geocities ID, it comes up with four pages of hits. I thought when asking for advice, you might want to see what I'm talking about.

Oh well....thanks anyway....

 

[quincy]

First, I like your user ID name. It amuses me.

Second, a complaint made about material found on a website does not force a web host into removing it. Many will, and many will even cancel an account based on complaints alone. Others, however, will not.

The reason for not removing content is because of abuses early on. People would request material be removed, for whatever reason, and the web hosts would comply. However, much of the material was found to be legal, and the removal was a violation of free speech rights. The material was not defamatory, an invasion of privacy, an infringement on any copyright or trademark rights, or obscene.

So now, many webhosts will not remove content without a court order. What you need to do is to print out the material posted that you find objectionable and go to court for an injunction. A judge will issue one if the material is deemed to be defamatory, a privacy invasion, a copyright or trademark infringement, or obscene.

The injunction will order the removal of the material and prevent future like-material from being posted.

Good luck.

(by the way, there is nothing wrong with posting links here, however when you post links to sites that contain defamatory content, you are contributing to the defamation by providing the material to others who may not have run across it otherwise)

 

[iseedebtpeople]

Thank you for taking the time to reply with useful info.

Do I need a lawyer to get an injunction, or is this something I can do myself? I don't want to have to invest any money in this. However, there might be others that are her victims who may want to do this so I will pass that info on to them.

The defamation I suppose I can live with even if I can't get Yahoo to even look at the site. I think it's a bit absurd for people to believe I'm a computer hacker and virus writer (if you knew me, you'd understand). However, she is starting to make threats and even though there's an ocean between us, it is a bit disconcerting. It's been escalating over the past 3 weeks since I was made aware of her site, and I'm not sure what she has planned. She says her revenge is coming soon....not sure what that means.

So anyway, I can see how defamatory statements can be a grey area since Geocities can't know what is true and what is not....but what about threats and harassment? I know that threats and harassment are specifically banned under Geocities TOS. I think if I could get a real person at Yahoo/Geocities to look at the site, then there would be no question it was in violation. I suppose an injunction is the only way to make them pay attention. I just wanted to do this without involving the courts.

 

[quincy]

You can file for an injunction on your own - you can do research online or go to a library to get some idea as to how to do it - or you can try to locate a free law clinic near you, or a law school, and try to get assistance there.

Defamation, threats, harassment - all of these can be taken care of with an injunction. Just collect the "evidence" of these online postings to demonstrate the need for the injunction.

Internet abuses are, unfortunately, common, and it is increasingly difficult to monitor all of the material posted on all of the various websites. That is why it is left to individuals to do the monitoring. Eventually, maybe, people will realize that free speech has limits and that, if they exceed these limits, they can be sued. It certainly hasn't reached that point yet, obviously, but there is much being done to figure out ways to allow for the filtering out of illegal content while preserving free speech rights.

 

[Totalwreck123]

Don't feel so bad, iseedebtpeople. There's a ring of cyberbullies (adult age) who if I didn't live up to their harassment and bullying to their satisfaction, which I never did, they would get on my phone and start making animal and other criminally insane noises.

This seems to have subsided about 3 weeks ago, when I elicited the help of the FBI and their local police departments. It always amazes me how many of them there are on the Internet.