Yahoo Groups liable

[wolfwillow]

What is the name of your state? MB, Canada

I have a situation that goes a step beyond the typical Yahoo liablous posts. A person decided to create her own yahoo group called "(mybusinesname)scams" .
Her introduction to the group is as follows "We are searching for people who have been taken advantage of by (MY BUSINESS NAME). Did you recieve the wrong (product)? Or worse, no (product) at all and no refund. Everyone is welcome."

First and foremost, I am a ligitimate business and do not scam in any way shape or form. Though I have a transaction that is currently before the lawyers, it is not an issue of any of the above accusations.

I complained to Yahoo and received the response that they had addressed the issue, of course they will not disclose how. All I know is the group still exists and none of the wording has changed, including the use of my business name in the group name.

Does anybody have any opinions on this? For the record the group owner is well known to me and has a history of attempts to defame me in the past. All customers and posts originate in the US, btw.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

Nothing in your post has come close to Libel.

 

[wolfwillow]

Thanks for your opinion, though i would think that the use of my name and the word scams would only be acceptable if I had actually been found guilty or even charged with scamming

But that not really a problem, a days research and I have some excellent posts they have made with lies that I can easy prove aren't true.

 

[seniorjudge]

Q: But that not really a problem, a days research and I have some excellent posts they have made with lies that I can easy prove aren't true.

A: How do you prove a negative, i.e., that something is not true?

 

[wolfwillow]

sorry, if my wording didn't clearly state my intent.

I can prove the truth, therefore disprove their lies.

 

[john123456]

"What is the name of your state? MB, Canada"

US Law Only

 

[wolfwillow]

Wow, nice bunch.
In case you didn't read I stated the issue is occuring in the US.
Sorry to bother you all, I mistook this for an advice forum.
I was simply asking for an opinion and got it. No need to be rude.

 

[meganproser]

Don't run off. EVERYONE here is not rude. I don't have time tonight but will put something up to answer your question in the next day or so.

 

[meganproser]

Ok, I've got a minute now...

A person decided to create her own yahoo group called "(mybusinesname)scams" .

I think the harm caused by the name alone, would have much to do with how unique the name of your business is.

If the group is called, “Howard’s Scams”, you’d be hard pressed to claim that everyone who sees that title is going to associate it with your business, which happens to be called “Howard’s”.

If your business name is Randolph Michael Morgan III’s Auto Repair Shop and people who google your business name are being directed to the Yahoo group, the name of the group alone may be considered harmful to your business.

Her introduction to the group is as follows "We are searching for people who have been taken advantage of by (MY BUSINESS NAME). Did you recieve the wrong (product)? Or worse, no (product) at all and no refund. Everyone is welcome."

Nothing in the above writing accuses you of any wrongdoing. If you run an honest business the woman will get no replies to her query and in a backwards way, (name of the group aside) her group will actually advertise the fact that your customers have been happy.

Any negative posts that appear there have to be FALSE in order to make them actionable.

You may want to have a few of your satisfied customers join the group and post their positive experiences there. If the owner removes the positive posts, but leaves any negative posts that come in, she will have helped to establish that the purpose of the site is malicious.

Assuming the situation has not yet caused harm to you or your business, you may want to send the owner a certified email or letter (if you know her snail mail addy then send both), advising her of your objections, telling her that the mere existence of the group is harming your business in CANADA (if in fact you DO business in CA) and that if she does not remove the group immediately you will take the appropriate legal action. Make a point of informing her that her continued tortuous activity subjects her to suit in CANADA.

If you had to sue her, there is a chance you could sue on your own turf, but the SOL on defamation is VERY short in CA. There may be other claims that fit this situation depending on where you ended up suing.

 

[stephenk]

Go to yahoo groups and type "MB Horsefinder Scams" That is the group he is complaining about.

Nothing libelous in the postings. It seems this poster's company may have some shady dealings going on.

 

[meganproser]

Hmmm, thanks for the info StephenK (said Megan, while wondering how SK found out the name of the business).

It appears that actual complaints about the company are in the group files and only members can access those files. I read all of the posts and they were harmless.

It seems this poster's company may have some shady dealings going on.

I checked out the web site. The guy sells and transports horses. He appears to have some dissatisfied customers. Who knows if anything shady is going on or not? I tried to put two horses into my shopping cart while I was on the site but they wouldn’t fit.

I don’t try to figure out if the OPs are the good guys or the bad guys in their various disputes. The answers to their questions are the same either way and the OP is not the only one who will read and learn from the answers.

 

[stephenk]

it wasnt hard to find. i went to yahoo groups and in the search box i entered the opening line to the group that the poster provided in his initial post.

it was the only group.

 

[meganproser]

Oh, thanks for the tip! I've never had to do any kind of search in Yahoo so I thought all you could enter was the name of the group.

In fact, I spent a half hour entering MB Horsefinder Scam, before I figured out that there can't be any spaces in the group name.

So much to learn so little time.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Good thing this isn't the old west, OP would be in a heap of trouble for horse trad'n or russ'n gone bad.