Expert online defamation lawyers commenting on the group defamation action being led by KwikChex against TripAdvisor  know that in the USA in particular,  it is difficult to get a result against ‘review’ and ‘feedback’ sites. But in this case,  KwikChex is claiming that there have been abuses that fall outside of the normal defence of ‘user generated comment.’

In an article published by Beth Kormanik of Hotel Interactive.com, the following was stated:

Bill Hart, an attorney with the Manhattan firm Proskauer who specializes in technology issues, said situations similar to the “Hotel Horror” email could be in a “gray area” of the law. In general, sites cannot go beyond publishing user statements without giving up their immunity, he said. If they make conclusions from the reviews, it could be problematic.

and here is another from Jack Lerner, a professor at the University of Southern California Law School

‘The law would not protect sites that edit the substance of a user’s comment or that induce the content.‘

The KwikChex response to the article is “We already have what is the first truly robust defence system against this severe problem that affects both reputable businesses and consumers – but will be going far further – it is our belief that the mistakes that TripAdvisor have made undermine their integrity to such a degree that we can use them to leverage serious change. The fundamental issue is that we have proven you cannot trust TripAdvisor themselves to not produce damaging assertions  unjustifiably against reputable businesses – so how can you trust anything else on their site at present? Or to put it another way – when the saint is caught sinning, all faith is lost.”

Link to the ‘Promote & Protect’ KwikChex All Rounders service for hotels and restaurants

Link to the article on Hotel Interactive.com

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post

She was attacked in an online review in January in a local Yahoo review. The reviewer claimed that she was suing her for physical injury and urged people not to give her business.

Cathy was successful in having the review removed from Yahoo – but as is often the case it still appeared prominently on Google Map reviews – much more damaging because they become attached to the business/website and are very prominent in search results.

We evaluated this review and found that the reviewer had failed to provide any evidence whatsoever. We therefore immediately posted the following response on Cathy’s Google Map Reviews:

If immediate remedial action is not taken by Google further pressure will be brought to bear on Google to resolve this (further updates will be posted on Feedblack.com and KwikChex.com). Cathy Waechter has a reputable business that has been threatened by unverified reviews that malign her reputation. KwikChex is pleased to be able to assist Cathy – and all other reputable businesses that have had similar problems.

Get the solutions on KwikChex.com

See the news on Feedblack.com

Join our facebook campaign ‘Web of Lies’ to rid the web of fake and malicious online reviews – Click here

• Bookmark on Delicious
• Digg this post
• Recommend on Facebook
• share via Reddit
• Share with Stumblers
• Tweet about it
• Subscribe to the comments on this post