Slashdot Mirror
Courts Begin To Frown On Online Badmouthing
Whistler's Mother writes: "Employers are winning key legal victories against former workers who criticize them online. Rulings in the waning days of 2001 could have a chilling effect on workers' use of cyberspace for years to come, civil libertarians say. The battle over Internet free speech also is heating up as more firms crack down on grousing by laid-off staff. Read the whole story here."
I think anyone who's aware of the first thing about speech law knows that libel and slander are not protected by the First Amendment. If it were to be shown to be true that the managers of each company were, in fact, sexist and homophobic, then the disgruntled employees would have a fair chance at winning. Unfortunately, that kind of accusation is difficult to prove without tangible evidence, and these jokers had none.
Of course there is a ton of evidence that the Slashdot moderators are a bunch of homophobes judging by the type of comments that typically get modded down.