Criticize Online, Get Fined

maxpublic writes "Yet another outspoken critic of corporate America has been SLAPP'ed - only this time, Dan Whatley didn't even know he'd been sued until he was presented with a $450,000 judgement. For those who don't know, SLAPP stands for 'Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation' and is used to silence people who openly criticize thin-skinned corporations." In this case the company doing to suing is Xybernaut, the makers of wearable computers mentioned here many times in the past. This article is a must read. And now Xybernaut has joined Amazon and others on my list of Must-Avoid companies. This is a creepy run around the 1st Ammendment, and you should be aware.

Comments

Power , Money and Lawsuits: The Perfect Gag

[tunacanrana]

This is business as usual, especially since January 2001. "If you don't have the money and time to pay for lawyers and sit in court, then it's not worth your while to even open your mouth to criticize."
Of course -- it needs to be said -- when our society allowed career white collar criminals to usurp the highest Executive office of our government, including an individual who responds to criticism of his less-than-pristine character with the statement,"there should be limits on freedom of speech," it's really no surprise that Corporations would take advantage of such an oppressive atmosphere.
A sad fate for the Bill of Rights and American democracy indeed.

Bitchslapp

[posmon]

I have been dealing with the Slashdot and Linux and they are the most incompetent management I have ever seen. If CmdrTaco was not a raving homosexual his job would consist of ... 'Would you like fries with that?'