Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Undoing an Internet Smear Campaign?
An anonymous reader writes "My fiancee is a professional writer. She has a great industry reputation and everyone that knows her loves her. But her ex-husband has maintained a number of websites in her name (literally, the URL is her name) that are filled with insane ravings and defamatory content. Have you ever had to deal with an internet smear campaign? The results float to the top of every Google or Bing search of her name. He currently lives abroad and cannot be served with legal papers. His websites are hosted overseas as well, and do not respond to conventional letters or petitions. Because of his freedom of speech rights, few U.S. courts will assert that his websites are truly libelous, either, and it's still difficult to prove any real 'damages' are done by it. Still, we'd like to see them go away. I'm turning to the best community of geeks in the world: how do I deal with this given the limited options at my disposal?"
"Because of his freedom of speech rights, few U.S. courts will assert that his websites are truly libelous, either, and it's still difficult to prove any real 'damages' are done by it. Still, we'd like to see them go away."
Simple. Form a Corporation using the name. Instant win.
And obviously neither is the OP: "He currently lives abroad and cannot be served with legal papers. His websites are hosted overseas as well, and do not respond to conventional letters or petitions. Because of his freedom of speech rights, few U.S. courts will assert that his websites are truly libelous, either,
For God's sake begin by hiring someone who actually knows about this stuff instead of relying on what you learned from daytime TV.
Three Squirrels
mmmm... I wouldn't bother. Seems like you'd be feeding the troll. Why spend time and effort on that?
Honestly, the only thing I could say is just endure and tell people the truth of the situation if they ask. If this guy maintains this for any huge length of time, he just looks sad.
" This policy has now been replaced with a Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy created by ICANN and used by all accredited registrars. Under this new policy, a trademark owner can initiate a relatively inexpensive administrative procedure to challenge the existing domain name. In order to prevail, the trademark owner must show:
that the trademark owner owns a trademark (either registered or unregistered) that is the same or confusingly similar to the registered second level domain name;
that the party that registered the domain name has no legitimate right or interest in the domain name; and
that the domain name was registered and used in bad faith.
If the trademark owner successfully proves all three points in the administrative proceeding, then the domain name can either be cancelled or transferred to the prevailing trademark owner. If the trademark owner fails to prove one of these points, the administrative panel will not cancel nor transfer the domain name."
http://www.bitlaw.com/internet/domain.html
Indeed. Google and Bing consider the "insane ravings" as more relevant than the articles your fiancee writes, which doesn't say much about the popularity of your fiancee's work. Given this, it's fairly unlikely that she is losing any significant readership as a result of the ex's campaign.
Check the WHOIS information for the domains. If there is any missing information at all or if the phone numbers or email addresses don't work, you can file a report with ICANN. I have found that many times people will not reply to the complaint which means the domains are shut down within a few weeks.
This sounds like a tactic to get you to set a date for the wedding... Being a woman, she would have already through of this as the easy out that once she get's married she'll likely change her last name which would help greatly with this issue. Given you haven't brought that up in your post, I'm guessing she hasn't mentioned it to you. This means that your wedding isn't any time in the near future or a date hasn't been set at all. So, I'm guessing you've proposed at some point but aren't commited enough to tie the knot. Once a big deal has been made of this situation, she will suddenly come up with the 'idea' that getting married will solve things, and the sooner the better.
I'm telling you this because you also need to keep an eye on things in the contraceptive department because if this little ruse doesn't work to get you to hitched, that will be next on the list.
Look, I know a lot of people here claim to know things they don't, but I am posting as Annonymous Coward because I don't have a slashdot account so you can trust that I know a lot more about women than most people her. Stay strong my brother.
I've been through this myself...
As a temporary action, get the word out -- literally. Build a site or two of your own on her if needed, e.g, her official site, then get in touch with her fans, list, the press, whatever, and serve them a sensationalist "writer gets libeled online by her ex" story... If they bite, the site with her name in the domain won't get to Google's first page of results with a little luck. Even if it does, the many results that mention the smear campaign on the same page will serve as a counterweight and douse it.
In my case, that was enough to get the domain. In case it's not enough for you to do the same, sue...
Sue the ex-husband for libel, defamation, whatever... but also -- and more importantly -- to recover the domain name. If it's a .com or any other US tld, it's under US jurisdiction and can be seized by a US court; period, end of story -- irrespective of where the ex-boyfriend might be based or hosted. If the MAFIAA can shut down .com domains that serve torrents, and big business can grab domains on grounds that they're too similar to their own, you can shut down or retrieve a domain. Her name is her de facto trademark. Don't just sue the ex-boyfriend, either. Also file complaints with the registrar, the hosting business, etc. They'll take pre-emptive action more often than not when contacted. Consult with an attorney specialized in this kind of stuff, and take action under his guidance.
Might I suggest hosting the site in third world country without diplomatic ties to the U.S. or any of the countries he lives (or has lived) in. Have the site host the most vile and disgusting human perversions... links to NAMBLA, Neo-Nazi Organizations, Satanic Churches, and perhaps Skat-Play with Enema Porn as a cherry on top. Attack all good and reputable organizations you can think of. In short, make it a festering sore on the ass of the universe. Have the site advertise in papers in his local town. Have a man with a thick accent, call him or email him with a demand for 10 $1,000 checks to close down the site (checks must have "Pay To" left blank.)
Fill checks out to grotesque organizations and institutions and make donations. Send Anonymous letters to local newspapers about the "Monster" living in our midst. When it comes out that he's only getting what he's giving... he'll be a social pariah. He started this, the best he can do is complain that he's getting better than he's giving. Make certain you appoint an MC and never contact them again. You know nothing about this, have nothing to do with this and don't care to be a part of the drama he's created. Of course this could easily escalate into death and dismemberment. Not to mention the bad karma.
A better ploy would be to Create a Nonprofit Organization for the protection of people from Stalkers, Abusers, and Infantile Ex's who seem to be unable to move on with their lives. Use his sites and his attacks as examples of the evil idiocy perpetrated by angry men with small penii, and explain that people being abused by the small minded and even smaller hearted need to stick together and expose the Bozo's publicly. Speak with your Senator about passing a law that prevents this kind of abuse in country and contact the nation he's in to inform them that he's using their infrastructure to perpetrate evil acts half way around the world. Take the high ground. Help people. Show him compassion he doesn't deserve. Send him pictures of you smiling and thank him for inspiring you to create an organization to help women being abused by Idiot Exs. Let him know he's made you a better person, stronger, happier. Thank him. It'll drive him crazy.
My suggestion is to hold off until you've been married to her for a year or so - that way, you can better determine whether her ex-husband's statements are indeed a smear campaign or are rooted in fact.
#DeleteChrome
claim trademark to her own name
Yep, SEO the shit out of the sites, in the most transparent, sure-to-get-a-site-delisted ways possible. Internet Judo, use his strength against him. Since they're on top, it's not like you can make it any worse, and it also means you don't have any direct contact with the guy--it's Google/Bing delisting him, not you. Anonymize the WHOIS information, and deny any knowledge if the guy contacts you. "What, you put up a site saying bad complaining about me? Weird, man, but whatever floats your boat. Good luck with that I guess."
And of course if Google/Bing contact you, just say, "I've been contracted to make this the top result, if you try to delist this site you'll be hearing from my lawyers." They already know you can't do jack, and they'll enjoy tweaking "your" nose and you'll find the site delisted in short order.
Other alternatives
DDOS: Illegal, don't be an idiot. Also feeds the troll, you know better than that don't you?
Register trademark & use ICANN: You're rolling the dice here, feeling lucky?
Anything + lawyer: Probably best chance of success, once you sue successfully it just makes further suits easier if he's dumb enough to stick a fork in the toaster a second time. But keep in mind, these guys do not understand the Streisand effect, and what's more, many probably actively want it. Free publicity for them, and then you have to pay!
Completely ignore it: Probably the best option. People get bored. He's doing this to get a rise out of someone who rejected him. Chances are good he'll escalate when he doesn't get the reaction he wants. If he goes big enough, you'll be able to catch his hand in the bear trap of the court system, otherwise just keep ignoring it. Escalation means you're winning. If he's quietly running the same site 3 years later, well, then you're dealing with a patient, smart, asshole, which is pretty much your worst nightmare. Good luck.
<xml><I><am><so><damn>Web 2.0</damn></so></am></I></xml>
" I'm turning to the best community of geeks in the world" - You're on the wrong website. Try 4Chan...heheheh
That's only the first half of it. First, file a legal trademark on the name. Then file a UDRP complaint and take the domain.
Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.
In addition, I would take that fact as a red flag and reconsider whether I really want to be married to this person. Maybe what he says has merit? Maybe she is a fucking sociopath? Do you know the ex-husband? Maybe spend the time learning about him and be objective.
Apparently the ex reads slashdot.
There's actually *more* fun to be had there. You don't have just the luxury of making your online presence, but as many alter egos with the same name as you'd like. You can bury yourself in so much varied information that no one will know what to believe.
I found out the hard way, that there's always some asshole (or sometimes many) who want to find you. Let me tell you about one in particular.
I worked for a place for a long time. I got laid off because someone would do it cheaper (and worse). A few years later, some third party I knew absolutely nothing about decided to sue the company. Because I had access to so much information while I was there, they decided I would testify for them.
Part of this luxury paid witness gig I would have to spend at least a couple days about 400 miles from. At this particular time, I wasn't working, and my savings were dropping down below nil. Good gig, some may think. They gave me something like $20 in checks, and a subpoena for all kinds of paperwork that I either never had, or no longer had. I countered with an offer for my advertised hourly rate, and per diem expenses, which they responded with laughter and a bench warrant. Well, they said they had the bench warrant. It turns out it was a lie. Hmm.. Lawyers lying, say it's not so.
As the senior IT guy, I *had* access to every electronic document, and knew every password, and knew where all the secrets were kept. Oddly enough, the day I was cut loose was the day all the passwords were changed. All of my access to everything was lost. I made it a habit not to even archive my email at home. When they cut me loose, I dumped my email. I didn't want it any more. I sure as hell didn't keep it laying around for years. I needed the drive space for porn. :) Just kidding. With my newly found luxury time, I rotated through machines trying out different OSs, just because I could. I always kept one up to send out resumes every day.
So with no fundage, nothing to contribute to the court, and no way to get there, I wrote the judge a very nice letter, copied to the counsel on both sides, saying basically I didn't have anything they wanted (line item by line item), and that I didn't have funds to participate in their games.
I then started on a lucrative career in house sitting and transporting cars. Well, lucrative as in I had somewhere to sleep and food to eat, but no expendable cash. I did get around a bit, because I knew what was coming next.
The assholes that were suing, and I refer to them kindly as that, decided to go on a quest. They were going to find me, with law enforcement in tow, and "compel" me to testify. Basically, they had something in legaleeze that said handcuffs were acceptable to make someone testify in a BS civil lawsuit. Their private investigators with an off duty law enforcement officer, kept showing up to places I either used to be at, or claimed I was at online. Between MySpace, Facebook, FourSquare, and Twitter, I made a very clear trail to follow, and follow they did. Some of it was echoed back to me indirectly that they were going out to whenever I said I was, even though the echoing party didn't know that's what I was claiming. :)
I wasn't sure how much pull they had, so when I could borrow some cash, I'd pick up pre-paid credit cards (Like the Green Dot cards), and have them sent back to one of the known addresses in my name. They would then mail them off to other friends in other states for them to use. Those friends would send cash back to the person who paid for it, so nothing was really lost. It's strange, I can buy a tank of gas in California, have dinner in Seattle, and then buy cigarettes in Alaska, while my online presence said I was in New York, but chattering about recent earthquakes in Los Angeles.
At one point, I went my family financed cell phone on a cross country trip. I'd leave it turned on, so it would go as long as possible on
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.