On Fri, 28 May 2010 11:24:57 -0400, blake murphy
> wrote:

>On Fri, 28 May 2010 09:01:13 -0500, WTF wrote:
>
>> There has been a great deal of rhetoric about Bob T and his comments
>> to Stu being libelous or malicious harassment, so I thought I'd check
>> it out.
>>
>> I had a conversation with two lawyers I play squash with, and they
>> both tell me Bobs in trouble.
>> If the logs are retrieved from Bobs news provider, and his identity
>> is proven, the evidence against Bob ( Bob's own posts) floating on
>> the Internet for all to see for many years to come is irrefutable.
>> To further prove who Bob is I'm betting he paid with a credit card.
>>
>> Will his identity accidentally make it to the net?
>
>your squashbuds don't know what they're talking about:
>
> Generally speaking, defamation is the issuance of a false statement about
>another person, which causes that person to suffer harm. Slander involves
>the making of defamatory statements by a transitory (non-fixed)
>representation, usually an oral (spoken) representation. Libel involves the
>making of defamatory statements in a printed or fixed medium, such as a
>magazine or newspaper.
>
>Typically, the elements of a cause of action for defamation include:
>
> 1. A false and defamatory statement concerning another;
> 2. The unprivileged publication of the statement to a third party (that
>is, somebody other than the person defamed by the statement);
> 3. If the defamatory matter is of public concern, fault amounting at
>least to negligence on the part of the publisher; and
> 4. *Damage to the plaintiff.*
>
><http://www.expertlaw.com/library/personal_injury/defamation.html#1>
>
>take note of #4. no tort, no suit. saying rude things about stu on usenet
>does not constitute 'damage,' unless he hangs himself out of emotional
>distress or something.
>
>blake
>

But Blake, Bob would be charged with criminal harassment, and the
legal definition of harassment, according to Black's Law Dictionary,
is:

"A course of conduct directed at a specific person that causes
substantial emotional distress in such person and serves no legitimate
purpose" or "Words, gestures, and actions which tend to annoy, alarm
and abuse (verbally) another person."

I'm sure libel would come into play as well.