Dealing with a defamatory website

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riksan

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Someone has put up a defamatory website about someone close to me.
He(the perp) has rigged it so the site appears high( 4th from top) when you google the name of the person.

My first priority was to find out who had put up the site, where it was hosted etc.
I was able to find his identity and discovered that the site was being hosted on the perps home PC, he is using a dynamic DNS service to point to it.

Other interesting facts about the perp:
- he has another domain name linked to the IP address assigned to the defamatory domain name.
- this second site was once listed on some anti-phishing sites.

Now, how do we deal with this?
Since the perp is not using a hosting service there is no ISP to go to to issue a take-down.
We have to use the 'conventional' legal system to get him to take this down.

I have found a form at Google to report abuse -
http://www.google.com/contact/spamreport.html
Which I will be submitting today.

Otherwise has anyone else had a similar experience?
How did you deal with it?
Any suggestions short of anything illegal?
 
mh348 said:
Whats the URL(web address) for the website?
Click to expand...

I am not going to give this out for the following reasons:

1)We are still considering our legal options.
2) I do not want to give him any free publicity.
 
If you know where he lives then a baseball bat is a sure fire way of helping him see the error of his ways.
 
Open a case of slander with the police? Since he is hosting it on his own PC, he can't claim that he doesn't own the website.
 
Nod said:
Open a case of slander with the police? Since he is hosting it on his own PC, he can't claim that he doesn't own the website.
Click to expand...
Isn't slander spoken and libel written?

But yeah - because it is hosted locally SA laws should apply.
 
<joking>
One option you can do is to diss a couple of script kiddies on some IRC server somewhere, and give him your friend's URL

they'll DDoS your friend's IP (and eat up his valuable bandwidth as well)
</joking>

But you should be able to open a case with the police, be sure to speak to a lawyer first regarding what steps to take, evidence to collect and so on.
 
as with all domains/ip addresses, go to Domain Dossier and do a Network Whois Lookup (this will tell you who own's the IP address). Find the abuse or contact email address and report him. Most ISP's would not allow defamatory sites hosted on their network as it might result in legal action against them.

it is best not to threaten the ISP (at first)... after all, you are asking them to help you.
 
bwana said:
Isn't slander spoken and libel written?

But yeah - because it is hosted locally SA laws should apply.
Click to expand...

From what I have read so far, this would fall under a case of defamation in South African law.
The perpetrator is trying to damage the professional reputation of the victim.
No testable facts are given regarding the victims professional behaviour, just language
intended to 'cast doubt' on the victim.

The only meta-data are keywords that would lead one to the site if searching for the
name/profession of the person being defamed - while on the site itself there are supposedly links to the authors
musings on a number of subjects - none of these links actually work.
This clearly is an attempt to damage the victims reputation.
 
andres101 said:
as with all domains/ip addresses, go to Domain Dossier and do a Network Whois Lookup (this will tell you who own's the IP address). Find the abuse or contact email address and report him. Most ISP's would not allow defamatory sites hosted on their network as it might result in legal action against them.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, thats a nice web interface for these tools, though I have already done all of this. I know who the person is.

One of the main points of this case is that the perp is NOT using an ISP web hosting service, he
is hosting the site on his HOME PC. Perhaps he is doing this to try avoid the possiblilty
of haveing a take-down notice served against a web hosting company.

In this case the service provider is the company that is providing him his broadband connection.(we all know who they are).
 
Last edited:
I may be wrong, but you could try apply for an interdict ensuring that the site comes down. Then sue for damages (assuming you can actually prove defamation).
 
Skeptik said:
It's not defamation if it's true.

What's he saying that you find offensive. Looking at it from the other side, why not try and see what he/she is trying to achieve and solve it that way. Is he owed money?
Click to expand...


Actually it is defamation if it is true. Truth by itself is not a valid defence. Only Truth in the public interest - That is, it is true, and is it in the publics interest to know.
 
lordrage said:
Actually it is defamation if it is true. Truth by itself is not a valid defence. Only Truth in the public interest - That is, it is true, and is it in the publics interest to know.
Click to expand...


> Only Truth in the public interest - That is, it is true, and is it in the publics interest to know <

Good information to know thanks.:)
 
riksan said:
Thanks for the link, thats a nice web interface for these tools, though I have already done all of this. I know who the person is.

One of the main points of this case is that the perp is NOT using an ISP web hosting service, he
is hosting the site on his HOME PC. Perhaps he is doing this to try avoid the possiblilty
of haveing a take-down notice served against a web hosting company.

In this case the service provider is the company that is providing him his broadband connection.(we all know who they are).
Click to expand...

Yes, I read your post... doesn't matter where it is hosted, someone owns the IP range! You should be able to find a abuse address to email using the above method. This is the standard way of reporting abuse.
 
Yes, without seeing what information is on the site, it is nigh impossible to say, so you should forward the link to a lawyer who specialises in delictual claims (giving it to us on the net may exacerbate the problem), you never know, you may even be able to sue for invasion of privacy (depending on what information is on that website).

The main thing though, if your friend is not out for vengeance/retribution/damages etc is to seek an interdict to get the site pulled down.
 
Another thing to add to all this. Is to take a few print screens of the website, so that you have the copy on hand, in case he removes it.

Then get to your lawyer buddy. Do it old school style. take the bull by the horns
:D
 
Go see a lawyer and get a court interdict. Keep copies of the site and see if you can get his traffic logs seized for a potential damages claim. Perhaps this might involve the sheriff having to take the equipment away for a while :D

If you want to sue, under SA law it will be for provable damages including costs. This is not the USA, so it's usually not worth it.
 
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