Legal threats over shocking online radio claims
Shaun Dewberry has been given six hours to remove his blog post and his Facebook and Twitter posts, and publish a retraction and apology for his “defamatory statements”, or face the risk of an urgent High Court interdict application against him and a claim for damages for any financial loss by Net Dynamics (aka NetDynamix).
Wright, Rose-Innes Inc, which represents Net Dynamics, was instructed by Net Dynamix to send the legal letter to Dewberry with the demands. According to Dewberry he received a phone call from the attorneys to ensure that he read the e-mail and understood the 6 hour deadline.
“In all of the above-mentioned publications, being your blog, your Twitter page, your Facebook page and in your verbal interview with Darren Scott on Ballz Radio yesterday, you have defamed our client’s good name and reputation,” the legal letter from Wright, Rose-Innes Inc stated.
The contentious statements, according to the letter, are:
- Our client’s listenership statistics are complete fabrications.
- Our client’s listenership statistics are utter nonsense.
- Our client’s listenership statistics are lies.
- Our client has fooled their clients in regard to such statistics.
- Our client has pulled the wool over the eyes of our client’s clients with such listenership statistics.
“All of these statements are highly defamatory of our client who enjoys an un-impeached reputation in the industry,” the legal letter stated.
“In addition to the above, not only are these statements false and untrue, but you published these statements of and concerning our client, and our client’s listenership statistics, which statistics are derived directly from the platforms which our client provides to its clients, without first inviting our client to comment on your research and the arguments which you use to attempt to justify your opinion.”
Wright, Rose-Innes Inc’s Graeme Carrington, who represents Net Dynamics, explained that Dewberry is simply not allowed to call someone a liar or defame a company with accusations that their stats are “utter nonsense” without giving them the right to reply. “This is like a public execution without the right to reply,” said Carrington.
Carrington added that even if the stats from Net Dynamic are not accurate, it still does not give Dewberry the right to use the listed defamatory terms.
MyBroadband asked Carrington whether they are willing to provide statistics which are used to provide the readership figures to Net Dynamic’s online radio clients, but he explained that this falls outside of his legal mandate and that MyBroadband should approach Net Dynamic for this information.
MyBroadband contacted Net Dynamic’s Chris Grant for comment, but he said that they will only handle individual questions after they have issued a general press statement later today (26 June 2012).
Dewberry told MyBroadband that he is “extremely disappointed that NetDynamix could not simply use their statistics and a technical rebuttal to prove me incorrect and force me to reverse my allegations and apologise publicly”.
“At this stage I do not feel that my allegations have been suitably proved wrong to compel me to apologise and revoke them,” said Dewberry.
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