Defamation v. Opinion v. Protected Speech
So far, we have learned about the first amendment and limitations for government regulation of commercial speech in a constitutional context. Now we move more into interactions between private parties in the tort context that may civilly punish speech that undermines the economic interests or allegedly harms another private party. Read the following material in the links below to consider the growth of defamation lawsuits in our vast social media era.
Read the following websites:
1) Electronic Frontier Foundation, Court Rules that Patent Troll is Opinion, Not Defamation:
2) Electronic Frontier Foundation, Courts Shouldnt Stifle Patent Troll Victims Speech:
3) California Anti-SLAPP Project, Vogel v. Felice case:
4) Electronic Frontier Foundation, Online Defamation Law
After reading the material:
1) Explain your reasoned understanding of the legal differences between the cases in the first 3 links
2) Summarize a recent case of online defamation NOT referenced in any of the above material and discuss your reasoned thoughts on the outcome of that case given what you have learned.
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