OT: careful what you post (Ryanair suing individuals over online posts)
 

OT, but sort of relevant given some of the things we complain about - Ryanair suing over posts impugning its safety record and policies. Understandable as pretty serious thing to question without solid backing

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/s...ents-1.1525277

They've sued Internet Brands. Owner of this website!

This has been going on for quite a while now.

IIRC Ryanair did not sue Internet Brands, but rather went to court in the US seeking to identify various individuals who had posted on Pprune wrt RyanAir. Internet Brands promptly supplied the information.

Some of the individuals in question subsquently posted apologies to Ryanair on Pprune, in addition to identifying themselves and their connection (if any) to the company.

I believe the thread on Pprune has been closed/removed - and so I imagine will this one if it starts to stray into dangerous territory :D

I was wondering what had become of this. Some of the court cases were due to be start shortly IIRC.

"It had also issued proceedings against Internet Brands in California, the registered owner of the PPRuNe.org site, and issued supoenas against Yahoo, Microsoft and Google in pursuit of information."

There's clearly a difference between making unsubstantiated claims about things like safety records and people voicing opinion of what an awful carrier Ryanair is based on personal experience.
The former is clearly getting into dangerous territory and could clearly lead to legal remedies to protect the airline's reputation and ultimately its income and in my opinion it is fair for the airline to take an necessary steps to do so.
The latter however is and always will remain fair game.

The concern is what happens when the line between the two is not so clear, and the cost of litigation is too high for a small internet firm to risk defending its side and its users.

If the action is lodged in Dublin at least the SPEECH Act will make it difficult to enforce against Internet Brands in the US.

9 cases have been initiated so far in Ireland; cases have been or are being brought in other jurisdictions (South Africa was mentioned as one; the US will likely be another as they have hired consultants there).

I shall need to watch what I say about Aerolineas Argentinas and the K woman over on the Argentina forum.

Is anyone at Aerolineas competent enough to file a suit?:confused:

I don't always love the US, but as an attorney who has dealt with both UK and US libel laws, I have to say that the US version of libel is far better.

I am curious. What damages does an airline suffer when an anonymous person on the Internet makes false comments about the airline in a place where the vast majority of said businesses customers do not know about or frequent. Sure, they might have a claim but a claim without damages is sort of a a waste. Why not focus on using those fees on the lawyers to install your lavatories with a means to allow access only upon payment. :D

Yes it's happened before.......however they arrived so late for the hearing the case was thrown out of court. :D

so is Ryanair also ok with us sueing them for all the misleading ads or statements they have made?

I can't speak about the blog posts but after watching the Channel 4 documentary, I don't see it as implausible and I haven't seen any hard evidence from Ryanair refuting the claim the documentary made.

Good point. Safety is a far more serious than service. I would not take the flight if I don't feel safe.

It's kind of like Etihad banning discussion on Pprune. If they'll go to such great lengths to hide discussion of their safety, what exactly is it they have got to hide?

Puts me off both of them.