Recently people may have read where “someone” said they were going to sue me over some stuff I had said on this blog. Well I was presently surprised when a person from the Eff.org contacted me and offered there services if the person went through with there legal threats. I asked them if it was ok that I posted they contacted me and they said it was. I also asked them if they had a link to a page where bloggers might get more information about them and how to contact them if they are sued and they emailed me a link to a page on there site.
Official EFF Legal Guide For Bloggers
Also anyone with extra coin looking to donate to a worthy cause think about giving some cash to the EFF. I have been a member for a while and they really do a lot of good stuff.
Just for the record I have been threatened to be sued 9 times and have only ever actually gotten paperwork from 1 person and nothing ever came from that 1 person (was years ago). The best legal advice I can give anyone is just to be responsible and prepared to defend yourself and what you say should a lawsuit happen. Just because organizations exist to help people for free does not mean you can go nuts and make stuff up.
About the author...
Jeremy Schoemaker – who has written 2416 posts on ShoeMoney.com.
Hi I am Jeremy Schoemaker and ShoeMoney.com is my blog. 99% of the post here are done by me but you will see others occasionally make guest posts. This blog is fun to write but for my day job I run several online companies.
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{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Shoe, lots of people host offshore to protect themselves from lawsuits, especially frivolous ones. If you are incorporated outside the USA and hosted outside the USA, it’s very tough, and very expensive, to go forward with a lawsuit. And the offshore courts are, well, less efficient that the USA as well so it can take 5 years for a matter to get before the courts.
I’ve had off shore hosting before. It was hard to find a fast server though….
These days the network speeds and server choices are pretty much on par with the USA. i.e. 40ms latency to most major cities in the USA and dual XEON servers are pretty standard now.
Mine were in China and I think at the time they had a major fiber wire cut. I guess my thoughts are a bit biased…
Do hosting in africa or israel, you are done
You are right, China, HK and Malaysia have been slow and a little unreliable. Hosting in the Caribbean has been very reliable for years and there is a strong legal system there as well.
I have read practically all the material there. Good stuff. Plus there are even some case examples, which is useful.
Thats awesome that they contacted you to lend a hand if needed. I have to agree with you on being willing to stand up for the content. As i have had two threats of people wanting to sue me. I stood my ground and nothing came form it except a few nasty emails….
Thanks for sharing the info on EFF. It never hurts to be prepared just in case.
I got help from Public Citizen as well as the EFF about a summons I had to make about comments and an article I wrote.
http://www.kensavage.com/index.php/archives/privacy-issue-against-blogger/
Neither went far to pick on me but it was an issue in the other case.
Shoe, thats pretty cool that they contacted. One important note regarding the info on the link. In relation to reporters and defamation law the material referenced would apply to Americans. In Canada journalists traditional do NOT have the same level of protection from the courts so any Canadians should be a little more careful if they are trying to write a Pulitzer prize story on their blog.
The offshore hosting is a good idea, but someone should just get rid of the frivolous lawsuits!
So that thing with Markus of Plentyoffish.com never really went anywhere? He seemed very serious about suing you! LOL
Never even got papers. Thats how it usually goes.
Nice place to know about. And its funny that Mr.PlentyofBSFish did not even send papers. But then again in the corporate world there is a lot of talk moreso then action, because sometimes it works to bluff. But ill go with what my grandpa told me ages ago (but g rated),
You cant BS a BSer
What a great post. It’s nice to know that bloggers have their own version of the ACLU! (only better I hope)
I’ll definately bookmark their site.
Don
I’ve never heard of hosting in either…
Why would Markus want to sue Shoemoney?
He called his check fake.
But I guess there’s pretty much no need for that if you run a legitimate business.
Which country is this easy to do it in? How do you go about setting something like that up?
So I take it that legal papers have yet to show up, then?
You got great advise toward the end there, Shoe — responsible writing is essential. Note your sources if possible and keep your claims factual, especially if they involve other parties.
I’ve heard some people set up companies and do hosting in the Carribean…forget the name of the country, though.
I’ve always wanted to set up a corp in the carribean for tax purposes. I don’t have the balls for it though.
I agree, the EFF is a very much-needed resource.