LAW & DISORDER / CIVILIZATION & DISCONTENTS Weight loss firm demands $1 million from website hosting negative reviews Lawyer for pissedconsumer says lawsuit is bunk, prior restraint of speech. by David Kravets - Sept 22 2014, 6:33pm GMT ShareTweet 65 Enlarge rocalabs A Florida company selling an obesity product is suing a consumer website for hosting negative reviews of its dietary product. Roca Labs wants the US courts to award it in excess of $1 million in addition to blocking pissedconsumer from continuing the practice. The lawyer for the New York-based online review site told Ars on Monday that the lawsuit [PDF] was bunk, that its demands amount to a prior restraint of speech, and that the site itself is protected from defamation charges under the Communications Decency Act because it hosts the online review forum for others to use. FURTHER READING US LAW WOULD SAFEGUARD FREE-SPEECH RIGHTS TO CRITICIZE BUSINESS ONLINE Lawmaker says its un-American to penalize consumers for honest reviews. Essentially, what they are saying, is my client is defaming them by allowing these negative reviews to be published. And that my client is engaged in tortious interference with their relationships with their customers, and that my client is practicing unfair and trade-deceptive practices, said attorney Marc Randazza in a telephone interview. Roca Labs, on the other hand, maintains that the website is facilitating a breach of contract with their diet customers. Rocas customers consented, as part of their agreement when purchasing the Gastric Bypass Alternative, that regardless of their outcome, they will not speak, publish, print, blog, or write negatively about Roca or its products in any forum. The company goes on to say that the pissedconsumer site and its operators deliberately and tortuously interfere with Roca Labs customers by encouraging them to breach their customer agreement with Roca as Defendants author or co-author false, malicious, and negative posts about Roca that are published on their subject website and Tweeted to Twitters 271 million users. In its lawsuit, Roca notes that it provides upwards of an $800 discount to people who agree to the non-disparagement clause. A hearing in the case, originally filed in Florida state court but transferred to federal court, is set for October 8. Randazza filed his response [PDF] to Rocas claims on Thursday, days after a member of the House of Representatives offered legislation that would make it illegal for businesses to take action against consumers who write honest negative reviews online about products and services. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) said the measure would make it illegal for companies to have non-disparagement clauses in their consumer contracts. Its un-American that any consumer would be penalized for writing an honest review, Swalwell said. Im introducing this legislation to put a stop to this egregious behavior so people can share honest reviews without fear of litigation. Swalwells Consumer Review Freedom Act came a week after Gov. Jerry Brown signed a similar law in California that includes a $10,000 fine against companies that violate the so-called Yelp bill. Swalwells law, if passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama, would function nationwide. Randazza said in his filing that Roca Labs is desperately trying to force a cone of silence over each and every customer that discovers that Roca Labs product is not only a specious remedy for their weight issues, but a potential cause of additional health problems. Plaintiff, desperate to sell as many of its tubs of goo to the public as it can before regulatory agencies come knocking, does its best to bully its former customers into silence. The Better Business Bureau has given the company an F rating, with 73 complaints the last three years. Read more here arstechnica/tech-policy/2014/09/weight-loss-firm-demands-1-million-from-website-hosting-negative-reviews/
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 23:34:53 +0000
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