Blog site ‘flame war’ will be settled in court after all

[Mark Fournier]

By Andrew Duffy, The Ottawa Citizen
June 14, 2012 5:19 PM


OTTAWA — Dr. Dawg will have his day in court, a panel of judges has ruled.

In a decision released Thursday, the Court of Appeal for Ontario reinstated the defamation suit of John Baglow, a.k.a. Dr. Dawg, an Ottawa blogger who said his reputation had been soiled in an online conservative chat room.

That allegation will now be the subject of a trial that could establish new rules for discourse in the Internet’s bruising marketplace of ideas.

“The issues raised in this action are all important because they arise in the relatively novel milieu of Internet defamation in the political blogosphere,” Justice Robert Blair said, writing for the three-member appeal panel.

Questions about what constitutes defamation in the caustic world of blogging have not been addressed by Canadian courts “in any significant way,” Blair noted. It means, he said, that a full-blown trial is needed to explore key questions, such as:

• Should the law accept that “anything goes” in the blogosphere?

• Are defamation standards on the Internet the same as those now applied to newspapers and TV?

• Should posts on a political blog be considered the same as ones on Facebook or Twitter?

A trial, Blair said, will allow the court — “whose members are perhaps not always the most up-to-date in matters involving the blogosphere” — to answer those questions with the benefit of cross-examination and expert evidence.

The appeal ruling overturns a lower court decision to throw out Baglow’s lawsuit before it could proceed to trial.

In September 2011, Justice Peter Annis ruled Baglow had not been defamed by a chat room post calling him “one of the Taliban’s more vocal supporters.”

That statement was made on the Free Dominion website in the course of an acrimonious debate — taking place on three websites over several days — about federal politics and the legality of Canadian Omar Khadr’s U.S. military trial.

Free Dominion, a chat site that bills itself as “the voice of principled conservatism,” is operated by Mark and Connie Fournier, of Kingston.

Baglow, a left-wing political blogger, sued the Fourniers after they refused to take down the post, made by Roger Smith, of Burnaby, B.C., on Aug. 11, 2010, under a pseudonym.

Baglow said the post unfairly equated his call for Khadr’s repatriation with being a Taliban booster. Although opposed to the war in Afghanistan, Baglow said, he is a patriot who considers the Taliban a dangerous, tyrannical regime.

The Fourniers insisted the comment was a normal part of the blogosphere’s boil and bubble.

Annis agreed, ruling the comment was not defamatory in the context of a blog that regularly features insults and invective. The blogosphere, he said, is a different animal than other media and allows for quick rejoinders to remove the sting of an offending post.

The appeal court said Annis should not have drawn such conclusions without an evidentiary base. It awarded Baglow $14,000 in court costs.

Connie Fournier, a computer programmer, and her husband, Mark, a truck driver, have operated the Free Dominion website as a hobby for 11 years.

“It’s kind of discouraging,” Connie Fournier said Thursday in reaction to the appeal court decision.

The lawsuit, Fournier said, has already cost them about $50,000. Lining up expert witnesses for trial is expected to more than double those costs.

“Basically, we are back to square one with a full trial ahead — all because we run a website where one person’s pseudonym insulted another person’s pseudonym,” she said.

“It was a flame war between two people using their online personas. We were pretty well bystanders in all of this, except that we ran the site.”

Fournier predicted the case may put an end to Internet forums and blogs that invite reader comments.

“Who in their right mind would want to risk being subjected to this kind of a financial assault?”

Fournier said she’s not sure how much longer they will be able to operate Free Dominion given the financial risk involved.

According to his website, Dawg’s Blawg, Baglow was on the golf course Thursday and unavailable for comment on the appeal decision.

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen


Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Blog+site+ ... z1xo5egmhn

[wildernessvoice]

In this story where is the element of FRAUD.
You know, that small detail where Drdawg goes online under a different name to out his identity so that he could then sue for MONEY???
You have to understand how the stage was set in order to understand the actions that take place.

[Red Green]

Mark I hope that the media attention will garner some support from those concerned about the right to freedom of expression.

[styky]

I'm thankful that at least one reporter thought it worth writing a piece. Up till now this has all but been ignore to my consternation.

[Maikeru]

Mark, one man's 'chat site' is another man's 'discussion forum', but otherwise it's refreshing not to read the descriptive 'far-right' when FreeDominion is mentioned in the media...

Excerpts:

Free Dominion, a chat site that bills itself as “the voice of principled conservatism,” is operated by Mark and Connie Fournier, of Kingston.

Baglow, a left-wing political blogger, sued the Fourniers after they refused to take down the post, made by Roger Smith, of Burnaby, B.C., on Aug. 11, 2010, under a pseudonym.
... ...
Connie Fournier, a computer programmer, and her husband, Mark, a truck driver, have operated the Free Dominion website as a hobby for 11 years.

“It’s kind of discouraging,” Connie Fournier said Thursday in reaction to the appeal court decision.

The lawsuit, Fournier said, has already cost them about $50,000. Lining up expert witnesses for trial is expected to more than double those costs.

“Basically, we are back to square one with a full trial ahead — all because we run a website where one person’s pseudonym insulted another person’s pseudonym,” she said.

“It was a flame war between two people using their online personas. We were pretty well bystanders in all of this, except that we ran the site.”

Fournier predicted the case may put an end to Internet forums and blogs that invite reader comments.

“Who in their right mind would want to risk being subjected to this kind of a financial assault?”

Fournier said she’s not sure how much longer they will be able to operate Free Dominion given the financial risk involved.

According to his website, Dawg’s Blawg, Baglow was on the golf course Thursday and unavailable for comment on the appeal decision.

Dawg's online handicap is 72...

[goldhound]

Both youtube and facebook are used to good advantage regarding both moral and financial support if approached in the right way. Just sayin........

[shiva]

In this story where is the element of FRAUD.
You know, that small detail where Drdawg goes online under a different name to out his identity so that he could then sue for MONEY???
You have to understand how the stage was set in order to understand the actions that take place.

Exactly what I was wondering wildernessvoice. Has that point now become irrelevant and if so, why and when?

Maybe when the court's done with deciding how and when two anonymous posters are being defamed, they could get on with figuring out who framed Roger Rabbit.

[Connie Fournier]

This case reminds me of the couple who thought it is a great idea to adopt a cute little chimpanzee and keep him in their home until one day he was really big and he ripped the guy's scrotum off for a piece of birthday cake.

It might be fun when your chimp is ripping pieces off of OUR anatomy, but one day he will turn on you.

[Smaug]

Speaking of scrotums, isn't bag low another term for scrotum?

Maybe I am mistaken. Low bag could be a euphemism for a twelve year old who does not sing the high notes.

[Peter O'Donnell]

Apparently Bag low was High cap at the golf course.

A dingo ate my baby. Honest, right over there, beside the CHRC offices.

[styky]

Connie and Mark won't ask so I'll point out that we've got a thread going in hopes of aiding their fight......viewtopic.php?f=70&t=155835

[Gerard]

Connie and Mark won't ask so I'll point out that we've got a thread going in hopes of aiding their fight......viewtopic.php?f=70&t=155835

Bump.

[Julian]

This case reminds me of the couple who thought it is a great idea to adopt a cute little chimpanzee and keep him in their home until one day he was really big and he ripped the guy's scrotum off for a piece of birthday cake.

It might be fun when your chimp is ripping pieces off of OUR anatomy, but one day he will turn on you.

I believe you should serve notice to dawg, kinsella and bcl that if dawg wins this defamation suit you will sue each of them individually for mega dollars for the lies and slurs they have posted about yourselves, your forum and your associations.

Say it and mean it.

Recover ALL of the money five lawsuits have cost you and have these three picking up the tab.

If dawg wins then you have him in a hopeless position. One of his own construction. We will have to start referring to him not as Dr. Dawg but rather as Doctor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin.

[Blaze Pascal]

This case reminds me of the couple who thought it is a great idea to adopt a cute little chimpanzee and keep him in their home until one day he was really big and he ripped the guy's scrotum off for a piece of birthday cake.

It might be fun when your chimp is ripping pieces off of OUR anatomy, but one day he will turn on you.

I believe you should serve notice to dawg, kinsella and bcl that if dawg wins this defamation suit you will sue each of them individually for mega dollars for the lies and slurs they have posted about yourselves, your forum and your associations.

Say it and mean it.

Recover ALL of the money five lawsuits have cost you and have these three picking up the tab.

If dawg wins then you have him in a hopeless position. One of his own construction. We will have to start referring to him not as Dr. Dawg but rather as Doctor Joseph-Ignace Guillotin.

that's a good idea julian, it would be nice to have a screenshot of every slur and slander at their two blogs.

[Blaze Pascal]

Mark, I think you should keep Andrew Duffy close to you. It looks like you will get a fair story out of him.