Ironfleet Towing And Salvage

This has got to be one of the funniest EVEmails I have ever received:

From Chebri:

2008.01.04 00:57
libel

An untruthful statement about a person, published in writing or through broadcast media, that injures the person’s reputation or standing in the community. Because libel is a tort (a civil wrong), the injured person can bring a lawsuit against the person who made the false statement. Libel is a form of defamation , as is slander (an untruthful statement that is spoken, but not published in writing or broadcast through the media).

cease speaking of me in your blog. period.

I’m not sure she got my EVEmail response (I got disconnected right after hitting send) but I’m sure she’ll see it here:

a) Truth is an absolute defense to any charge of libel.
b) It is impossible to libel an alias. Characters in a computer game have no reputation in communities recognized by the law.
c) I’ll speak of you as and where I please. Don’t like it? Go away and leave Ironfleet alone. Then I’ll have nothing to say.

Good day!

Was Chebri seriously trying to imply that she’d try to sue me for libel if I don’t stop talking about her? The idea that the owner of one fictional character might try to sue the owner of another fictional character (in what jurisdiction, the Jovians only know) over role-playing statements is just about as absurd as it gets.

I tell you this, though; I’d pay large dollars to be the fly on the wall in her lawyer’s office, just to see the look on her face as she tries to explain exactly where and in what manner she’s been damaged. “Er, and who is it again you want to sue? Marlenus? Is that his real name? No? You don’t know it? Hrmmm… And what did he say about you? Oh, you mean, he doesn’t even know who you are, or what your name is? Then how did he damage your reputation? No, no, not in that game thing, out here in the real world where the courts are…” and so on, ad infinitum. Forty minutes later, she would emerge, $300 poorer and (hopefully) a smidge wiser.

My advice to Chebri: Dude. Don’t forget. It’s just a game.

Blustering about libel, when you can’t even point to a lie, equals “full of fail.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 3rd, 2008 at 7:35 pm and is filed under Name And Shame, Notable Smacktalk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.