ratemyteachers.ie - Issues of Defamation
Following my blog entry on ratemyteachers.ie dated May 17, I was informed of a number of issues surrounding defamation law and the Internet by a friend of mine (who is a lawyer - I am not).
He backed up the assertion made by Fergal Crehan, Barrister-at-Law, in his article that a student acting as a moderator for a school listed on ratemyteachers.ie could have a legal action taken against him/her as an editor in a defamation case. I would reiterate here that as much as these moderators may feel that they remain anonymous there is in fact a trail that can almost always be followed to identify them. The alleged defamed person or an agent acting on their behalf can apply to the courts for such information to be made available by ISPs (Internet Service Providers).
It was also pointed out to me that hosting providers (i.e. companies that provide the necessary services to put websites such as ratemyteachers.ie on the Internet) can also become liable in a defamation case once they have been notified that content that they are hosting is or could be construed as being libel. A good example of how an ISP could become liable is the case of Godfrey v Demon Internet Ltd (the commentary may actually be more interesting).
As I mentioned in my first post, ratemyteachers.ie is hosted by Rackspace Ltd in the United States. However, they also have a British office and this arm of the company may be forced to take action as it is in the E.U. Aggrieved teachers should certainly consider mailing the British office by registered mail (always more effective than an e-mail) quoting Godfrey v Demon Internet Ltd at: Rackspace Managed Hosting, 8 The Square, Stockley Park, Uxbridge, UB11 1BA, England. And let me know how you get on.
