Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ucbvax!decwrl!muscat!jfcl.dec.com!frg From: frg@jfcl.dec.com (Fred R. Goldstein) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: Midi Mega's Keywords: The (questionable?) facts Message-ID: <365@jfcl.dec.com> Date: 28 Jun 88 15:59:54 GMT References: <1073@atari.UUCP> <3160@druhi.ATT.COM> <335@bdt.UUCP> <504@amcc.UUCP> Reply-To: frg@jfcl.UUCP (Fred R. Goldstein) Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation Lines: 33 In article <504@amcc.UUCP> chuckw@amcc.UUCP (da implem) writes: >In article <335@bdt.UUCP>, david@bdt.UUCP (David Beckemeyer) writes: >> >> You said it loud and clear! When was the last time Atari Corp. ever >> called any of us before spewing out TOTALLY FALSE statements? And even >[some stuff deleted for brevity] >Corp. sales so far as you are able. As for, "this is America Jack", you >are absolutely right that you have the right to pubicly air your opinions; >however, that right may be limitted in cases where, by dent of your >position, influence, access, etc., you materially exert an improper influence >causing culpable harm, which then may be to wit actionable. > > My own experience with the 1040 ST, color monitor, Supra 20MB hard >disk, Panasonic 1080i printer, has been EXTREMELY positive. The machine > Chuck Werner Mr. Werner, please do not create new libel laws where none exist. Mr. Beckemeyer's statements are actionable if he a) violates a contract he had with Atari to not criticize them or divulge certain information which he then divulges (and I doubt such a contrcat exists, but for the sake of argument I'll admit the possibility), or b) he commits libel. Now libel involves knowingly making a public false statement that causes harm. If I say something that causes harm but it's true, then it's not actionable. If I say something false but it's harmless, then any libel judgement would be rather limited! If I say something false and cause harm, then I'm potentially in trouble. Consult a lawyer for details; I remember the above from my undergrad Con Law classes. Dave, keep up the good work! -- (usual disclaimers)