I'm making this thread because I'm annoyed about knee jerk reactions and non coverage of legitimate issues due to fear and ignorance of the law.
The fact is that defamation law in Australia is a mess and favours the rich. I can't see a workshop spending $100,000 defending their reputation over something said on here although there are some stupid people out there who have wasted their entire not insignificant furtunes doing just that.
There is absolutely no reason why someone can't come on here and say XYZ shop built my engine and now it's broken. That is no more defamation than saying Prank looked at my car funny and now it wobbles.
If people stick to the facts and avoid making conclusions then you can't go wrong. Let the reader draw their own conclusions.
Here is an Australian perspective
http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dis...defamation.html
And another
http://www.mds.rmit.edu.au/law/node4.html
This is a Canadian one. Canada inherited the same common law system that we did from the poms so it is reasonably relevant.
http://www.cyberlibel.com/libel.html
This is the Overclockers warning after the dramas that they had.
http://www.overclockers.com.au/defamation.shtml
Wrecked Head's recent thread about his blown engine was a great example of how with everyones help, potentially dangerous situations can be effectively managed so as to ensure no body felt the need to sue anybody for defamation.
I just wanted to say that self censorship through fear of the unknown sucks arse.