Michael Weller's Library tagged "wisdom of the crowds" →  View Popular, Search in Google

Most of the lawsuits claim defamation

Californians who get sued over something they've posted online are protected by a state anti-SLAPP law (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation). While the law does not permit libel, it does protect people who speak out on matters of public interest, including protection of consumers, said Mark Goldowitz, an attorney who founded the California anti-SLAPP Project in Berkeley.

Consider Steven Biegel, a San Francisco chiropractor who recently settled a suit against a former patient, Christopher Norberg, after Norberg used Yelp to criticize Biegel's billing practices. Biegel's Yelp page has since been littered with negative comments about his practice and about his decision to sue Norberg from people he said he's never treated.

 

"It's called flaming," Biegel said, "bombarding someone with negativity. It's an unfortunate chink in the system."

 

He said he hasn't talked to Yelp about the bad reviews, although they bother him, because he figures there's nothing he can do. He expects to drop his Yelp sponsorship.

OpenTable in San Francisco, a site that takes reservations for local restaurants, started publishing reviews of the establishments in September. But the reviews must be current, and only diners who have actually eaten at a restaurant are allowed to write about it, said Scott Jampol, OpenTable's senior director of marketing. That's to prevent both diners and restaurant owners from trying to game the system.

Angie's List, a subscription service that lets people review local businesses, requires reviewers to use their real names and has started allowing businesses to respond to reviews.