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[Bulluss]

Hi All,

Due to potential legal ramifications to OER, this thread has to be locked and references to the individual removed. We hope that everyone will understand and appreciate why we have taken this action.

Earlier this year we sort clarification from some legal people on such matters. If you name someone and they are subsequently NOT CHARGED with an offence then you (meaning OER) can be subject to a defamation case. The legals we spoke to sighted the Justin Koschitzke case and Channel 7.

They said that a key point was that information contained on web-sites is considered published and in the public domain.

We need to do this to protect and do what is in the best interests of OER.

Cheers and thanks,

      MT and WP.

[WilliamPowell]

Hi All,

If you remeber a few months ago we had to lock a thread and delete parts of it due to a number of legal concerns we had with the contents of that thread. As you can see we have had to do the same here.

Below is what we said on the previous thread. With regard to this thread the parts that are highlighted bold are the most relevant:

http://oneeyed-richmond.com/forum/index.php?topic=374.0

Hi All,

As you are aware this thread was locked earlier today. We would like to explain our reasons and we hope that everyone will understand and appreciate why we have taken this action.

The subject of this thread is a delicate one and it raised a number of concerns regarding the legal ramifications of naming people who are only under investigation and that have not been charged. With this in mind we actually sought some legal advice to clarify where OER stood.

Firstly, this situation involves a lot of “what ifs” and as a result it can be called “a grey area” but we must do what is in the best interest of this site.

Here are a couple of things we have been told:

If there is a suppression order in place saying the person cannot be named (we are unsure of this) then to publicly name them you are considered in “contempt of court”.

If you name someone and they are subsequently NOT CHARGED with an offence then you can be subject to a defamation case. The legals we spoke to sighted the Justin Koschitzke case and Channel 7.

They said that a key point was that information contained on web-sites is considered published and in the public domain.

Having taken into consideration what we have been advised we feel we are left with no choice but delete any references to any players and lock this thread. As we said at the beginning we are doing what is in the best interest of OER.

This was not a decision that we have taken lightly and we would hope that everyone will understand and support our decision.

In the future it would ge apprecaited it everyone could keep in mind the paragraphs highlighted. Defamation is a serious issue and again we have taken this action because it is in the best interest of OER

Regards
MT & WP