Pegasus News - Dallas/Fort Worth

Update 5/5: The Dutson suit has been dropped. See bottom of page for details.

I've been really pleased with the level of discourse on this site so far. With open comments on everything, one tends to worry, but I'm proud to say that there has been no abuse of our comment system so far, and to date we've only moderated four comments. And all of our bloggers have behaved impeccably.

But it is a rough-and-tumble world. See the lawsuit against Maine blogger Lance Dutson: He lampooned an ad done for the state's tourism office by ad agency Warren Kremer Paino Advertising -- The real ad featured a sex line number instead of the number for tourism info. Now he's in a multi-million dollar lawsuit claiming defamation, libel, and copyright infringement.

This will be a landmark case. I fear that it is the first of many. See, in the media business, libel suits aren't that unusual. Most media outlets have libel insurance, and it's the rare case that actually goes to trial.

But an individual blogger, or poster on a site such as ours can be sued too. And right or wrong, it's unlikely that such a person could afford the expense of defending a libel suit.

When Channel 11 did a piece on us last year, they featured attorney Tom Williams, who "says that limits the damages a defamed person might be able to win in litigation. He says the defendant 'could just be anybody who might not have the assets to satisfy a judgment even if you sued and were successful in recovering a judgment.'"

That's true. The flipside of that is that the defendant could be just anybody who might not have the assets to defend themselves in the face of a frivolous lawsuit from a powerful corporate interest.

We're on the frontiers of free speech. And responsible speech.

So, what's a citizen journalist/user-generating-content/person with something to say to do?

First, and foremost, be responsible. Don't shout "fire" in a crowded theater, unless it is really on fire. And, as we try to remind on every place where users can post, YOU are responsible for your own words.

Educate yourself. Here's a good place to start.

If you've got something to say that you fear will make you a target, bring it to us offline. We'll investigate, and if we find that the item is true and in the public interest, we'll handle it.

And finally, support organizations that exist to help you in this regard. I am a member of the Media Bloggers Association (MBA), an organization "dedicated to promoting, protecting and educating its members; supporting the development of 'blogging' or 'citizen journalism' as a distinct form of media; and helping to extend the power of the press, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails, to every citizen."

The MBA is assisting in Lance's defense. And, it is on the forefront of assuring that free speech on the internet is protected -- both from frivolous litigation and from irresponsible action.

---

MBA Member Hit With Multi-Million Dollar Federal Lawsuit

MBA Member Lance Dutson who blogs at Maine Web Report was recently served with a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Maine. The lawsuit alleges copyright infringement and defamation for reporting and commentary written and published by Dutson on his blog.

"This case is nothing more than an attempt by a deep-pocketed litigant to bully a blogger for criticizing state officials and state contractors"", said MBA President Robert Cox. "We have successfully defended MBA members in nine previous cases and I don¹t expect the outcome here to be be any different."

Dutson went public this morning with news of the lawsuit and provided key links here including his account of the events leading up to the lawsuit and the complaint served on Dutson by the local sheriff at his home in Maine.

Dutson has vowed to fight.

"The idea that criticism of the state government can be defamatory is absurd", said Dutson, "This attempt to bludgeon critics of the state government is not going to work."

Through it's legal defense initiative, the MBA provides member bloggers with "first line" legal defense, pro bono advice on how best to respond to legal threats related to the member's blog.

"Bloggers don't usually have an in-house legal department or high priced outside First Amendment counsel, but they're at least as likely to need one as any MSM outlet. That's where we come in," said MBA General Counsel, Ronald Coleman of the Coleman Law Firm.

Dutson has secured the services of Greg Herbert of Greenberg Traurig, a specialist in media law and First Amendment/defamation litigation. The MBA, through Coleman, will act as co-counsel.

Herbert noted, "Many of these cases, where a large corporation sues an individual for criticism over the internet, appear to be motivated, primarily, by an attempt to silence legitimate criticism and suppress speech."

In addition to providing pro bono, "first line" legal advice, the MBA seeks to raise awareness of attempts by governments and corporations to intimidate bloggers and citizen journalists by encouaging members to report such actions on their own blogs and encouraging all bloggers to carry the news throughout the blogosphere.

---

Update 5/5:

MBA LEGAL ALERT UPDATE - MAINE LEGISLATOR CALLS FOR MOT INVESTIGATION, SUSPENSION OF AGENCY CONTRACT http://www.mediabloggers.org/archives/2006/05/mba_legal_alert.php

In what can only be hailed as a major step forward in the efforts of the Media Bloggers Association to defend MBA Member Lance Dutson, State Rep Stephen Bowen (R-Rockport) called today for a full investigation into the management of both the Maine Office of Tourism (MOT) and the contractors it hires to produce tourism materials for the state. In addition, in a letter to state Economic and Community Development Commissioner Jack Cashman, Rep.

Bowen called for the Maine Office of Tourism to suspend its contract with WKP, pending the results of the lawsuit.

The agency, Warren Kremer Paino Advertising (WKP) has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit for defamation against Lance Dutson, a Maine blogger, for publishing criticism of agency and publishing an image of a sample ad prepared by the firm which contained a phone number directing callers to a phone sex line.

³Unless the state takes steps immediately to distance itself from WKP¹s actions, it risks reinforcing its image as a state that is not only challenging to businesses generally, but which appears prepared to punish those that question its actions,² Bowen said today.

Rep. Bowen contends further that fundamental rights are at issue here. ³In a small state like ours, where people retain a strong voice in public affairs, everyone has the right to question what the state is doing and how it is spending our money,² he said. ³That right is sacrosanct.²

In a press release put out by Bowen¹s office this morning, Bowen noted the ongoing story ³has emerged as a free-speech cause celebre among bloggers and has recently been covered in the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe.

The Associated Press carried the story, and a PBS reporter is following the developments. According to the Maine Web Report, ³The blogosphere has erupted about this lawsuit.²



³As a result of all this publicity, this action by WKP has the potential to give Maine a black eye nationally,² said Rep. Bowen, ³It¹s a case of big business and big government throwing their weight against a little guy who dared to question the effectiveness of Maine¹s Office of Tourism. People have the right to question their government.²

Bowen has been involved in the ongoing feud between Dutson and the state¹s tourism officials since early this year and was the first elected-official to come out in support of Dutson.

³Working for the state means being answerable to the people,² said Rep.

Bowen, ³Lance has the right to criticize state officials and contractors, and what has happened to him is outrageous and totally unacceptable. I don¹t think we should be paying some out-of-state firm as long as they persist in suing one of our citizens for asking legitimate questions about what they are doing with taxpayer dollars.²



Lance Dutson has a copy of Rep. Bowen¹s press release here:

http://www.mainewebreport.com/2006/05/05/state-legislator-calls-for-investig

ation-contract-suspension/

---

Update 5/5:

UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER BY NY AD AGENCY IN MAINE BLOGGER CASE http://www.mediabloggers.org/archives/2006/05/mba_legal_alert_1.php

Moments ago, lawyers for the advertising agency suing MBA Member Lance Dutson filed a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal in U.S. District Court in Maine.

The notice reads simply:

"Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1), Plaintiff Warren Kremer Paino Advertising, L.L.C. hereby dismisses the above-captioned action without prejudice."

The decision to withdraw the lawsuit comes on the heels of a withering media campaign orchestrated by the Media Bloggers Association on behalf of MBA Member Lance Dutson. Hundreds of bloggers responded to the MBA's call to arms and were joined by media outlets around the world in highlighting the heavy-handed tactics of the state contractor.

"As it should be, the story of 'Warren Kremer Paino and the Maine Blogger'

is now a cautionary tale", said MBA President Robert Cox, "future potential plaintiffs would do well to consider WKP's experience in attempting to silence a blog critic through the Federal courts. Our message is simple:

'Don't Mess with the Bloggers'"

A big round of thanks is in order for the lawyers who volunteered their time on Lance's behalf including MBA General Counsel, Ronald Coleman of the Coleman Law Firm, Greg Herbert of Greenberg Traurig and private attorney Jon Stanley.

"This demonstrates precisely what we have said all along," said Coleman, "Suits like this are premised solely on the anticipation that there will be no push back from the little guy. Here, there was."

"The plaintiff failed to understand it's a new world", said Stanley, "This is a text book case of how blogs work. This result could not have come about without the blogosphere. Lance's defense team was put together through the blogs and pressure was brought to bear on WKP through the blogs."

"This is a great victory for the First Amendment and bloggers' rights, and Exhibit A in a future case study of 'How Not to Handle an Internet Critic''", said Herbert. "We are extremely gratified that Mr. Dutson will no longer have the threat of litigation having over his head and censoring his speech."

"This will make the Cinco de Mayo celebration tonight that much sweeter (and may even mean it starts earlier) for the Dutson clan", noted Dutson on his blog, "Maybe there's something more profound I should be saying at this moment, but frankly, I'm going to go pick my wife up from work now, throw her in the car, and buy her a very large cocktail."

Link to Lance Dutson post on Maine Web Report including a PDF of the Notice of Voluntary Dismissal.

http://www.mainewebreport.com/2006/05/05/warren-kremer-paino-withdraws-lawsu

it/