Is this indeed the first such case? ------- Forwarded Message One of the students at our law school has provided the following regarding a recent Australian case of email defamation , and I will post further information she obtains. Archie Zariski * (zariski@csuvax1.murdoch.edu.au) * * Senior Lecturer, School of Law * * * Murdoch University * * * Murdoch, Western Australia 6150 * * * Ph +619 360 2761 Fax +619 310 6671 * * * * * *
From _The West Australian_ : Saturday, April 2, 1994
_COMPUTER LIBEL WINS ACADEMIC $40 000_ by Margot Lang Sacked University of WA Academic David Rindos has won $40 000 in a Supreme Court action against Derby anthropologist Gil Hardwick, who defamed him in a computer bulletin distributed worldwide. Dr Rindos' lawyer, Robert Castiglione, said he did not know of another case in which damages had been awarded for defamatory language on a computer message network. "Computer users who use these worldwide bulletin-boards should be aware that they could be exposing themselves to defamation actions," he said. "It's an informal system where people say quite personal things, but making allegations of paedophilia and bullying is going too far." An elated Dr Rindos said it was the first of many defamation actions he planned, adding: "I have to clear my name." About 23 000 people worldwide, mainly academics and students, have access to the science anthropology bulletin board on which Mr Hardwick's message appeared. Dr Rindos, who has a doctorate from Cornell University in the United States, became the centre of an international controversy after he was sacked from UWA last June. The University dismissed him on the ground of insufficient productivity. Protests poured in from academics at international archaeological institutions, many of who [sic] described Dr Rindos as eminent in his field. US anthropologist Hugh Jarvis put his protest in a message on the computer network. Three days later an answering message appeared from Mr Hardwick. Justice David Ipp said it contained the imputation that Dr Rindos's professional career and reputation had not been based on appropriate academic research "but on his ability to berate and bully all and sundry." He said that the message also suggested that Dr Rindos had engaged in sexual misconduct with a local boy. The inference was that these matters had some bearing on his dismissal from the university. "I accept that the defamation caused serious harm to Dr Rindos's personal and professional reputation," Justice Ipp said. "I am satisfied that the publication of these remarks will make it more difficult for him to obtain appropriate employment. "He suffered a great deal of personal hurt. The damages award must compensate him for all these matters and vindicate his reputation to the public." Mr Hardwick did not defend his action. He wrote to Dr Rindos's lawyer: "Let this matter be expedited and done with ... I can do nothing to prevent it, lacking any resources whatsoever to defend myself." ------- End of Forwarded Message