Google and sixthseal.com sued by Jothy's Fish Head Curry restaurant for RM6mil
Suing Google for defamation because Google listed links that relates to bad reviews on your company? Sue you may but it's none of Google problem.
In the western countries, if there were bad reviews, the owner would contact the reviewers and offer them free complements. That is their effort to prove the reviewer wrong. In the case that the reviews is true, the owner would improve and he or she will get the reviewers to try their improve products or services.
A popular Indian cuisine restaurant in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia that is recommended by travel guide Lonely Planet, is suing a blogger (who operates sixthseal.com) and Google for defamation.
Jothy's Fish Head Curry restaurant director Tharumaraj Sivaperumal filed a RM6mil civil suit at the Kota Kinabalu High Court here Monday, naming blogger Poh Huai Bin as first defendant and California-based Google Inc as second defendant.
The suit is arising from some allegedly defamatory statements about Jothy's Fish Head Curry restaurant posted in May last year by Poh, originally from Sibu in Sarawak and now residing in Kuala Lumpur.
Jothy's, represented by counsel Marcel Jude Joseph, is seeking exemplary or punitive damages to deter them from making similar statements in future and an order to restrain Poh from defaming the restaurant on the Internet.
Jothy's is also seeking an order from the court to remove the offending articles from Google and other popular search engines used on the Internet.
The company claimed that the alleged defamatory statements published by both the defendants tended to prejudice against the plaintiff in the conduct of its business and deter others from dealing with it and were injurious to the business.
As a result of the defendants' action, the plaintiff claimed it had suffered loss and damage, and its reputation had been affected both locally and internationally.
The plaintiff claimed that the good reputation of the restaurant, in operation since 1987, was known globally and reported as a well-known destination in Kota Kinabalu and Sabah, in the global television and book series Lonely Planet, referred to as an authority for tourists throughout the world.
The plaintiff also claimed that the posting and articles of the first defendant were available and read by Internet users throughout Sabah and Malaysia, adding that the second defendant conducted business within the jurisdiction of Malaysian courts because its search engine was used regularly by Internet users in the country.
via TheStar
Recommended reading:
* What if everyone whose account was canceled sued Google?
2 comments:
I believe in the FREEDOM OF CONSUMERS’ SPEECH. I believe consumer has the right to openly critic companies and their products if it is honest and/or true even though it could be defamatory or strong words which may cause the company to lose financially or their reputation, whereas the company have the right to openly challenge & dispute their critics if they are wrong.
The right of companies to sue for defamation should be severely limited, if not abolished altogether especially for food related companies or in this case restaurant. Consumers should not fear defamation suits if what they have written are true even though it is defamatory.
I am very much against the abuse of the defamation law by companies who misuse the law to silence their critics. Company exists just to make money and what they are actually protecting is their pocket. The only way to fight against companies from abusing the defamation law is to remind them about consumers’ rights and to show them that they have forgotten that their boss is their customers and their customers have the power to judge and not the courts.
Therefore, I have just set up a weblog http://malaysiadefamation.blogspot.com/ to create awareness, highlight those defamation cases in Malaysia which should never be dragged to court and to criticise on the old backdated English defamation law adopted by Malaysia courts which is totally outdated and not in line with modern law, time and society. My blog is still very new, but hopefully within time it may create some awareness and do some good for the sake of freedom.
good info!
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