Want To Sue Ripoff Report? Want To Sue ED Magedson Founder Of Rip-off Report? Can I get false reports removed? Information you need to know before filing a lawsuit against Rip off Report or ED Magedson Tempe Arizona Internet

Can I get false reports removed?

Do you really want to sue Ripoff Report?


You should know this information before filing a lawsuit against Rip-off Report or the Founder ED Magedson

There's a false report about me on this site!!! What can I do?
Have you or your business been the subject of a Ripoff Report which you believe is false? Do you believe that a competitor of yours posted a fake report to try to harm your business? Are you considering filing a lawsuit against Ripoff Report to try to have reports removed from the site?

If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions, you really need to read the following information first.

From time to time, the Ripoff Report receives notices from companies and individuals who claim that false or inaccurate information about them has been posted on this site. These people sometimes threaten to sue Ripoff Report for defamation and other similar claims unless the statements they do not like are removed. You need to understand that these threats are not effective, nor will they result in the removal of any reports. Here's why.

Ripoff Report's Policy: Why We NEVER Remove Reports
As is our policy, we never remove reports even when they are claimed to contain defamatory statements, and even if the original author requests it.

The reason for this policy is simplethis site is only effective when all complaints are maintained and preserved so that over time patterns of truly bad business practices are exposed. If we removed complaints this would give companies an incentive to pressure authors (or us) to remove true and accurate reports in exchange for money or simply to avoid a costly lawsuit. For that reason, we will never agree to remove reports, even if someone can show that a report is probably inaccurate. Under this policy, no reports are ever removed, so there is no benefit to companies who threaten or pressure a customer hoping to get them to retract a valid complaint. Even if this means that one or more questionable reports are left up, we think that removal of any reports would ultimately make this site less credible and thus less effective as a tool for educating consumers. That's why we have made this strict policy decision.

But what if the original author asks us to remove a report? Why doesn't Ripoff Report have to take a report down when the author requests this?
There are two reasons why Ripoff Report does not remove reports even if the original author has asked us to do so. The first is the same as stated above -- as a matter of policy, Ripoff Report does not want to encourage big companies to bully individuals into asking us to remove their truthful reports. So, we simply will not agree to remove reports, ever, thus eliminating that incentive.

Second, every time a report is submitted to us, the author must read and agree to the following terms (under "Step 6 - Submit Report"): "By posting this report/rebuttal, I attest this report is valid. I am giving Ripoff Report irrevocable rights to post it on this web site. I acknowledge that once I post my report, it will not be removed, even at my request. Of course, I can always update my report to reflect new developments by clicking on UPDATE."

If a user does not agree to these terms, as they are free to do, then Ripoff Report will not allow the report to be published. Again, the reason for this is not to be unfair to anyone, it is simply our view that this website is more reliable and trustworthy when all reports remain open for public review. So, we do not remove reports even if the original author asks us to, and this is clearly explained to everyone BEFORE they submit their report.

If even one truthful report was removed because a company pressured an author to ask us to remove it, that would undermine the service this website provides. For that reason, we do not remove reports, no matter what you may have heard. In fact, there is absolutely no truth to the rumor that we have removed reports for money. Ask anyone for proof that reports have been removed and guess what they won't have any.

We've Been Sued Many Times, But Have NEVER Lost a Case; Here's Why
Because we will not remove reports, Ripoff Report has been sued on several occasions based on the content which our users have created and posted. If you are considering suing Ripoff Report because of a report which you claim is defamatory, you should be aware that to date, Ripoff Report has never lost such a case. This is because of a federal law called the Communications Decency Act or "CDA", 47 U.S.C. 230. Because this important law is not well known, we want to take a moment to explain the law, and to also explain that the filing of frivolous lawsuits can have serious consequences for those who file them, both parties and their attorneys.

The CDA is part of our federal laws. The actual text of the statute can be found here and an excellent Wikipedia article discussing the history of the law can be found here.

In short, the CDA provides that when a user writes and posts material on a website such as Ripoff Report, the site itself cannot, in most cases, be held legally responsible for the posted material. Specifically, 47 U.S.C. 230(c)(1) states, "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." Because the reports on Ripoff Report are authored by users of the site, we cannot be legally regarded as the "publisher or speaker" of the reports contained here, and hence we are not liable for reports even if they contain false or inaccurate information.

The reasons for this rule are simple. Websites cannot possibly monitor the accuracy of the huge volume of information which their users may choose to post. If a disgruntled plaintiff were permitted to hold a website liable for information that the site did not create, this would stifle free speech as fewer and fewer sites would be willing to permit users to post anything at all. See generally Batzel v. Smith, 333 F.3d 1018, 102728 (9th Cir. 2003) (recognizing, "Making interactive computer services and their users liable for the speech of third parties would severely restrict the information available on the Internet. Section 230 [of the CDA] therefore sought to prevent lawsuits from shutting down websites and other services on the Internet.")

In general, each and every lower federal district court and federal appellate court that has construed the CDA has held that websites like Ripoff Report are immune from virtually every type of civil liability when the site has been sued based on information posted by a third party. See Doe v. America Online, Inc., 783 So.2d 1010 (Fl. 2001); Green v. America Online, 318 F.3d 465, 470 (3rd Cir. 2003) (noting that the CDA, "precludes courts from entertaining claims that would place a computer service provider in a publisher's role,' and therefore bars lawsuits seeking to hold a service provider liable for its exercise of a publisher's traditional editorial functions - such as deciding whether to publish, withdraw, postpone, or alter content.'"); Carafano v. Metrosplash.com, Inc.,339 F.3d 1119 (9th Cir. 2003); Schneider v. Amazon.com, Inc., 31 P.3d 37 (Wash.App. 2001); Doe v. GTE Corp., 347 F.3d 655 (7th Cir. 2003); Zeran v. America Online, Inc., 129 F.3d 327 (4th Cir. 1997); Blumenthal v. Drudge, 992 F. Supp. 44 (D. D.C. 1998).

So, why should you care about this law? Well, if someone posts false information about you on the Ripoff Report, the CDA prohibits you from holding us liable for the statements which others have written.

This does not mean you are powerless. On the contrary, you can write a rebuttal explaining your position. Rebuttals are 100% free, and we strongly encourage you to use this resource since they can be extremely effective.

If you are a business owner and you discover that the report was written by an unhappy customer, do not despair. You can turn that negative into a positive. Use the complaint as an opportunity to make things right with your customer, and ask the customer to submit an update confirming that their concern has been satisfactorily resolved. Even if the customer won't submit an update, you can write a rebuttal stating what you have done to make things right. As we often say, every business will receive complaints. Customers know that. Having a complaint does not mean your company is bad. It is the manner in which you choose to deal with your customers that will have the biggest impact on your reputation, so treat every complaint as an opportunity to show customers that you DO care about treating them well even when things go wrong. Of course, if you don't care about making things right with your customers, that's something the public has a right to know.

If you think a report is fake and/or written by a competitor, feel free to say so in your rebuttal. Your rebuttal can also demand that the customer post some form of proof to back up their story. If the customer fails to do so, that will speak volumes about their credibility (or lack thereof).

Whether or not you choose to post a rebuttal, under the CDA you cannot hold Ripoff Report legally responsible for material written by third parties.

To be clear, all of the reports and rebuttals on the Ripoff Report have been authored by our users, not by us. For more than three years, no employee or agent of Ripoff Report has posted any content on Ripoff Report about a company without the company's written permission. Also, Ripoff Report does not create the titles or headings of the reports. The titles are written by the author of the report. You can easily confirm this by following the steps on this site for submitting a report. You will see that as part of the process, the submitter constructs the title, not us.

I Heard That Rip-off Report Is An Extortion Scheme; What's Up With That?
You may have read on other websites that Ripoff Report authors reports or headings to reports, or that we write fake reports and then ask for money in order to remove them (hence, the claim that the site is committing "extortion").

These kinds of allegations are false statements made by companies who have been the subject of numerous complaints on Ripoff Report. Some of these companies have been the subject of Government investigations and have had to pay hundreds of thousands in restitution and fines. Some have since been arrested, and some have been closed down.

Because some of these unethical companies have found that they cannot use legal means to remove reports, some have tried resorting to illegal means to get reports taken down. These methods have included making death threats, harassing our staff, attacking our website with spam, DOS attacks, making false claims in lawsuits, and creating websites which claim to reveal the "true story" about Ripoff Report. These misguided individuals have often made one or more of the following statements:

*Ripoff Report, or its founder Ed Magedson, are "under investigation by the FBI" or other federal agency;
*Ripoff Report is run by criminals
*There is a "class-action" lawsuit pending against Ripoff Report
*Ripoff Report is an "extortion scheme" because the site writes fake reports and then demands money to remove them

As you may have guessed, these statements are all 100% false - but don't take our word for it. If you see a website making these kinds of claims, try to find contact information for the person who created the site and ask them what proof they have to support their claims. If you don't get a response, that might be a hint.

Is The Corporate Advocacy Program An Extortion Scheme?
Since the best lies are those which contain a little bit of truth, you should understand that Ripoff Report does offer a service called the "Corporate Advocacy Program" (or "CAP"), and many of the extortion claims out there are based on false explanations of what the CAP program is all about. In order to avoid confusion, here's the truth about this program.

If a company has received one or more Ripoff Reports, that business always has the option of posting free rebuttals and/or working with its customers to try to make things right. Hopefully, when a customer's complaint is resolved, that person will do the right thing and submit their own follow-up to explain that the company stepped up and corrected the problem. When a company has just one or two complaints, many choose to handle this process themselves with their own staff and at their own expense.

However, when a company receives lots and lots of complaints, the time spent dealing with each one can become overwhelming. That's where our CAP comes in.

When a company asks for our assistance, through our Corporate Advocacy Program we agree to work with the business to reach out to their customers to help resolve any disputes. Whether a company has 10 complaints or 500, we assist our CAP members by contacting each and every unhappy customer to try to resolve the dispute in an amicable manner. We only offer this service to companies who are willing to agree that they must make things right with their customer, PERIOD. Ripoff Report UPDATES (but never removes) those Reports reflecting the member business' commitment to customer satisfaction. This becomes a win-win for both company and customer alike.

Of course, like anything else worth having, our CAP program is not free. Someone needs to pay to keep the lights on and the servers running, and so we charge a reasonable fee for our time and expenses. If a company can show that it lacks the resources to afford our standard rates, we are glad to offer our services for a reduced price based on the company's financial condition.

Regardless of what you may have heard, our CAP program NEVER includes removal of complaints. Rather, we update each report to reflect the business' commitment to address and resolve issues.

Some of our critics claim the CAP program is a form of extortion because they falsely accuse us of writing fake complaints and then charging to remove them. Sorry folks, but that's just a blatant lie; nothing more. We don't write reports, and we don't remove reports. PERIOD.

If a company has complaints, it is welcome to deal with them for free using its own staff and resources. Any company is invited to take the time to contact its customers, speak to them about their issues, and spend time writing rebuttals and updates. We charge NOTHING for rebuttals, and we receive no payment from companies who are willing to do this work themselves. However, if a company wants our assistance in dealing with complaints, we do offer the CAP service on a voluntary basis.

Now that you know the truth about it, you can make your own judgment call on who to believe.

I Know The CDA Protects Ripoff Report, But I Am Going To Sue Anyway!
If you have read all of the above information and still want to file a lawsuit against us, there are some other points you need to know.

First, Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and each state court's rules, generally require that all pleadings, including initial Complaints, must be presented in good faith, after a reasonable investigation into the facts and the law, and not made for an improper purpose such as harassment. What this means in plain English is that if you file a lawsuit which you know contains false claims, or if you sue without first conducting a reasonable investigation as to the law as it may pertain to the facts of your case (such as determining the identity of the author of the report(s) you are concerned about), you and/or your attorney can be subject to serious sanctions at the judge's discretion. Many who have sued settled with us and some have paid some or all of our attorney's fees. Other times we have defended the cases for years running up large legal bills for both sides. Either way, we never paid out a dime in settlement or damages to anyone who has sued us.

In addition to penalties a judge may issue, those who would threaten us need to be aware of another law which imposes civil liability on anyone who files a frivolous lawsuit. This claim is known as "wrongful use of civil proceedings" and it is defined by 674 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts as follows:

One who takes an active part in the initiation, continuation or procurement of civil proceedings against another is subject to liability to the other for wrongful civil proceedings if:

(a) he acts without probable cause, and primarily for a purpose other than that of securing the proper adjudication of the claim in which the proceedings are based, and

(b) except when they are ex parte, the proceedings have terminated in favor of the person against whom they are brought.

Because Ripoff Report is immune from liability under the CDA for defamation-based and related claims, any suit that seeks to impose liability for the speech of our users is, by definition, an action brought "without probable cause". We encourage the prompt and fair resolution of disputes between Ripoff Report authors and those who are the subject of Rip-off Reports. However, Ripoff Report wants to be clear that it accepts no liability for the speech of its users, and it will vigorously defend any litigation brought against us which seeks to circumvent the CDA. In addition, any suit filed against us without probable cause may subject the complaining party and/or their attorneys to liability in the State of Arizona for wrongful use of civil proceedings. We don't mean to sound harsh, but if you knowingly file a frivolous lawsuit against us, regardless of where your case is filed, you and/or your lawyers can be subject to a lawsuit in Arizona in which a jury could, if appropriate, award both substantial compensatory and punitive damages against you.

Finally, you need to be aware that if you file a lawsuit simply to harass us, not only will this not work, it will very likely end up being EXTREMELY expensive for you. Due to the number of meritless cases we have had to defend, Rip-off Report has adopted a very strict policy about lawsuits -- once Rip-off Report is forced to appear in a case, it will not stipulate to a dismissal of the case unless the party who filed the action agrees to pay Rip-off Report's attorney fees. There will be no exceptions. If you conduct a thorough investigation BEFORE you sue and you believe you have a valid case despite the CDA, it is your right to pursue your case and prove it in court. However, once you file a lawsuit, be prepared to either take it all the way to a decision on the merits or pay Rip-off Report's attorney fees because Rip-off Report will not stipulate to a dismissal without compensation.

Now, do you really want to sue Ripoff Report?

STAFF
www.ripoffreport.com
PO BOX 310 - Tempe, AZ 85280

Read here about Rip-off Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program; ED Magedson, Founder Rip-off Report explains how this program works to benefit both consumers & businesses alike.

How to get started with the Corporate Advocacy Program. How it works. The Benefits. What customers say.

Rip-off Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation and Customer Satisfaction Program,..A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business.