Update on the Gina Ford legal situation

[JustineMumsnet]

Hello all,
Some of you may have seen a Gina Ford interview in the Mail on Sunday today, in which she refers to the Mumsnet legal situation, so we thought it was only right to update you as to where we are.

We are due to go to mediation on March 7th. Our position with regard to this hasn't changed - since very early on in the dispute we have suggested mediation as a sensible way forward and so we are pleased to be meeting with Ms Ford and her lawyers on March 7th.

In the meantime GF has issued a claim form, which means that the court clock is now running and we have to put in our defence within 28 days.

Obviously, as Ms Ford has made clear by this action and by her statements in the Mail on Sunday if mediation fails, she intends to sue.

We're sorry that we are still having to ask you not to discuss Gina Ford or her methods but given the potential for something that may be used against Mumsnet to slip through, this probably remains the safest course of action.

We will, of course, keep you fully updated.

Thanks for all your support.
Mumsnet HQ

pmsl @ the link. and thats all i have to say on the matter

lets just say that swmnbn wins this case, where does it stop? footballers could sue sports forums for comments about a 7-0 thrashing! movie reviewers will have to publish positive reviews, just in case someone takes offence. ive been slated on mn lots for my opinions on things like weaning, should i sue now for defamitory comments? once you put your thoughts into the public domain you leave yourself open for criticism personal as well as professional. if this post breaks therules im sorry please get it deleted!

There is and never has been any doubt at all that posters on line who defame can be sued. That is why people need to ensure they don't post defamatory comments. Most people don't. Things that are true are not libellous.

Every day of the week those hosting sites are told to take down illegal material and they do.

However even if something is defamatory there is still the question of who is liable for it - see my link to the Bunt case below where AOL, Tiscali and others were not and the judge said go off and sue the 3 individuals who posted the stuff and leave the internet service providers alone.

My post isn't there yet...

Yes Xenia but no=one would sue an individual as there is no money to be gained from it.......................

I'm not sure about the no money bit

I'm sure many individuals do have money, property, businesses etc

Cam, sometimes individuals are sued to discourage others. The BPI sued 20 or 30 people police inspectors, university professors and others for downloading music without paying and put all the details on their web site. One company wrote to 750,000 individuals who had downloaded without permission. On libel in that Bunt case three individual posters were sued - people get cross when they are allegedly libelled and it isn't always just about money, although you are right that in most cases you sue who has money.

Just a little postscript - what are SWMNBN's qualifications? The term nurse is protected under law, and "maternity nurse" does not exist as a profession, unlike "Nursery Nurse", "Paediatric Nurse", "Midwife" etc. It is against the law to claim to be a nurse unless you have nursing qualifications, which is why auxilliary nurses are now termed healthcare assistants.