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Statement from the owner of KiwiFarms from the telegram group, slightly censored: >The courts of Australia have determined that a person I know is personally l

Statement from the owner of KiwiFarms from the telegram group, slightly censored: >The courts of Australia have determined that a person I know is personally liable for over $400,000 in defamatory damages to Liz Fong-Jones. >Vincent is Australian. He owns a company called Flow Chemical Pty Ltd in Australia. The Australian RIR, APNIC, leases him a few IP addresses. Those IPs have been used by my American company 1776 Solutions, LLC to host various web services. Among those services has, at various times, been the Kiwi Farms, a website of Lolcow, LLC in the US. Kiwi Farms hosts comments from users all over the world. >Victoria courts have determined that both his company and _him as a person_ are liable for close to half a million dollars in damages for statements made by anonymous users on a web forum owned by a company hosted by a company leasing IP space from his company, regardless of their truth or accuracy. This judgement was made in default in his absence because apparently he felt the entire thing was stupid and would be thrown out without him doing anything. >This loss amounts to nothing for me. I have not been able to reliably use these IP addresses in over a year because Liz Fong-Jones has been harassing any ISP they route through. I also have no stake in Flow Chemical Pty Ltd, so I am not at risk. I can just get new ones at any time in the US. >However, this is obviously unbelievably f*king ret*rded and evil. I'm not going to let a gross tr**ny fuck over good people. I am looking for references to attorneys in Australia who would be willing to help overturn this absolute travesty. <jcmoon at pm.me> >The precedent being set in Australian court should terrify anyone living there. You are now personally liable for eating sh*t for anything anyone says, even if it is the truth, if you are within 3 degrees of separation of them.

Minor49er 3y ago
You missed censoring one instance of "fuck"
lovich 3y ago
I don’t think anyone thinks this reasonably sets a precedent. The only thing it did precedent wise is reinforce the precedent of not no showing to you’re own defense if you don’t want to have a bad time. The last paragraph he’s made is just fake news. He likely could have had it easily thrown out if there was any attempt to do so. Based on the articles quote about him telling another agency to shove their fines up their ass the gentleman seems like the kind of individual who thinks the law and government power doesn’t apply to him, and is always incensed to find out it actually does
- aeneasmackenzie 3y ago
  Is he so incorrect to think Australian (or famously, New Zealand) laws do not apply to him as an American?
  - lovich 3y ago
    I had unfortunately ambiguous pronoun usage there. The “he” in “the paragraph he’s made is just fake news” referred to the author of the telegram post who runs kiwi farms. The other uses of “he” were referring to this Vincent fellow who was the defendant of the case and according to the article, under Australian jurisdiction
FireBeyond 3y ago
> Victoria courts have determined that both his company and _him as a person_ are liable for close to half a million dollars in damages for statements made by anonymous users on a web forum owned by a company hosted by a company leasing IP space from his company, regardless of their truth or accuracy. Maybe Vincent should have thought of the corporate structure for his sole proprietorship more carefully, then. A PLC is not an LLC. And it's not esoteric knowledge that Australian law and courts are happy to pierce corporate veils, especially when they're token/illusory.

Minor49er 3y ago

You missed censoring one instance of "fuck"

lovich 3y ago

I don’t think anyone thinks this reasonably sets a precedent. The only thing it did precedent wise is reinforce the precedent of not no showing to you’re own defense if you don’t want to have a bad time. The last paragraph he’s made is just fake news. He likely could have had it easily thrown out if there was any attempt to do so. Based on the articles quote about him telling another agency to shove their fines up their ass the gentleman seems like the kind of individual who thinks the law and government power doesn’t apply to him, and is always incensed to find out it actually does

aeneasmackenzie 3y ago
Is he so incorrect to think Australian (or famously, New Zealand) laws do not apply to him as an American?
- lovich 3y ago
  I had unfortunately ambiguous pronoun usage there. The “he” in “the paragraph he’s made is just fake news” referred to the author of the telegram post who runs kiwi farms. The other uses of “he” were referring to this Vincent fellow who was the defendant of the case and according to the article, under Australian jurisdiction

FireBeyond 3y ago

> Victoria courts have determined that both his company and _him as a person_ are liable for close to half a million dollars in damages for statements made by anonymous users on a web forum owned by a company hosted by a company leasing IP space from his company, regardless of their truth or accuracy. Maybe Vincent should have thought of the corporate structure for his sole proprietorship more carefully, then. A PLC is not an LLC. And it's not esoteric knowledge that Australian law and courts are happy to pierce corporate veils, especially when they're token/illusory.