Review Foundry Review Engine User Manual LEGAL ISSUES

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• LEGAL ISSUES
• Disclaimer
• Dealing With Fake Reviews
• Defamation Issues

LEGAL ISSUES

Disclaimer

Let me just make it absolutely clear that there is no legal advice contained on this page. I am not a lawyer and none of the comments on this page are from people who advise on matters of legality. You should consult with your own legal consult on all matters that pertain to you and the running of your web site. Collected here are some observations about issues that crop up when running a review website. They are meant to help guide you in your decisions about how to respond to some problems that may crop up and may require legal consul.

Dealing With Fake Reviews

It is not uncommon to receive fake reviews when you run a review web site. Especially when the competitors of a business or product appear on the same website, as happens with review sites. You need to be on your guard for suspicious reviews that might have been lodged by a merchant or business which falsely represents themselves as a customer to offer glowing reviews about themselves. You do not want these reviews in your database, as they undercut the value of your review offerings.

In the UK, law makers have introduced new laws that help circumvent this problem. From December 2007 on, businesses that create web content for the express purpose of "falsely representing oneself as a consumer" to bolster their reputation, can be openly shamed by trading standards agencies and even taken to court. The US has yet to introduce similiar laws, but it seems likely to happen eventually.

Regardless of whether or not fake reviews are legal, you don't want them on your site. So what can you do? Well, one such review site owner is Tim Uden, who runs bug.co.uk, which is a guide to hostels across the global. Here are some of Tim's comments about fake reviews, taken from my forum area:

The way I get around [the posting of fake reviews] is by coupling RQ with my vBulletin member database. In vBulletin I can set up a ban list of email addresses that I won't let register on the site. Whenever I find out about an email address belonging to a hostel owner I add it to the list.

It's not a perfect option but it stops a lot of bogus reviews.

I really want to ensure that all the reviews are genuine so if I get a bogus review that I can prove isn't genuine I delete it and send an email to the manager of the item telling them that I know what they are up to and if it happens again I post a bold notice stating "This hostel has been found trying to post fraudent reviews. Fortunately our review system is very good at detecting fradulent reviews and these reviews were not allowed on our website. However in some cases this sort of deceptive activity may indicate other not so honest business practices and all travellers are urged to take this into account when choosing their accommodation..."

I have set up a column in the database titled bogus_reviews which I switch on to add this notice to the item's page.

I leave this notice up for one week on the first instance they post a bogus review, the second offence gets the notice up for two weeks, the third offence three weeks etc. Since I implemented this proceedure I haven't had any repeat offenders.

Defamation Issues

Sooner or later you will get that review that contains such negativity that you will wonder whether or not it is a good idea to allow through. The one thing you do not want to do is allow people to post unsubstantiated highly critical claims about another party which could be interpreted as defamation--the blackening of another person's character by telling untruths. Again, you need to check with your legal consul to see what you can and cannot do with regards to letting through negative comments. In the US the right to freedom of speech allows anyone to say just about anything they want to, provided they stick to the truth. Judging what is and what is not the truth, though, can of course be difficult.

Here are some thoughts/comments by Tim Uden on the subject:

Regarding defamation. When I set up my site I had a meeting with a defamation lawyer and asked loads of questions so I knew what I could and couldn't allow on the site.

This will vary depending on where you are based. In the USA you can say a lot before it can be classed as defamatory while other countries are not as good (from a publishers point of view).

In Australia (I think the UK is similar) you can pretty much say what you want about a business but you need to be careful when you talk about a person.

It is also a problem if reviewers make accusations of criminal conduct. For instance it is fine to say "this hotel is a disgusting fleapit with rude management" but it is defamatory to say "the hotel manager (peter jones) broke into my room and tried to molest my girlfriend" as you mention someone by name and accuse them of criminal conduct. However it is fine if it has been proved by the courts and is in all the papers.

Generally if I get a review like this I search online to see if there are any mentions of this in the press. If there are other reports in the press I generally find it okay to approve the review.

Also (in Australia) it is fine to have negative comments that are the reviewers personal opinion. Because of this comments on subjective things like cleanliness, bad service or rude management are not defamatory.

Also (in Australia) giving someone the right to publicly respond to a review gives you a defence in a defamation case.

As Tim points out, allowing the business owner to respond to a review that they consider unjust is not only a good thing to do from the point of view of being able to cover yourself legally, it is also the fair thing to do. Review Foundry administrators can use the Review.right_of_reply column to add the response from a business or product owner to each review in the database, if they should be contacted by the person protesting the review.

Here are some more comments from Danielle Stanley of the UK, as summarized by a barrister acquaintance:

What constitutes defamation in the UK?
It is an untrue statement that will harm or is likely to be detrimental to the person referred to, in that a reasonable person will think less of them. Need to show untrue, that it is harmful and it is likely to or has affected the person. Opinion is not defamatory. Has to be an individual, you cannot defame a company but you can defame a group of individuals at a company--ie a company cannot sue you for defamation but the individuals at the company can.

How it affects review websites
If the website publishes something that is defamatory, they are repeating the slur and can thus be held responsible.

What should the Administrator look out for?
Anything that could be regarded as a slur, untrue etc that goes beyond an opinion...

What we can do to protect ourselves by way of terms & conditions and the like?
Monitor the site, refuse to publish anything that is defamatory, offer a "take down" policy and a right of reply. The "Trip Advisor" website uses a very good "take down" policy, obviously you cannot copy it but it is a good place to start.

Publish a disclaimer, something along the lines of:
In the interest of independence and impartiality, many reviews on this website are written by third parties. The opinions expressed therein are the views of the writers themselves and are not necessarily those of the owners of this website.

It is also a good idea to stipulate on your website which country's legislation (and in some cases which State) will resolve any dispute under its jurisdiction.

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