While state and federal lawmakers look for ways to outlaw retail terms of sale that penalize customers who publicly complain about a transaction, one diet supplement company is going after an online complaint site just because it allowed customers to post negative reviews in violation of the supplement company’s non-disparagement clause.
In general, the Communications Decency Act shields operators of online forums from being held liable for things posted by users. But a lawsuit [PDF] filed last month in a Florida state court [and subsequently relocated to a U.S. District Court] claims that one complaint-oriented website goes beyond merely allowing users to post their stories.
According to the complaint, the site walks users through the process of posting a complaint, requiring that they fill in certain fields and mandating minimum lengths for each complaint.
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"non-disparagement clause". Are you kidding me? A company claims that they can stop their customers from making negative comments about their products !?
ReplyDeleteI have seen non-disparagement clauses enforced as part of a contractual agreement - like a layoff...but as part of a purchase of goods and / or services that you don't know the results of before signing the agreement.....
ReplyDeleteKinda reminds me of Harry and Nancy - gotta pass the bill so we can find out what's in it....
We see how that worked out for the country!
Well, I guess the BBB is about to be flushed too, if this load of crap goes down.
ReplyDelete