Epixtar threatens to sue blog for comments.

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief January 29, 2006 · 2 min read

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Gary publishes the email communication between him and a certain Jeff Myatt, an SVP for Client Service of Epixtar. I reported here a few days ago that Epixstar is hunting down blogs for some comments allegedly exposing salary information of the top executives of the company.

As I stated in my first communication, we have no interest in interfering with the exchange of ideas and opinions concerning our Company, positive or otherwise. Our only concern is your posting of the salary information.

As I previously informed you, the salary information posted on your website was misappropriated, and disseminated unlawfully. Such salary information is confidential and proprietary. And again, it is also materially inaccurate.

I will have no choice but to turn this matter over to our attorneys if the salary information is not deleted from your site within 24 hours. They will be instructed to take all appropriate legal action against you in this regard.

Again, if you want to discuss this, please contact me. I would prefer to resolve this in a friendly manner.

Respectfully,
Jeff Myatt

First, the particular salary information was not published by Gary himself but by a certain person who left a comment on his blog. Secondly, and I agree with Gary on this, Epixtar should go after the guy that made the comment and not make rounds on the internet threathening to sue bloggers if they don’t remove them.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

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25 Comments

wowers · 18 years ago

wow my ganun pala…
i was from epixtar, i didnt know all of ds…
i just got out…im not happy there, and i found ot these issues…i think it was a good decision…

ren · 18 years ago

hayee.. The employees at epixtar are all sex addicts and immorals!

ren · 18 years ago

I used to work for epixtar. And believe me.. Yung payslip nila, maganda pa ang resibo sa carenderia… They were all scammers!!!!

pasaway · 18 years ago

blog owners has the right to do anything they want to do in their OWN blogs….

–nuff said–

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief · 20 years ago

Parang Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

Responsible, yes; obligated, not necessarily.

See, if Smart comes up to me and ask that I delete all 1,800+ “unfounded” comments in my blog about their service OR the government (specifically the DOJ and the NTC) asking me to remove all the Gloriagate tapes and the Hello Garci ringtones, I would say the same.

This is not the first time someone asked me to remove comments or materials from my blog. The only thing that is unique about this case is because there’s an implied law suit if I do not follow the request, as exemplified in Gary’s case (which was publicized in the Inquirer).

chris · 20 years ago

Manuel Viloria says:
{Bottomline: When someone complains about something that appears on your blog, the person who has the power to delete the info is ultimately responsible for it. }

Agree.

Manuel Viloria · 20 years ago

Hi Mr. Mercado,

Having the power to choose not to delete things at someone else’s whim, while bristling when others quickly run to the courts sounds a bit one-sided.

Write about anything, approve comments you deem worthy of approval. It is, afterall, your web site.

Others can *threaten* to take legal action against you, or even actually do take legal action against you. Afterall, it’s their name/image/corporate brand.

You can take legal action against them, or get lawyers to help you find legal remedies. Afterall, it’s your right.

Let the bloggers blog, and the complainants sue and be counter-sued. Patas lang, di ba?

gabriel · 20 years ago

Hello Mr. Villoria.

You are correct that I had the power to delete it anytime I wished. In the same vein, Jaypee is also incorrect that I should not be held responsible for comments posted on my blog, since I approve them.

However, Epixtar’s argument lies in that I am in cahoots with Karl/Gary commenter in maligning their company via that action. This seems to be the key argument in suing those who allow its posting.

I maintain (and it’s obvious enough), that the comment looked innocent and so therefore I approved it. I had no intention of maligning, defending, or otherwise helping anyone out via doing so.

As for the delay in removing it, this was unintentional, and was due only to my unavailability at the time to do so. Also, that letter sender did not reply to my request to completely identify who he is.

Bottomline: Just because someone says something on your site offends him doesn’t mean you’ll delete it at his whim, and just because someone hesitated to delete it doesn’t mean you should run to the courts asap.

Thank you very much Yuga!

Manuel Viloria · 20 years ago

Shouldn’t blog owners be responsible for what appears on their blog? I mean, especially when they have the power to delete comments afterwards anyway.

I notice the line: “As I previously informed you…”

It appears he was previously asked to delete the comment about the salary information. Since he did not act on the previous communication, talk veered towards legal action.

Just curious… if a commenter posted your confidential information on someone else’s blog, wouldn’t you want to have it removed? And if the blog owner refuses to remove it (for whatever reason), don’t you also have the right to seek redress against the blog owner?

And if you, the blogger, feel that strongly about keeping certain info on your web site, then be prepared to pay the cost (both in terms of time and money) of keeping that info online.

In this case, why doesn’t the Commenter put up his/her own web site at Blogspot, for example? Gary can then point a link to that site if wishes.

I received, via registered mail, a “Bigfoot Letter” in the past from some law firm complaining about an entry I wrote. My entry did not name any names, and it was about an industry which has many players. My lawyer said we can win easily…

…and it would cost me only P30,000. Presyong magpinsan pa yan, ha.

I deleted the “bothersome” blind item paragraphs from my entry, and saved P30,000. Less than a year later, the complainant’s company closed down.

Bottomline: When someone complains about something that appears on your blog, the person who has the power to delete the info is ultimately responsible for it.

Jaypee · 20 years ago

Gary shouldn’t be held responsible for what his visitor’s comment. Just like a tv show can’t be held responsible for what a guest would say or do during broadcast.

hoop · 20 years ago

Wasn’t the first rule of negotiation, don’t be offensive?

maybe they should have gone around asking nicely first that the comments be removed without having to mention the “We will sue” part and offending the sight owners in the process.