Man suing ex-girlfriends over Google search problem
By Jeff MillsJanuary 26th, 2012, 4:30 pmComments (6)
Matthew Couloute, Jr., a Manhattan attorney who previously worked for Court TV and the NFL, is currently involved in a lawsuit against two ex-girlfriends who posted unflattering messages about his alleged philandering ways on liarscheatersrus.com, a site where women vent about ex-boyfriends and husbands. As a result of the "malicious statements," Couloute, like Rick Santorum before him, now has his own "Google problem," as anyone typing his name into the search engine sees, as the very first entry, his name associated with liarscheatersrus.com, which is currently down.
Couloute is suing Amanda Ryncarz, with whom he had a three-year relationship, for "tortious interference with prospective business relations," which basically means all the shit-talking could cost him clients. Also named in the suit is Stacey Blitsch, the mother of Couloute's six-year-old son, who was formerly a roller-derby star known as "Malibu" Stacey Blitsch. The two women allegedly wrote about Couloute that he "Cheated on ALL of ex-girlfriends and "lied and cheated his entire way through his 40 years of life," adding, "BE FOREWARNED, HE'S SCUM. RUN FAR AWAY."
The odds of Couloute winning the case are long, as he would have to prove fraudulent misrepresentation or defamation, and a similar venting site, Don't Date Him Girl, already had a lawsuit against it dismissed in 2007. And not least of the obstacles for Couloute is the fact that the two exes are being represented by feminist lawyer Gloria Allred, who said:
"It seems ironic that men can lie and cheat and then look to the courts for legal protection. I think the minimum the women should be allowed to do is to speak out and speak the truth about the men who they have had relationships [with] and about the men who have hurt them."
If the case were to be decided in Couloute's favor, it could have serious implications in terms of online free speech. Couloute said, "[They] don't have the right to defame people on the internet. It's just wrong and someone has to stand up."
Commentarium (6 Comments)
""[They] don't have the right to defame people on the internet." Hmm, Matt must have missed that day in Con Law. It's called "the First Amendment," and it means "they" have a right to defame you on the internet, so long as the defamatory statements are true (or, more accurately, reasonably believed to be true when about private persons, or if about a public figure or matter of public interest, so long as the speaker doesn't have subject doubts about the truth of what is being said).
This could easily be solved by making the messages on the board closed to search engines (ie, open only to members who login).
Uh... Streisand Effect, Dude?
liarscheatersrus.com is quite online. Typical Hooksexup BS journalism.
Now it's online. It wasn't yesterday.
Overreact much?
Now you say something