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Lawsuit over Davis Square LiveJournal posts gets Streisanded
By adamg on Sun, 05/05/2013 - 7:22pm
A Somerville man's lawsuit over posts on the local LiveJournal and on the local newspaper Web site went national today, in a request for legal help for Ron Newman, named in the suit.
Meanwhile, lawsuit bringer Johnny Monsarrat has been busy digging up the names behind comments he doesn't like and sending them letters warning them to take down their comments or be officially named in the lawsuit, rather than as one of the "John and Jane Does, 1-100."
One person says Monsarrat actually visited his mother's house, "in a large black trench coat, blond hair, asking all sorts of questions about me, my whereabouts, et cetera."
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Comments
Oh good
Now everyone gets to hear about all the things he's supposedly done, including what he was arrested for.
I sincerely hope that one of those people has some solid evidence of what he's been accused of in those comments and decides to press charges.
charges were dismissed
"Now everyone gets to hear about all the things he's supposedly done, including what he was arrested for."
...which was apparently so heinous that charges were dismissed?
Bunch of livejournal gossip-whores piled a lot of rumor and gossip onto someone that, apparently, at some point, the DS LJ "community" decided was eeeeeevil.
Glad to see they're getting smacked by a libel/slander lawsuit. Maybe now they'll learn not to post shit they don't know for a fact is true.
Turil, is that you? You were
Turil, is that you? You were the only person on that entire exchange to actually defend the man...
Hi Jon!
Glad to see you found UHub! Enjoy your stay.
anon (not verified)
Well. That explains a lot.
People say shit that isn't
People say shit that isn't true every day. That's different from libel and slander. I don't know the details here, but I do know I think people should be able to talk -- and, yes, even gossip -- without legal harassment, which this sure appears to be.
no, actually, it isn't
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation
Start reading.
How would you feel if someone started making shit up about you and slapping it all over forums read by people where you live?
Far as I can tell, bunch of catty little livejournal gossip addicts posted shit they heard 2nd/3rd/4th/5th-hand, or saw the news report about his arrest, and just assumed that it was all true and started speaking about it like it was. Because people are of course guilty with whatever they're arrested for, right? And police reports are always the truth, right?
A friend of mine is bitching, right now, on their Facebook page about all this...and alluding to him being eeeeeevil...but nobody has actually posted, far as I can see public or private, a single story explaining exactly how this guy is such a creep. So, if you want to explain, please, by all means, enlighten us.
Check out the article at
Check out the article at Popehat. It gives a concise summary of what's happened and the major free speech issues with the lawsuit.
Creeper is as creeper does
I'd say that finding people's full names and addresses from their LJs, when that information wasn't public, is pretty creepy. To say nothing of showing up at someone's mom's house looking for him.
And I said exactly what that was defamatory?
Would you care to tell us exactly what I said, on LiveJournal or Wicked Local Somerville, that could possibly be described by the above sentence?
Because in this case, it really is All About Me. I'm one of the two named defendants in this lawsuit. (The other is Deb Filcman who used to edit the Somerville Journal.) It doesn't matter what someone else said on LiveJournal -- he has to prove that I defamed him. Which I didn't.
I'm confused...
Ron, does this lawsuit actually make you nervous?
Find me a 9 to 5 juror that would vote against a nice guy like yourself who likes to wear black socks with sandals and ride his bike around. Represent yourself, you might even end up with court costs!
yeah just because he was
yeah just because he was never convicted of anything doesn't mean that we haven't experienced things first hand and know them to be true. *Lots* of people posting there have known JonMon for years or decades, including myself.
People SHOULDN'T think it's okay to say anything
There are several ways a person must go about proving that libel has taken place. For example,the person must prove that the statement was false. Second, the person must prove that the statement caused harm. Third, the person must prove that the statement was made without adequate research into the truthfulness of the statement. These steps are for an ordinary citizen. For a celebrity or a public official, the person must prove the first three steps and that the statement was made with the intent to do harm or with reckless disregard for the truth.[12] Usually specifically referred to as "proving malice".
Many of those who got letters
Many of those who got letters didn't post anything, or posted comment(s) that were not defaming. I know of one person who defended JonMon and got a letter.
Yes, and ...
That would be the end of it if it weren't for this spurious lawsuit.
Now that someone has chosen to make a court case out of this, and involve a hundred other people, the entire internet will become aware of what people were talking about on Live Journal.
Not to mention that somebody who said something there might actually have something on him - and that his witch hunt may make them willing to talk.
Not exactly a schmart career move, eh?
A quick google search
A quick google search and...wow. Just, wow.
So, is the DS LJ community worried about this?
Wait, he went to somebody's mother about this?
Below the belt. He did that with my mom, he'd be seeing me in court for a different reason.
yeah, and I love the "go to the cops!" crap
It's so cute how these armchair lawyers think they can get restraining orders against him for showing up at an old address from when they lived in their mom's basement.
I didn't say "restraining order"
I'm just sayin' he'd be seeing me in court.
Gather round, grandchildren
Back when I was a young man, I was whatchacall an Internet Tough Guy.
Amusing
That livejournal thread was amusing. I do not participate in livejournal. But I was amused by that thread. Now I'm hoping this jonmon fellow will rev up some sockpuppets and bicker UHub to death. Here, let's get the ball rolling:
He sure sounds like a creepy guy. What's a middle-aged man like him doing having booze parties for teenagers? And does he go to science fiction conventions in weird outfits unsuitable to his hairy flubber cupboard?
Basically what you said her
Basically what you said her is what is being used by him to send people these letters and try to sue them. People commented on news articles about him and said he sounded creepy and now 3 years later are getting legally threatening letters from him. look foward to your own suit in 3 year for what you wrote above.
One tiny note
It's a small part of the overall lawsuit, but I can't get over the fact that part of his lawsuit involves saying that the stress of the Livejournal comments caused his obesity, and therefore he's entitled to medical $$.
Also, what do you think the odds are that in two years and eleven months Universalhub and Popehat get this exact same lawsuit?
Liability
He's probably going to sue me for not making him get a haircut.
Depends
It depends on whether he learns his lesson after a judge throws out the lawsuit and rules that he has to pay the defendent's court costs ... for all 100 defendents.
Legal defense fund set up
Friends of Davis Square LJ:
Johnny Monsarrat's Search Engine Optimization
Gotta admire Johnny Monsarrat's search engine optimization. His controversial history, questionable background, and ridiculous lawsuit appear in a search for "Jonathan Monsarrat", but he's done a pretty good job of keeping those irksome details off results of a search for "Johnny Monsarrat".
Who?
Are you talking about JonMon? The one from MIT? I think he's also the same person who does WheelQuestions and started the company Turbine.