Saturday, December 12, 2009

Lessig Leaves LiveJournal Over Libel; Petrochenko Ponders Possibilities!

LiveJournal is a safe haven for defamation, libel, and pedophilia.

Until nearly a year ago, LiveJournal did nothing about the NUMEROUS pedophile journals hosted there. Many were deleted, along with “fan fiction” blogs to make it appear as though pedophiles were not being targeted.

LiveJournal, now owned by Russian company SUP still supports libelous and defamatory content. Why? Because content means traffic, and traffic means revenue. SUP is interested in nothing but revenue.

They have “safe harbor” as long as they comply with DMCA notices, so their only worry might be having to disclose a subscriber’s identity.

They allow just about anything defamatory to stand: accusations of child trafficking and abuse, as well as fabricated criminal histories.

LiveJournal also misrepresents the membership of its advisory board. One person who had been defamed by LiveJournal contacted Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig, whose name appeared on LiveJournal’s site as a member of their advisory board. Lessig’s office replied, apologetically, that Lessig was no longer a member.

Within 12 hours, LiveJournal had amended their website by removing Lessig’s name.

Tupshin Harper, who managed LiveJournal for several years, has been replaced by Angelika Petrochenko. Even though Harper was more than tolerant of libel and defamation, and he was the one who steered LiveJournal through the pedophilia minefield, his bottom line did not satisfy the new owners.

It is not clear what Petrochenko can, or will, do. Advertisers are disgusted by LiveJournal’s policies, and are canceling complete campaigns, often based on what they see on a single journal.

No comments:

Post a Comment