MUMSNET vs FORD

The Daily Telegraf in haberine gore

Cocuk egitimi konusunda GURU olan Gina FORD , populer bir cocuk egitimi sitesine karsi yuruttugu hukuk savasindan vazgecti. Dava konusu olan web sitesi FORD ile cok acimasiz sekilde dalga geciyordu.

Anlasmanin neleri kapsadigi gizli tutuldugu olayda

MUMSNET adli site , FORD a karsi cok saldirgan mesajlari mesaj tahtasinda yayinliyordu, bunlardan en ucuk orneklerden birtanesi ‘FORD un bebekleri roketlere baglayip guney Lubnan a dogru atesledigi” seklindeydi

Kendisine karsi saldirilar basladiktan sonra ilk is olarak Bayan FORD once websitesine kendisine karsi cok cirkin sekilde gerceklestirilen bu ataklari durdurmasi talebinde bulundu

Daha sonra, 39 yasinda olan sitenin kurucusu Justine Roberts , bayan FORD a karsi site icinde bir kampanya baslatti ve hukuk surecinde konusma ozgurlugunun ustun gelecegine inandigini yazdi.

1 yil suren dava ve 8 haftalik mediatorluk surecinden sonra,artan dava masraflari nedeniyle web sitesinin gelecegi tehlikeye girdigini goren Justine Roberts site icinde bir bildiri yayinlayarak, artik FORD hakkinda bir daha aciklama yapilmayacagini ve onceki tum mesajlarin kaldirildigini duyurdu. Ayrica FORD tan acik sekilde bu ataklardan dolayi ozur diledi.

Bayan ROBERTS gecen hafta yaptigi aciklamada, bu anlasmazligin son bulmasindan cok mutlu oldugunu . ve bir daha asla sitenin mesaj tahtasinda bayan FORD un kitaplarinin tanitiminin yapilmayacagini ve kendisine karsi yapilan kisisel saldirilarin asla hosgorulmeyecegini belirtti.

Bu dava sonucunda, artik bu tarz gorusler barindiran bircok web sitesi cok masrafli hukuk savasindan kacinmak icin , bu tarz icerigi kaldirmaya basladiklari aciklandi. Ancak bunun konusma ozgurluge darbe vuracagi korkulari yaygin

Olaya konu olan web sitesi hergun 15.000 mesaj aliyor ve 60.000 uyesi mevcut ve her ay ortalama 650.000 kisi ziyaret ediyor

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GINA FORD, the controversial childcare guru, yesterday dropped her bitter
legal battle against a popular parenting website that mocked her rigorous
methods.Miss Ford, known as the "Queen of Routine'' for her strict child-rearing
approach, started legal proceedings against Mumsnet last year after "serious and
offensive'' comments about her were posted on the website's messageboards.
One sarcastic comment accused her of "strapping babies to rockets and firing
them into south Lebanon''.Miss Ford, 53, said the "relentless personal attacks'' were libellous, issued a writ in February and instructed lawyers to ask for the website to be removed.Justine Roberts, the 39-year-old mother of four who founded and runs Mumsnet,in turn accused Miss Ford of conducting a "menacing'' campaign to stifle negative comment, which she strongly denies.Mrs Roberts then banned all discussion of Miss Ford or her methods on the website and said an expensive court battle could close the website down. However, after a year of legal letters, outraged media interviews and an eight-week mediation period, Miss Ford has withdrawn her threat to take the website to court and Mumsnet has apologised, promising to prevent "personal attacks''.Mrs Roberts said yesterday: "We are very relieved that this is over. This agreement means parents have been given back the freedom to discuss one of the major techniques in the parenting world. I don't think Gina Ford has done herself much good among her target audience.''
The exact terms of the agreement are confidential, but it is understood that
Mumsnet made a contribution to Miss Ford's substantial legal costs to protect
its individual members from legal action.It has also agreed to abide by its own "personal abuse'' policy, preventing members from making unnecessary attacks on individuals and lifted the ban on discussing Miss Ford's methods.
In a statement, the website apologised for the comments, saying: "Mumsnet
will no longer bar discussion of Miss Ford's books and methods but will not
tolerate personal attacks on her. Mumsnet urges all its members to remain civil
and fair.'' The settlement has implications for the muddy area of libel law and the
internet, which is currently treated in the same way as print. Internet service
providers, or website hosts, are seen as "booksellers'' which are liable for
defamation as soon as they are aware that derogatory comments have been made.
Many websites and hosts currently remove such information rather than risk
the massive court cost of proving it is true, leading to fears that freedom of
speech is being curtailed.Mrs Roberts said: "We will be campaigning very strongly to get the law properly examined. At the moment any website with doubts about comments is removing them immediately rather than risk an expensive court battle. That is not satisfactory.'' She said she settled with Miss Ford only for commercial
reasons and has written to the Law Commission to ask for the regulation of
internet sites to be clarified. A spokeswoman for Miss Ford declined to comment further. Mumsnet was founded in 2000 by Mrs Roberts, a former City trader who found
the "stomach-churning sexism'' too much to endure after returning from maternity
leave. The site has since become the advice and conversational mainstay of more than 60,000 member parents - most of whom are mothers. They communicate anonymously
via message boards that carry up to 15,000 posts each day.