Part of the problem I see is that some allegedly dangerous people will complain they're not; that some person put them on the list and they have suffered damage (reputation e.g.) You would not be able to protect the source of the information due to discovery. This isn't journalism with some 1st amendment rights.
The sources of information would always be suspect, no matter how you vet. What if some new provider says Mr. xyz is dangerous; you know her not at all and choose to not post; xyz then commits some heinous act. Not your fault but you see the drift. How can you be comfortable with the information coming on the board? Those criteria will be hard to define and hold.
It's not an easy task you envision. That's perhaps one reason it hasn't been done yet. Lots of planning, thinking and hashing ideas out will be needed here.
As we all know the recent deaths of Cheryl of Chicago and Lundon of Atlanta has brought up the subject and idea of a board for providers to exchange information about dangerous clients. I have a friend whom could help me with the hardware and other setup information but want to know what the legal ramifications would be and how to assure to keep such at a minimum.
It's not stated explicityly on TER but alot of things are done
because of possible legal ramifications. I'm sure they have a
staff lawyer (or someone like it) who guides them on many of
these decisions.
At the very least, you would need explicit rules and have them
vetted by an appropriate attorney.
Part of the problem I see is that some allegedly dangerous people will complain they're not; that some person put them on the list and they have suffered damage (reputation e.g.) You would not be able to protect the source of the information due to discovery. This isn't journalism with some 1st amendment rights.
The sources of information would always be suspect, no matter how you vet. What if some new provider says Mr. xyz is dangerous; you know her not at all and choose to not post; xyz then commits some heinous act. Not your fault but you see the drift. How can you be comfortable with the information coming on the board? Those criteria will be hard to define and hold.
It's not an easy task you envision. That's perhaps one reason it hasn't been done yet. Lots of planning, thinking and hashing ideas out will be needed here.
And yet it works. If the original poster wants to create a
mirror image site (for providers as opposed to clients) I don't
see why it can't work.
The key here are the rules of engagement. And by this I'm not
talking of legal issues. Plenty of other boards are around but
none is quite like TER due to these rules and TER's enforcement
of them.
Maybe this is too easy, but couldn't you just put up the potentially libelous web pages up on a server in a different country?
Also, there are already web services that facilitate discussions (gossip?)...you can ask about a specific person (by name or email) and then the services use anonymous remailers to distribute the comments to others interested in the same person. Thus, the entire discussion takes place outside of the service, which presumably protects them from legal action. But I'm not a lawyer, so what do I know?