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Well - I haven't saved all the messages. But - best I can remember - it
seems that the message with all the profanity was originally posted in
private - but several messages which might be considered defamatory of Omega
were originally posted here.
You have to keep in mind that the "right of free speech" isn't absolute.
You don't have a right to shout fire in a crowded theater - you don't have a
right to call your neighbor a thief if he isn't - and you don't have a right
to "flame" a manufacturer of a product (although you do have the right to
present facts - and let the reader draw his own conclusions).
Although I won't bore you with an extended discussion of "free speech" - I
will note that there are differences in the degree of protection that is
afforded to different kinds of speech. For example - just about the highest
degree of protection is afforded to the press when discussing a "public
figure" - and just about the lowest is afforded when ordinary people are
discussing commercial matters. We're in the latter situation - not the
former. Note that I don't think that anything in the law prevents ordinary
people from discussing the facts about a particular product - whether
they're favorable or unfavorable. Robyn
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