Russo & Hale demands retractions, threatens defamation suit

Monday, April 09, 2007 by Dave Winer.

Until today, in all the years I've been writing on the web, only once have I been threatened with legal action for something I wrote, and that one time the threat was quickly withdrawn. Occasionally people have demanded that I retract statements that were true, or were matters of opinion, and I've never done that.  

However, earlier today my lawyers received a letter from Jack Russo, my former attorney and former friend, demanding that I retract statements I made here on Scripting News. I just had a long conference with my attorneys, and read some background on libel law as it applies to bloggers, from the EFF, and California's anti-SLAPP statute.  

I'm not going to, at this time: 1. Publish their letter; 2. Link to the portions of articles they want retracted; 3. Retract anything previously published. 

I am going to spend some time thinking about this, studying, and learning about libel law to find out what the options are.  

I am going to solicit the opinion of readers of this site.  

I take my integrity as a blogger seriously. I only say things I believe to be true, and if there's any doubt, I label my opinions as opinion. I have at times made mistakes, and when that happens, I retract and apologize. If I have done this, in the matter of Russo & Hale and its lawsuit against me, UserLand and VeriSign, I will both retract and apologize. But anything I do is going to be done openly and in consultation with the readers of Scripting News.