Reputation is what others say about you.

Character is what you really are as evidenced by your actions when no one is observing.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: Readers are advised that this essay be considered as common sense advice, not legal advice. For that you need to go to a lawyer.

IT security is a multibillion dollar industry which has necessitated new and constantly revised laws in almost every state on earth. These laws address the criminal aspects of aggressive and deliberate business or personal privacy invasion and information disruption or destruction via various technology mediums; commonly referred to as “hacking”, or more accurately “cracking”.

So what is the “low” technology threat that goes largely unnoticed by the community, ignored by criminal prosecutors and yet the cause of billions of dollars in irreparable damage to business goodwill, personal reputation, and very significantly to the emotional well being of the human victims? The threat is called “LIBEL”; a form of the ancient legal theory of “SLANDER” with origins in Roman jurisprudence.

This issue is close to my heart because I have had a very frustrating and bitter experience therein. I have purposed to collaborate with experts from various fields including psychology, technology, legal and public relations to produce resources to assist victims in their efforts to remedy the wrongs and for potential victims to mitigate the risks. These resources will be made available for free as they become available through the Mile2 website. Victims of online libel are invited to contact me if they would like access to templates, resources and specific advice.

"Defamation" is the term used internationally to generally describe an injury to reputation. “Slander” and “Libel” are false or malicious claims that may harm someone's reputation. Slander and libel both require publication with the fundamental distinction between the two lying solely in the form in which the defamatory material is published. If published in some fleeting form, such as spoken words or sounds, sign language, gestures and the like, then this would be slander. If it is published in more durable form, such as in written words, film, data disc (CD or DVD), blogging, web sites and the like, then it is considered libel. The key to these definitions is that the statements must be false. If someone published the truth about a person, it IS NOT slander or libel. Slander and libel are not protected forms of free speech under the US First amendment.

In law, defamation is the communication of a statement that makes a false or deceptive claim, expressively stated or implied to be factual, that may harm the reputation of an individual, business, product, group, government or nation. Most jurisdictions allow legal actions, civil and/or criminal, to deter various kinds of defamation and retaliate against groundless criticism. Related to defamation is public disclosure of private facts where one person reveals information which is not of public concern and the release of which would offend a reasonable person. Unlike libel or slander, truth is not a defense for invasion of privacy.

See the full essay here: Michael Roberts of Mile2 IT Security Discusses Libel & Google Reputation