For-profit college, former employee square off in Wikipedia defamation case, Ars Technica Options

[Newsfeed]

For-profit college, former employee square off in Wikipedia defamation case

Ars Technica
Eric Goldman • Published March 5, 2012 3:45 PM • Given the size and scale of its database, it's remarkable that we don't see more US defamation lawsuits filed (rather than just threatened) over Wikipedia entries. It's even more remarkable when you …

[thekohser]

It's certainly opinionated of the author of that piece, Eric Goldman, to say:

Clearly, these are relatively obscure pages. Any reputational impact of the alleged defamation was surely small.

...when he even calculated that probably hundreds of people viewed the pages while the defamation was in place. There are programs on television at this very moment that only hundreds of people are watching, anywhere in the world. Would such a television program's producers and broadcaster be immune from judgment if they said, "This is a relatively obscure TV show, any reputational impact of the alleged defamation was surely small"?

[Detective]

There are programs on television at this very moment that only hundreds of people are watching, anywhere in the world. Would such a television program's producers and broadcaster be immune from judgment if they said, "This is a relatively obscure TV show, any reputational impact of the alleged defamation was surely small"?

Unquestionably that would be a good argument for saying that any damages awarded should be modest.