Online forum trolls cost me millions: filmmaker

Online forum trolls cost me millions: filmmaker

www.smh.com.au

An online slanging match over a 9/11 conspiracy book that quickly degenerated into a vitriolic war of words is now the subject of a $42.5-million defamation case.

The case could be a landmark case as it may set a precedent around the responsibilities of website owners to police the comments published by readers.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Greg Smith, a small Sydney film producer specialising in conspiracy theories, claims he is now millions of dollars out of pocket after he was defamed on the forums of Australian community website zGeek.com.

Smith had been contracted by a group of Eastern European investors to produce a film called Merchant Of Death, a documentary about the life and times of alleged Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout, who is being held in Thailand waiting for the outcome of an extradition request from the US.

But the film deal was axed after the overseas party that contracted Smith to make the film allegedly stumbled across the comments on the zGeek forum and decided Smith's reputation was too damaged to continue.

Smith, 34, is now suing Sydneysider Tony Brisciani, owner of zGeek, in the Supreme Court for $42.5 million plus an amount for damage to his reputation.

Well, I guess it had to happen sometime. The conspiracy community is a rapidly growing one as more and more people are waking up to the absurdity of what is occuring in our world currently. I can't say I've ever heard of this bloke, nor seen any of his movies but if he's annoyed the conspiracy community I would wager there is a very good reason!

Could this case really set a precedent and cause us tin-foilers to have to be censored? I guess we shall see...

www.smh.com.au
(visit the link for the full news article)

This is going to be one very interesting case to watch. For now i stick to my one line policy as this has more ongoing news to follow. I do hope you will keep this up to date.

Damn, and I was hoping it would be some big Hollywood producer complaining that everyone thinks his film is #, so I could have said "well, don't make # films then"...

Originally posted by tristar
I do hope you will keep this up to date.

That's the plan, stan. This story has caught my attention as one to keep tabs on so when any more news of this occurs i'll be sure to update.

This is complete and utter bullocks. This guy deserves what ever losses head his way. Let's hope the courts agree and throw this guy out.

[edit on 15/7/2009 by PsykoOps]

Good conspiracy theories always make good movies. Why, then don't we see many conspiracy theory movies? Because responsible movie makers try to use credible sources. The amount of credibility one maintains is in direct proportion to one's behavior of forums.

THAT is the lesson in this story and one that every ATS'er should think about.

I haven't seen the forums in question in the OP but in general I've seen the effect forum flames can have on on-line games.

Usually it goes something like this...

Game launches.

Game has some bugs, some big, some small as to be expected.

Dev's begin work to address issues.

Forums errupt in a swarming mass of compliants and flames.

Word gets around and company's sales are hurt.

I've had cases where I've played a game, had fun, hit a few bugs but nothing major, certainly nothing to make the game unplayable. Then went to the forums and seen post after post calling the developers idiots, claiming the game was unplayable, etc. In some cases the posters actually come right out say their goal is to cause the game to fail.

Word of mouth - even when its not 100% true can have a big effect.

reply to post by Frogs


That's a good point. I've experienced the same thing and to a huge degree with one game in particular (that I won't name). It was an unusually good (in my opinion) game, great graphics, storyline, player development, etc... but the online community became so vile that it almost totaled the game. The population dropped substantially and the more the population dropped the more people that left the game. It was a horrible thing to witness and such a shame.

reply to post by Frogs


I would have to counter the complete opposite. I have anxiously anticipated the release of MANY video games and only to find on launch day that the game was in pre-beta at BEST! The internet forum is an AMAZING way to get your message out to not only other consumers who might be looking to buy the game but to the game company itself in the way of FREE TROUBLE SHOOTING and FREE PLAY TESTING of what is wrong with the game.

Let us take the launch of a new game on the XBOX 360 recently for one of my favorite game franchises in all of history.

Battlefield 1943.

On launch day EA games did not have the foresight to make the connection between the number of purchasers of the title and the number of required server slots to host the game online. Since this game can ONLY be played online multilayer there was a HUGE explosive out outcry from the gaming community regarding the fact that they just spent 30 dollars on a game title from a MAJOR games company (EA Games) and could not even play it.

Now imagine EA games suing the gaming forum "GameSpot" because it allowed these people to get word out to other consumers who might be interested in buying the title.

No way and no how. If the game was released without a hiccup you would not see that many people coming to the forums to air grievances.

I see your point about the possibility of the internet forum being used as a way to display incorrect information but WHAT exactly IS the information that the Movie Studio read that caused them to change their mind about hiring this guy?

WHAT exactly was the post or thread?

Was it a critics review of some of his work?

Was it a disgruntled financing agency that never saw a return on money loaned for production of a previous film?

If the movie studio who was going to hire him found information on the forum I would hope that they had the wisdom to critically examine the evidence and ensure the validity of it.

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


Forum trolls can also really boost a company just for fun.

Take for example the wonders of the "Three Wolf Moon Shirt" whose sales have rose by 2300% recently.

www.chicagotribune.com...

Just because it says its great (or awful) on the net doesn't always make it true...hmmm..or maybe it can.

It sounds to me like freedom of speech was excersized, and the public agreed that this guy was a farse...

I see no foul play...

Originally posted by Frogs
reply to post by Iamonlyhuman

 

Forum trolls can also really boost a company just for fun.

Take for example the wonders of the "Three Wolf Moon Shirt" whose sales have rose by 2300% recently.

www.chicagotribune.com...

Just because it says its great (or awful) on the net doesn't always make it true...hmmm..or maybe it can.

Wow that is hilarious! Good point too.

The pros of Three Wolf Moon, according to the Amazon reviewer who turned the accurately titled T-shirt into an ironic Internet phenomenon, are these: "Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women."

The cons? "Only 3 wolves ... cannot see wolves when sitting with arms crossed, wolves would have been better if they glowed in the dark."

From the link you posted.