In-House Counsel Guidebook: How to Handle Internet Defamation and Online Reputation Attacks August 2014

14 Google to have outdated information removed from search results, more domestic websites may be amenable to remove similar information. Confidential negotiations: In many cases, one of the best strategies is to enter into confidential settlement discussions with the author of disparaging content and negotiating a settlement. This is particularly helpful when an attacker is operating a blog solely dedicated to attacking a company or brand. The best time to pursue this technique is when a company is being severely damaged by the attack but does not want to wait for litigation to resolve the dilemma. Further litigation will likely bring greater exposure that would best be kept out of the public light. Obtaining court orders to get links to the harmful content deindexed from search engines: When disparaging content ranks highly on search engines, and when dealing with websites such as Ripoff Report (which refuses to remove any posting, no matter how inaccurate or disparaging its content may be), getting the link removed from Google and other search engines can be extremely helpful. In a nutshell, this process involves filing a lawsuit against the author of the content, obtaining a court order (via judgment or agreements with the defendant(s)), and presenting the court order to the search engine. Although not legally required, Google typically honors such court orders and will de-index the relevant link. Thus, the content technically is still online (accessible only by very specific searches on the particular hosting website, such as Ripoff Report), but it would not show up in traditional search results – where most people first gather information about a business. © Copyright 2014, Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP. All Rights Reserved.

In-House Counsel Guidebook: How to Handle Internet Defamation and Online Reputation Attacks August 2014 | Page 16