I am thinking of creating a website which would be reviewing products. Obviously to make it a legitimate site i can't say all the products are good. Can companies do anything if I give their product a bad review. Or am i free to have my own opinion? Thanks.
I'd think you're allowed to, as long as you don't say something bad about it that isn't true As long as its well put and not just plain rude you will be fine constructive criticism. no slandering
Like whatever you says shouldn't be totally against, Some Good Bad Features should be given but targeting it negatively will cause problems
this should be covered under Freedom of speech , but you can read here how it is trampled upon by DMCA notices , also some products reviewed which basically sucked but the companies don't want the consumer to know that, so in that case it is simple to just file a DMCA read here http://www.eff.org/wp/unintended-consequences-under-dmca
The bottom line is that they can sue you, but they can do that just because...well....they can. But that's the worse-case-scenario although you need to be aware that you can be sued by anyone, for any reason. Slap-suits are becoming more common so you have to be aware of your rights and responsibilities. Yes. As long as what you post is accurate, doesn't contain any falsehoods, or accuse them of anything illegal or immoral, and your opinion doesn't break any law, then you will probably be OK. Just be sure your opinion is thoughtful and accurate and you should be pretty well protected.
I have seen many bad fake reviews about hosting companies and they never take action, but I guess if you write an un-honest review about something they have the right to sue you anytime.
I imagine that's because they aren't aware of them, it isn't important enough to them, or they can't afford to pursue, but in the Webhostingtalk forums there are a couple of companies that are notorious for suing, or threatening to sue, anyone - users and others - for giving bad reviews or posting anything negative about them. They have followed through on a number of occassions so don't think it doesn't happen, and they sued even when what was being posted was accurate and true but negative. That's the thing about civil action. You don't need to have broken the law for someone to pursue you. If they are nasty enough with deep enough pockets to take the claim above the small claims level, then you HAVE to defend yourself. If you aren't competent enough, on know enough, to do much of the defense yourself it could end up costing you a lot of money, and it's this thought that makes many people back-down and rescind their posts or pay something to avoid the court action. Most of these review sites cover themselves in their terms and it's the original poster who gets the hassle. While the risks may be small don't assume it will never happen, and just because you're not aware of any yourself I've seen plenty of civil actions for all sorts of things, and none of them are very pretty. Court action is extremely stressful, it can be expensive, and it's usually better if it can be avoided. Post anything negative about a company or another person and there is always a risk. How big that risk is depends upon what you say, the mindset of the person you are saying it about, and whether or not they are aware (yet!) of that post, but it is never going to be 100% risk free.
That's not the case. There's no such thing as free speech in any country and you can't say what you like without limit. Even if what you say is completely accurate it doesn't stop a person or company from attempting to shut you up or close you down - just look at the link that "allthatjazz" provided where they've used the DMCA to stifle opinion and truthful findings. Then there's the prevelence of slap-suits used to shut people up or have negative information removed. Is a completely honest review site likely to be sued? Of course not, but don't go around thinking that worse can't happen if you annoy the wrong person or company.
Actually i got bit shaky when saw the thread, I own over 6 Review Sites of Several webhostings and i am really feel bit down. Though i don't think in Web Hosting niche it would have happen
Unfortunately it is a fact. The good thing is that it doesn't happen often and the vast majority of people and companies are not litigious morons who react to the slightest perceived injustice or insult. At least you are aware of the worse consequences and you can view your review site through new eyes and a new understanding of where potential issues may lie. You can also comfort yourself to know that even if the worse should happen it can most likely be remedied by the removal of the offending words, and if that doesn't help as the site owner it isn't you that is likely to be the ultimate target but the person who posted the opinion. It's still not pleasant, but you may continue for years and never have to deal with the scenario, so don't lose sleep over it.
How should we handle the review blog or website then? because many people don't try the services. They just Google them and after going through experiences of people they give reviews about Hosting companies. And one cannot try each and every hosting company as well.
Not when you're lying about a certain review. Say Company A has a great prices and bringing in customers quickly. Company B has contacted a blog with many readers, to set up a dishonest review about Company A. I'm sure Company A can do something about it - If not, then everyone would be doing it, resulting in every single business losing customers.
This is why hosting revue sites are a load of crap. In many cases the revues are paid for posts. The only real way to fing out about a hosting company is to privatly ask several of those using it.