Slandering a website

Am I at all at risk if I create a website that slanders another and has the company name in my domain such as nogoogle.com or badgoogle.com

Google is NOT the company I want to slander it was just an example.

And then put a slanderous line on the website such as "Google is shit" (once again Google is just used as an example )

Would I get in trouble for this?

Thanks.

 

Where are you located?

In the United States, a statement like "Google is shit" is not slander because it's clearly not an assertion of fact, but rather a statement of opinion. By nature it cannot be proven to be true or false; it is outside that realm of consideration.

"Google is shit" = okay

"Google steals money from schools" = slanderous

 

Exactly, opinions are opinions but once you make accusations then it's a whole nother story -

 

Okay, so I can't get in trouble for expressing my opinion publicly as long as I don't accuse them of doing wrong?

Also what are the legalities of having their company name in my domain's URL, is that allowed?

To smallpotatoes, I am in the UK but I will be using US hosting.

 

The best example is hatewalmart.com, but there are tons of them out there
that slam other companies.
Let's not forget allstateinsurancesucks.com,
walmart-blows.com, verizonpathetic.com, all are anti-corporate
websites that just slam these companies.
Note how they all use the brand name as well?

I think a lot of people would be amazed at the number of sites that
use corporate names and slam them. You don't think the companies
have tried to shut these things down? The allstate one is a classic.

Check out some of those above. The slander(?) froths forth.
Most of these websites have been around for years. I say this as
a rebuttal to people who just cry boo hoo, I got a letter from a company
and now I am just giving my domain away...

Sometimes the company is successful shutting them down, but these
live on! They fought!

These are not parody sites. These are HATE with a capital H sites.
They are no holds barred slamming of these corporate giants.

One of the more militant is untied.com. A complete rant over united
airlines.

Stephen C

 

Thanks, this information really helped me, seems there is no harm in trying so I'm going to go ahead anyway.

Thanks Again =)

 

I found the site to beat all anti-coprorate websites and the brand name
domain haters:
allstateinsurance.org/staci/

How's that for an in-your-face website?

It don't get no better'n that.

Perhaps allstate decided it wasn't worth the fight.
Perhaps allstate lost all the way around.
Where are their lawyers and their scary letters?

Stephen C

 

Thanks for the info =)

 

If All State Insurance wanted to sue the site they could, and they would win. Allstateinsurancesucks.xxx would have a much better chance of defense if they didn't monetize the site (run ads) - but that wouldn't stop a potential lawsuit and the risk of spending six figures in legal fees. Too many noobs make the mistake of seeing what someone else does and assuming it must be legal. That's as smart as saying you saw a child porn site and therefore it must be legal.

 

IMO, it all comes down to opinion vs slander, when you get into the Defamation, Libel territory it could be trouble.

 

Also, if a companies name is TradeMarked, you can't use it anywhere.