[link|http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,50548,00.html|Yelling fire in a crowded theater. But what if there *is* a fire?]

Excerpt:

Dan Whatley has a few words of advice for those inclined to flame the CEO of an unpopular company.

Whatley learned last week he had lost a $450,000 defamation lawsuit for statements he had made about a company called Xybernaut on an Internet message board. He said he didn't even know the suit existed.

"I had no clue about this," Whatley said.

After getting a copy of the judgment, he was even more confused. "What they say I say in the judgment is totally false and without documentation," he said.

Xybernaut (XYBR) is a profitless Virginia company that makes wearable computers.

Stephen Murphy, the Xybernaut lawyer handling the case against Whatley, said Whatley had been served notice of the lawsuit by certified mail. Whatley said the letter never came. With only one side at the hearing, a judge awarded the company a $450,000 default judgment -- a legal term for victory by forfeit.

Lawyers say defamation lawsuits against message board posters by companies wanting to silence their online critics are on the rise.

"It's not unusual," said Lee Tien, a lawyer with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a cyber-rights group. "We hear about people being sued for online posts -- and getting into crazy situations -- about once a week."

I say:

In a world hostile to criticism and indifferent to truth, self expression is always risky. But there are ways to manage the risk: back yourself up with verifiable facts, and don't offer your true identity.

(If anyone has a beef with me, he can come harass me at suite 502 of the Cahuenga building, on Cahuenga Boulevard in LA, just off the freeway. I leave the outside office unlocked. Just make yourself at home and wait.)