Posting initials, yes, because who’s to say that DK2001 is not talking about Don King in 2001 instead of Duck King 2001?

Posting as a POI… maybe. It depends on the subtext of the statement. Saying that someone is a Person Of Interest to law enforcement when they are not is a false statement. Saying that they are a Person Of Interest to Duckking2001 because they are a person and I find them interesting is not only true, but it is even more importantly- an opinion.

An opinion is protected speech and it is not libel since it cannot be proven to be false.

If I said that John Doe is the Zodiac Killer, John would first need to prove that I said that, which could be difficult over the internet. If John found out who I was and had documentation that I made a libelous statement that was false and damaging he would then have to take it to civil court to award a penalty. The police would not be involved because it’s not a criminal matter. It would be up to himself to prove the charges against me, including proving that the statement was indeed false and damaging.

Most, if not all of the information on this site would not qualify for libel. But this is a public forum and so the information given out could be used in a libelous way and that is the reason why we should refrain from using peoples real names when making statements that could be taken as negative if that name is not privileged.

Here is a more formal article that covers the basics of the law: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/defamation-law-made-simple-29718.html

This site has generated a lot of responses and a lot of theories. I have a question: Let us suppose that a poster posted info that could be traced to a particular individual. Would referring to the individual by initials, and as a "person of interest" protect the poster?

That’s a good question and one that would be better answered by a lawyer than myself. I have always advocated being very careful with identifying information even if your person of interest is deceased just out of ethical considerations. How would you like it to be named as a "person of interest" in a notorious serial murder case? How ’bout if someone dug up information about one of your family members and posted speculation about them here?

My guess is that describing someone as a person of interest, even by name, would not be considered libel. It is a private message board, so whatever is posted here is, by nature, speculation. Posting information about a "person of interest" is not a declaration of fact. If done properly, it is merely drawing circumstantial connections between an individual and the Zodiac Killer e.g. "Person X went to school in Riverside with Cheri Jo Bates". There’s nothing libelous, IMO, about pointing out connections like that. If it’s presented as "Person Y is the Zodiac Killer!" then there may well be an issue of libel.

It’s really difficult sometimes to discuss the attributes of a person of interest without providing identifying information but not impossible. Personally, I would rather err on the side of protecting innocent people from unwarranted scrutiny. You may feel that your person of interest is a slam dunk but there have been hundreds of POIs offered up and somewhere between 99 and 100% of those were dead wrong.

Dag, if you have some information that you are unsure about posting you should send it to Morf or the other mods and they will tell you where to go from there.

Good point E. I wasn’t getting into the ethics of the thing, just the legality. I have the same thoughts on it. Better to be cautious.

I feel like the old board could be a little bit more open since it was members view only, whereas this one is open to anyone to view. Of course there are trade offs between the two formats, but that’s a different issue.

I don’t want to open up a can of worms and It’s not an issue that I have with any specific members here, but during the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings many people visited the site who would otherwise have nothing to do with the Z case because of the discussion of that current events. Part of the multi site amateur investigative focus pointed out two individuals at the Boston crime scene as being "suspicious" and in turn the news media reported these men as suspects when they were never considered suspects by police and ultimately had nothing whatsoever to do with the crime. That wasn’t libel or any legal consequence, but it was an unfortunate situation that can arise from the types of things that we discuss here.

One thing to note – it’s not a private message board – all posts are open to public view. (Hello fans! )

Its a grey area I guess, but if you put a photo up of somebody along with a post that reads,"This is JOHN DOE and he is a serial killler",or "this is John Doe and he was the zodiac killer", then they might have a case against you, but they would still need to prove that you damaged their reputation,etc. I suggest,that if you put any photos up of suspects or POI’s, then you edit the photo in a way that their ID can be protected,and use a nickname for them instead of their real name,say ‘ZODE’, for example. Using initials is okay in general, but on the other hand, dont link to a yearbook page,and say "Hey here’s RH".

When in doubt,please ask a mod first

Can one of the MODS please move this thread to a more appropriate section? Thanks

Can one of the MODS please move this thread to a more appropriate section? Thanks

Done.

This site has generated a lot of responses and a lot of theories. I have a question: Let us suppose that a poster posted info that could be traced to a particular individual. Would referring to the individual by initials, and as a "person of interest" protect the poster?

Yes it would. Key point is in criminal as well as Civil suits, the person making the allegation (The person that files against the other) has the full burden of proof. The Onus is on them entirely. You’d need to have very good and strong evidence to show what your are claiming is beyond all reasonable doubt and seems overwhelmingly likely to be the truth. If I tell you that I am absolutely certain that the sun is a square green ice ball, it’s not on you to disprove what I am claiming, it’s up to me to prove what I say is true.

Basically, if your going to accuse anyone of something, or make an allegation against someone for something, then the other party need not prove, confirm, deny or respond to anything at all. The onus and burden lies at the feet of the person making the claim, and the evidence needs to be a lot more than "Well ithe initials stand for John Doe because I just know they do, plus a friend said a friend of hers heard from a husbands workmate that it was the initials belonging to John Doe" Lol.

I’m not a lawyer, and don’t play one on t.v., so my question would be…. what if you phrase things in the form of a question.

Ex: Has (insert poi’s name) ever been looked at by the police as a suspect?

Wouldn’t it be hard to sue someone if they’re just asking questions?

I’m not a lawyer, and don’t play one on t.v., so my question would be…. what if you phrase things in the form of a question.

Ex: Has (insert poi’s name) ever been looked at by the police as a suspect?

Wouldn’t it be hard to sue someone if they’re just asking questions?

I’m not sure myself but lets say the answer is probably/technically no it still isn’t recommended. For one thing it might not open you up to libel or any other direct action but it would be incredibly irresponsible because you can’t control what others would do with that information so it would find a way to bite you on the ass and the rest of us probably.

Aside from libel and invasion of privacy laws, there are also internet and forum rules and regulations. Plus common sense and courtesy!

Generally speaking, for a living individual who is not a convicted murderer, yes always use initials or a fake name.

Do not reveal a city or employer or other information specific enough to give the identity away.

Be careful to say that you are NOT stating this individual is the Zodiac, but merely asking questions and expressing an OPINION that this individual might be worth examining as a possible person of interest in the case.

Aside from libel and invasion of privacy laws, there are also internet and forum rules and regulations. Plus common sense and courtesy!

Generally speaking, for a living individual who is not a convicted murderer, yes always use initials or a fake name.

Do not reveal a city or employer or other information specific enough to give the identity away.

Be careful to say that you are NOT stating this individual is the Zodiac, but merely asking questions and expressing an OPINION that this individual might be worth examining as a possible person of interest in the case.

Good to see you posting AK!

I couldn’t agree more. I think it very important not to accuse someone of being a murderer, ESPECIALLY while alive (I’m not so much a fan of accusing the dead either) and not convicted of a crime. Even if you think you are right, you may be wrong.

Someone like Ted K…well, he was a murderer so that is understandable, imo.

Thanks AK. That’s how I always understood it! But you explained it perfect!
Zam*

I’m not a lawyer, and don’t play one on t.v., so my question would be…. what if you phrase things in the form of a question.

Ex: Has (insert poi’s name) ever been looked at by the police as a suspect?

Wouldn’t it be hard to sue someone if they’re just asking questions?

I’ll take Serial Killers for 200, Alex!

A: The Zodiac killer, who sent taunting letters and puzzles to the police in the Bay Area of the early ’70s.

Q. Who is BuckwheatFlowers?

Now we are going to get sued… by Merv Griffin.