DataMotion Asia Pacific has successfully prosecuted the first of a series of defamation actions in the Supreme Court of Western Australia. DataMotion proviodes secure information exchange for businesses, including e-mail encryption, large file transfers, electronic forms and programmatic APIs.

Concerned by defamatory comments published on the HotCopper website in 2009, DataMotion commenced investigations to determine the identity of the persons posting on the HotCopper site under pseudonyms. Assisted by an action for preliminary discovery brought against HotCopper, DataMotion commenced three Supreme Court actions.

The first of these actions, against Graeme Gladman was concluded in February, with Gladman agreeing to pay damages to DataMotion and its chairman and managing director Ronald Moir totalling A$20,000 (US$18,200) and legal costs of A$10,000. He also agreed to provide apologies and undertakings not to publish further defamatory postings.

Two further actions, one against George Moore (whom DataMotion alleges made postings under the pseudonym ‘geo_au’) and the other against David Norris (whom DataMotion alleges made postings under the pseudonym ‘DONEIT’) remain pending before the Supreme Court of Western Australia.

“There has been an increasing proliferation of internet chat sites where people feel free to hide their identities and make defamatory comments about companies and their executives and directors,” said DataMotion’s solicitor, Martin Bennett, general counsel of Lavan Legal. “Although it is a complex process to determine their identity, these postings can be traced and where necessary legal action can be taken to stamp out this kind of damaging attack on a company and its executives.”