dotPH vs Versomina: Where We Stand

Everyone is a champion of the sacred right to free speech - but how many of these well-meaning souls will still do it when faced with a harrowing, expensive lawsuit? Not to mention the fact that they will get a grand total of nothing for the effort?

Very few, I imagine. dotPH is currently currently fighting for the right to free speech - it is still fighting for somebody else’s right to free speech against a company that will sue a pair of shoes if it knew that it could get something out of the case.

Forgot it? Let me jog your memory. An anonymous person set up a blog called Alimuom using dotPH’s blogging platform, i.PH blogs. The blogger aired his grievances against a company, Versomina, claiming that it abused its employees and sued them if they tried to leave. Joel Aquino (lawsuit-happy owner of Versomina, also charged with a criminal case by the NBI) got wind of this and asked dotPH to take down the blog. Valuing the inherent right to free speech, Joel Disini (dotPH CEO) refused.
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Protecting Blogger’s Rights - At What Cost?

We at dotPH believe in the principle of free speech. We want to give people an open forum to voice out their concerns without fear of harrassment or reprisal. This is why i.PH is the first and only anonymous domain in the world.

Now, dotPH is caught in the middle of a lawsuit with a web design company about an i.ph blog. It seems that the company, Versomina Inc., feels that the blog is libelous.The lawsuit has consumed a lot of our time and money so far.  But despite our willingness to fight for free speech, we’re constrained by the fact that the blogger has failed to come forward despite repeated appeals on our part.

So this leaves us in a bit of a quandary here. i.PH is committed to upholding free speech. At the same time, as a responsible service provider, do we defend this person who is seemingly unwilling to show that he even exists? We’re not even sure if he or his grievances are real.

So, we need your input.

What should i.PH do? Do we press on? Or do you think there has to be a corrresponding committment, a responsibility if you will, on the part of the blogger to show the views are legitimate and not just a smear campaign?  Should we set limitations on the freedom that i.PH provides on your blogs? Do we set parameters on what people can say on their blogs, and what should the parameters be? Should i.ph blogs remain anonymous or should we just give up on our grand experiment on free speech? How do we tread the thin line between libel and mere airing of grievances?

As bloggers and responsible netizens, what do you think?