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by codezero
4611 days ago
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The only time (as far as I am aware) that a similar lawsuit was successful was when AOL had to pay out $15 million to their moderators. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AOL_Community_Leader_Program Some key reasons they were able to win were: 1) they had training
2) they had supervisors
3) they had to file reports and meet goals
If they were operating autonomously, or even given some incentives (at the time they were given free AOL which was not a flat rate, so it had significant value), then the risk is low, but some of the things AOL did in running this program put them at risk.Even with the very specific things AOL did that bit them later, the lawsuit still dragged on for a long time. Yelp is unlikely to be at any risk at all here unless they were treating these reviewers like employees. Just contributing content is definitely not enough to put them at risk, and if the people are bitter about their contributions they have the right to remove them (I think). |
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They follow that with
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Which is, I think, an effort to distance themselves if someone posts "I totally saw the chef drop the steak on a dirty floor and put it on a plate" type lies.