High Road Communications

From BBC comes this story about an Australia court ruling that says a negative review from a food critic in the Sydney Morning Herald back in 2003 was defamatory. When the restaurant closed a few months after the review appeared, the owners of the establishment drew the conclusion that the negative review caused customers to stay away. (Of course, it just might have been the unappetizing food that led to the review in the first place that had people making reservations elsewhere). If this case holds up and other jurisdictions follow the Aussies’ lead, think about all the lawsuits facing guys like Mossberg at WSJ for writing negative (honest) reviews of a tech gadget that doesn’t fare well in the marketplace. Under the threat of litigation, we can expect to see more “average” reviews of products/restaurants/theatre.