Ripoff Report is a private profit making website owned and managed by a well know consumer advocate. The sole purpose is provide a platform for everyone to display their complaints and reviews of individuals and businesses online.  Its motto is “For consumers by consumers”.  Any individual can sign up as a subscriber and open an account to use this website to post a “report”. There are various high profile companies that served a subpoena Ripoff Report for defamatory statements reported on the website. It is a website where consumers are allowed to post comments, reviews and complaints about individuals or companies that are listed in the reports. Ripoff Report can be seen as a customer review, observation and report about their experience with a service or product.

Given the nature of the website, it is not a surprise that people and companies have served a subpoena Ripoff Report.  Unfortunately, in this day and age many people will take advantage of the many sites such as Ripoff Report and post false or damaging material for an array of reasons. For example, someone’s interaction with a service provider might be affected by the mood of that particular consumer on that day.  Each individual will always encounter subjective experience with other individuals or businesses. Hence, the trustworthiness of a report posted by a user is complex to establish. 

Consequently, when people read the terms of use of the website, it is clearly stated that Ripoff Report does not practice censorship.  They make it clear that they are not in a position to judge the truthfulness and credibility of the posts. They also state they do not remove complaints posted on their website although they are alleged to be defamatory and that the author of the report requests to do so. For them, maintaining the reports is part of fair practice, transparency, freedom of opinion and expression and a way to expose bad business practices. People and companies that feel victimized by the website have no other recourse than to serve a subpoena Ripoff Report if they want the alleged false and defamatory and slanderous posts to be removed. Yet, before getting a subpoena, the victims need to gather evidence that the reports posted are inaccurate, unfounded and untruthful. Besides, the victim will be able to pursue the author of the comments through a civil court but not the website host. 

Indeed, it is stipulated in the terms and conditions of the website, that authors are solely responsible for the contents that they post on the website. By agreeing to these terms they agree not to post any defamatory information, illegal material and any information that violates and infringes the rights of others. Ripoff Report denies any responsibility from the damages and repercussions of the reports posted by unambiguously stating that charges can only be levied on the authors. Indeed, people and companies that serve a subpoena Ripoff Report need to be aware that, according to the Communications Decency Act 47 U.S.C. § 230, providers or users of an interactive computer service are not treated as publishers or speakers of any information provided by another information content provider.

To make sure that you can follow through with a successful lawsuit against illegal content or comments you must prepare. This would require a solid understanding of the internet laws. Having a lawyer, or litigation team behind you who know exactly what to do is advisable.  The professionals who handle these types of proceedings are familiar with what is required to know when and how to subpoena Ripoff Report.