The slur, although in electronic form, was considered permanent enough for the libel suit to stick. That this is the only decided case should be of little comfort. In the UK, a nuclear physicist named Laurence Godfrey is suing an academic based in Geneva for defamation based on statements made on the Usenet. In the United States, Brock Meeks a journalist, is being sued by Suarez Corp. Industries for comments posted on the Internet. There are two inevitable truths we must presume will unfold before us. . .
Most companies recognize that messages are more informal in electronic form.
The perceived temporal nature of electronic mail allows for banter that would be unseen and unheard of in memoranda or other written business communication. Most companies worry about internal abuse, the sheer volume of message traffic and the accumulation of discoverable and easily accessible electronic files of potential evidence being stored by the company. Now add to that list the concern that a message sent by an employee or consultant to a supplier, customer, client, bulletin board, a friend across town or across the world may be actionable. A U.S. company connected to the Internet should find it increasingly unwise to rely solely on the law in the United States to govern their commercial and employee conduct. Messages, materials, information, images and data sent along the vast networks, systems and bulletin boards of our global electronic highways often transcend national boundaries.