As a passionate blogger you feel that you are protected by First Amendment rights, but, while freedom of speech is a major pillar to a democratic foundation, it does not protect you from malicious law suits by, let’s say, a business feeling you caused them profound loss of income by posting misleading information about them.

Yes, in all regularity you are protected by the First Amendment, but, first of all, the threat of a law suit and the inflicted potential costs of hiring legal help may cause you to withdraw your blog post and publicly apologize. In layman’s terms you have been intimidated, even blackmailed. In legal terms the maneuver is known as Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). Usually, the plaintiff does not expect to succeed, but rather intimidate critics.

Read the story of Justin Kurtz below.

Venting Online, Consumers Can Find Themselves in Court

New York Times – May 31, 2010

After a towing company hauled Justin Kurtz’s car from his apartment complex parking lot, despite his permit to park there, Mr. Kurtz, 21, a college student in Kalamazoo, Mich., went to the Internet for revenge. Outraged at having to pay $118 to get his car back, Mr. Kurtz created a Facebook page called “Kalamazoo Residents against T&J Towing.” Within two days, 800 people had joined the group, some posting comments about their own maddening experiences with the company. T&J filed a defamation suit against Mr. Kurtz, claiming the site was hurting business and seeking $750,000 in damages.

Read the full article…

Writing a Blog Disclaimer

I believe, writing a disclaimer is mandatory for each blogger. The simplest example is, “The views expressed on this website are based solely on my personal opinion and do not represent the opinion of others.”

On my blog I needed a more specific disclaimer, and I posted it on the Home and About page:
“Note: While FrogenYozurt.com is my personal blog, I may generate ad income and accept advertising/ads and links on my blog. Paid entries are marked as “Paid Articles.” All other entries reflect my very personal opinion on various topics.”

For further details on writing a blog disclaimer, please have a look at an article I found on the Blog Herald.

Expressing an Opinion

Source: IELTS Speaking Function 03 – Expressing Opinions

Here are basic phrases you should use when expressing an opinion in English:

I think + a sentence using the present tense
I believe + a sentence using the present tense
It seems to me that + a sentence using the present tense
In my opinion + a sentence using the present tense

Saying these intermediate phrases which show that you are not completely certain of your opinion:

This is just my opinion, but I think (or believe)…
I am not very familiar with this topic, but my first thought on this topic is…

You can try using an introductory clause plus one of the basic phrases above:

Some people may disagree with me, but I think…
My own preference is to favor EFG, so I believe…

Sometimes you want to show that you feel quite certain about your point of view. You can express your opinion with these advanced phrases:

I am convinced that…
I feel absolutely certain that ABC is better than XYX
I am quite certain about my opinion regarding LMNOP