Judgement on Dr Matthew Garrett (@mjg59) vs. Dr Roy Schestowitz (Techrights.org)
2 days ago
- #legal-judgment
- #defamation
- #free-software
- The case involves a defamation claim by Dr. Matthew Garrett against Dr. Roy Schestowitz and Mrs. Rianne Schestowitz over 24 publications on their websites, Techrights and Tuxmachines, which accused Dr. Garrett of serious misconduct including cybercrime, harassment, and drug use.
- Dr. Garrett, a prominent free software activist and software engineer, alleged that the publications caused serious harm to his reputation, particularly within the UK free software community where he maintains professional and academic ties.
- The defendants, who operate not-for-profit websites dedicated to free software advocacy, counterclaimed for harassment, alleging Dr. Garrett was behind a sockpuppet trolling campaign against them.
- The court found that the defendants failed to provide evidence supporting their allegations against Dr. Garrett, leading to the dismissal of their counterclaim and a ruling in favor of Dr. Garrett on the defamation claim.
- Damages of £70,000 were awarded to Dr. Garrett for the defamation, along with an injunction to prevent further publication of the defamatory statements and an order for the defendants to publish a summary of the judgment on their websites.