I have another problem similar to the first and need help with it.
Two years ago I visited a Spiritual Network and wrote of a spiritual
experience I had while alone on a mountain as a young teen. I thought
it went well with the overall program of the network and supposed it
would only be viewed by the members there. But later I ran a google
search on my name and up pops that story I wrote for the website. I
was shocked that anyone could read that just by typing in my name and
running a search. This isn't right and I wrote the network about it
and asked could they please remove my last name from the story which
they seem to have no interest in doing even after I threatened legal
action. What can be done about this? Are there lawyers that handle
such things? It isn't a newsgroup so I do not believe the removal tool
would work for that - would it? What are my alternatives?
That is a very personal and private experience and I do not want the
entire world having access to it, you know?

Hello lightbulb,

It is probably impossible for you to remove the content from an
internet website by yourself without the assistance of the website.

The first thing I would do (and this is purely unprofessional advice)
is to find the contact information for the domain (the actual
owner/administrator) and contact them directly though telephone or
snail mail. I am going to walk you through how to find this
information first, and then list some legal services that deal with
your type of problem.

Let's suppose the website you are talking about is
http://www.spiritsite.com/.

The first step would be to go to
http://www.netsol.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois and type in spiritsite.com
into the box that says "Enter a Domain Name." Next click Go.

You get a detailed record of who owns the domain, with the
Administrative Contact, in this case:

  Administrative Contact:
      Administrative Services  (AS2938-ORG)		admin@SPIRITSITE.COM
      Spiritsight, LLC
      P.O. Box 4287
      Greenwich, CT 06831
      US
      212-820-9797
      Fax- 212-820-9797

You can use this email address, phone number, fax number, address to
get into contact with the website, and if they are still refuse to
remove it, be sure you make copies of all correspondence with them. It
is now time to look for legal advice. It might also be a good idea to
talk to a lawyer about this before contacting them, but it is
completely up to you.

I did research on lawyers specializing in Internet Law and this is
what I came up with:

If you consented to the publishing of the material on the website,
then you might have a hard time getting it removed if the website
refuses to do so.

"For comments about an individual to be libelous, they must: (1) be
false and (2) injure that person's reputation." (by Maria Halvert)
"False information about you on the web?"
http://www.worldlawdirect.com/article/428/False_information_about_you_on_the_web%3F.html

While researching I found this a website that talks about "The
doctrine of "protecting the creator's rights" prohibits unauthorized
and unpaid-for reproduction, both to encourage creative individuals to
seek out rewards for their activities, and to keep third parties from
"misusing" other people's creations in ways that the creator never
would permit (if he or she were to be asked)."
http://law.freeadvice.com/intellectual_property/computer_law/protecting_right_creator.htm

On the same page, at the bottom, there is a "Find a Layer" pull down
menu, click the state you are in and click Find Now. Most of the
lawyers listed have "Free Initial Consultations" which should give you
enough information to decide if you want to proceed.

The following website is a list of lawyers that specialize in or
provide internet law services. This would probably be a good place for
you to find a lawyer near you (if you are living in the United
States), and ask for legal advice.
http://www.isp-planet.com/resources/index_lawyer.html

If you cannot find a lawyer specializing in internet law from these
pages, please give me the general geographic area you are in and I
will find an Internet Lawyer for you.

I hope this is a satisfactory answer for your question. If you need
any clarifications or have further questions, please let me know and I
will do my best to further assist you.

tisme-ga


Search Strategy:

free legal advice internet law
://www.google.ca/search?q=free+legal+advice+internet+law&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N

internet lawyers privacy
://www.google.ca/search?q=internet+lawyers+privacy&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&start=10&sa=N

internet content lawyers
://www.google.ca/search?q=internet+content+lawyers&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

online legal advice internet
://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=online+legal+advice+internet&btnG=Google+Search&meta=

---

Clarification of Answer by tisme-ga on 24 Nov 2002 20:19 PST

Hello lightbulb, 

My fellow researchers have given me some advice regarding this
question which I am sure you will find to be encouraging.

"Nothing modern is in the public domain anymore unless the owner
explicitly puts it in the public domain(*). Explicitly, as in you have
a note from the author/owner saying, "I grant this to the public
domain." Those exact words or words very much like them." (by Brad
Templeton)
10 Big Myths about copyright explained
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

Chances are that you will be able to get your story removed from the
website one way or another. You certainly have legal grounding if they
refuse to move it voluntarily unless you gave them explicit permission
to use your story.

tisme-ga

Thanks tisme. 
I have the contact info and plan to call them today. I think once I
inform them that I have legal grounds to back my request they should
comply. I just wonder why they have been so hard-headed about it?

This is a good lesson in why it's a good idea to have a good screen
name to post stories and messages on the net. Nowadays people use the
people finding capabilities of the internet for all sorts of reasons.
I do a lot of research, and oftentimes I'll be looking up info on a
potential employee or client, and I'm always amazed at the private
info they have under their own name. A screen name allows you to be
one step from anonymous, and it sounds cool as well :)

Most people don't realise that nearly everything they say is being
recorded - at least not in the beginning. Most people are used to real
life where they're words just vanishes into thin air. It seems to me
that there should be a governing body somewhere that would grant one
chance to each individual to completely remove everything they have
ever written online. Just once.
If they do it again - tough.
But until then, it's best to use a screen name or alias.