Aaron Wall Sued Over SEOBook Blog Comments

Who is responsible for the content found on a blog entry? The author, right? How about the comments made by the blog entry readers? Is the author responsible for this content, from a legal point-of-view, as well...? That particular question has a gray area to it, although it may receive some clarification soon. This subject is topical because Aaron Wall of SEOBook removed from Google's index because of questionable optimization techniques. Even though Traffic-Power has been punished by Google, that doesn't stop them from trying to take action against those who speak out against them, especially if the offender isn't as powerful as Google. Just ask Aaron Wall. He was recently hit with a lawsuit from Traffic-Power over reader comments posted through out Aaron's numerous blog entries. Apparently, these reader comments made mention of Traffic-Power in a negative light, which seems to have offended the Google-banned SEO firm. The details of Aaron's ordeal are kind of murky, but the gist of it is Traffic-Power informed Aaron if he removed all mention of the company from his many reader comments, Traffic-Power would drop the lawsuit. Apparently, the legal team from Traffic-Power feels some of their trade secrets were disclosed in some of these comments. As of now, it appears as if Aaron has acquiesced and removed much of content he thought was offensive to his complainants. His blog entry concerning this mess reveals more:

As far back as June 4th, 2004 I removed a comment that I thought was offensive, and I thought generally I was keeping the content in bounds of any sort of legal limit. It is ok to have an opinion. It is ok for others to post their opinions. Since the initial time someone cold called me stating they were from Traffic Power the content has aged over a year and never once has Traffic Power attempted to contact me outside of blog comments, a cease and desist, and a lawsuit. Could you imagine being a client for a company that communicates like that? Had at any point in time Traffic Power made ANY LEGITIMATE ATTEMPT to tell me what specifically I or my site did wrong, I probably would have promptly removed it.