January 12, 2009 Can your online review get you sued? Play video

(NECN: Ted McEnroe) - Ratings sites are among the hottest spots on the web, and with reason - they get tons of traffic, they give people a chance to express themselves - but can they be held accountable? That question that was *almost* answered in a San Francisco case.

The case involved a chiropractor, Dr. Steve Biegel, who sued Christopher Norberg for defamation in a Yelp review after Norberg criticized Biegel's billing practices and said the chiropractor was being dishonest with insurance companies.

When the chiropractor complained about the review, Norberg replaced it with a new one a little later. But it wasn't any nicer. "I think that he is trying to scare me into removing a negative post (that might explain why he has only positive ones)," it read in part, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. "I believe that he has been harassing me into shutting up, and I feel as a consumer I have a voice and that I can use it on forums made for sharing it, especially when I feel that the experience was unsatisfactory."

Biegel said both reviews were malicious and in February sued Norberg for libel and invasion of privacy.

The case raised questions about whether people can use the Internet to express negative feelings about others and also about the long-term viability of businesses like Yelp that publish

third-party reviews, even though Yelp - under the federal Communications Decency Act - is not responsible for the content it publishes.

But in this case - it didn't get that far. The two sides went to court ordered mediation - and settled. Neither side has really commented, although Norberg, on a site he had put up at standforspeech.com, is now calling it a misunderstanding.

Meanwhile, former NECN President and Founder Phil Balboni has launched his new online venture today. It's called GlobalPost.com, and it's devoted to presenting world news with an American perspective. The site relies on dozens of freelance reporters based around the world to file stories for the site. The site has also compiled a list of some of the best-quality bloggers from around the globe to contribute to the site.

Balboni is working with executive editor Charles Sennott, formerly of the Boston Globe, on the site.

There are also some other names loyal Globe fans will recognize - automotive writer Royal Ford and columnist HDS Greenway are both going to be regular contributors, as well as former CNN corespondent Jane Arraf and Fox News State Dept. reporter Teri Schultz.

GlobalPost is also trying some different ways to raise revenue, including serving as a syndication source for newspapers who have cut back on their own international coverage, and by letting users buy into a program called GlobalPost Passport. Passport members will get access to editors and correspondents, as well as a number of products designed specifically for them.

Whether the site will succeed remains to be seen - but it's an important, noble venture, and it deserves a look. We wish him the best of luck.