Chilling Effects and Cease and Desist Letters
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Chilling Effects is a website that collects and publishes cease and desist letters that it receives from individuals and from organisations such as Google.
The cease and desist letters are uploaded by their recipients to the site, sorted by categories and then published to the web.
Soon, you will be able to search the Chilling Effects' database by the name of an individual, organisation and law firm.
Be aware that if you have sent a cease and desist letter you would have disclosed the offending URLs, which means if your cease and desist letter is published on Chilling Effects, the offending material you complained about could become more visible than ever.
Individuals and organisations that choose to send DIY cease and desist letters will need to consider the likelihood of their letter being published on the internet without ever being removed. Their customers might not all appreciate the content or the style.
People will soon be able to search Chilling Effects' database for hotels and restaurants to see if their owners or their lawyers have a tendency of silencing critics and those who write reviews.
Lawyers who send, on behalf of their clients, baseless cease and desist letters will be named and shamed on Chilling Effects and their clients will risk facing embarrassment and ridicule. Clients will need to be conscious of potential disastrous PR consequences in response to their lawyers firing out cease and desist letters to individuals who raise legitimate complaints or express controversial points of view.
With the inevitable expansion of Chilling Effects, “Rottweiler” barking mad defamation lawyers will soon realise that they start losing their teeth but not before their clients will have paid a hefty PR price for their actions.
Defamation lawyers already need to give their clients advice on Chilling Effects, particularly about the likelihood of their cease and desist letter finding its way to what is going to become a very popular website, with irremovable content.
Defamation lawyers might need to consult with their clients' PR and marketing advisors to make sure that they are happy with the content of the cease and desist letter to go public and they all might need to work on the content of the cease and desist letter together.
Clients must be satisfied that their lawyers are fluent in PR and have a solid understanding of online reputation management so they might not necessarily choose to go with the big law firms.
With Chilling Effects, the heavy handed approach by some firms might be considered by clients as harmful to their brand.
Our responsible approach to online defamation matters helps you avoid unpleasant surprises down the road. You can call us FREE today on 0800 612 7211 for the best advice on sending a cease and desist letter.
