Denis O'Brien gags Waterford Whispers

hatrickpatrick

Ah heyor, leave it bleedin' ouuu... He's gone too far this time. :mad:

http://www.thejournal.ie/denis-obrien-waterford-whispers-news-2257280-Aug2015/?utm_source=shortlink

The story:

LAWYERS FOR DENIS O’Brien have sent a cease and desist letter to Waterford Whispers News, asking for an article in which he features to be removed from the satirical website.
The piece, which was published yesterday and referenced a ‘parallel universe’, was taken down this evening.
Publisher Colm Williamson tweeted an image of the letter he received from solicitors acting for O’Brien this evening.
The legal team asked for all references to the article to be taken down from the site, as well as Twitter and Facebook, by 6pm today. It is understood their client gave instructions to take all necessary steps to vindicate his good name and reputation if this was not done.
Waterford Whispers News has previously made international headlines for pieces on the Charlie Hebdo massacre and for fooling people into thinking North Korea had reached the sun.

The article in question:

Mod snip

Will this man ever learn that one does not simply erase content from the internet?
Once again all he has achieved here is for the aforementioned article to make national news. I expect it to be mirrored on half the websites in the country by nightfall.

Feckin' eejit

(MODS: I couldn't find the original DOB thread, presume it got closed due to being a few months old. If this should be in that instead of a new thread, move it, and my apologies.)

jjpep

Shared this on Facebook earlier, wondered how long it would take for the legal stuff to start....

P_1

https://twitter.com/ColmWhispers/status/629345366585016321/photo/1

The letter in question. Isn't a shame that our so called "freedom fighters" didn't turn their eye on the likes of him rather than innocents...

expectationlost

never a fan of waterford whispers, they'll be gone soon

Sheep Lover

expectationlost wrote: »

never a fan of waterford whispers they'll be gone soon

Me neither, buy anything that annoys that fat w@nker is ok in my books.

The_Valeyard

Well, this will only get the site more attention.


Is Denis O Brien monitoring all the media these days?

tomwaterford

So he's blocking made up/joke news??

Wang King

Surprised O'Brien let this go ahead, all he's done is throw oil on the flames

cml387

WWN can be quite funny at times but that wasn't funny and was definitely skating on thin ice.

I'm no admirer of DOB but I can see his point.

Wang King

tomwaterford wrote: »

So he's blocking made up/joke news??

No, its not the Sindo

expectationlost

Sheep Lover wrote: »

Me neither, buy anything that annoys that fat w@nker is ok in my books.

the letter says take it down by this time or we will sue you, but that doesn't mean even after they've taken it down he wont sue, they suggested his charity in Haiti was not for pure reasons the Daily Mail said similar, got sued and lost because courts said it wasn't based on fact, and had to pay 150k for that http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/denis-obrien-wins-150000-in-daily-mail-defamation-case-29070377.html WW won't be around for long more, its the Haiti thing that will end them.

What if they republished it about a fictional character called Dennis O'Briain

One More Toy

Fair play to Waterford whispers, think I'll follow them now

tomwaterford

expectationlost wrote: »

the letter says take it down by this time or we will sue you, but that doesn't mean even after they've taken it down he wont sue, they suggested his charity in Haiti was not for pure reasons the Daily Mail said similar, got sued and lost and had to pay 150k for that http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/denis-obrien-wins-150000-in-daily-mail-defamation-case-29070377.html WW won't be around for long more.

Can they not just reform under a slight varient??

In all fairness it says that the stories are statirical and fictioneal....would love to see it in front of a judge :pac:

gerrybbadd

What a f*cking kn*bead.

expectationlost

tomwaterford wrote: »

Can they not just reform under a slight varient??

In all fairness it says that the stories are statirical and fictioness....would love to see it in front of a judge :pac:

where is WW going to get the money to fight this all the way?

myshirt

After Vincent Browne goes, who truly will be left to ask the hard questions of the most powerful in society? Who truly has the balls even?

Dr Turk Turkelton

I would just love to be Denis O'Briens solicitor. I mean think about it, every day you get to bill him for at least one spurious law suit. They must be having money fights in the office at this stage.

Mardy Bum

cml387 wrote: »

WWN can be quite funny at times but that wasn't funny and was definitely skating on thin ice.

I'm no admirer of DOB but I can see his point.

It was satire.

myshirt

Dr Turk Turkelton wrote: »

I would just love to be Denis O'Briens solicitor. I mean think about it, every day you get to bill him for at least one spurious law suit. They must be having money fights in the office at this stage.

He spreads the love, different solicitors dealing with different actions, and all the money goes to charity. He doesn't pocket it. Of course, lest we say, he doesn't need to,

KERSPLAT!

Mod

I've snipped the article in question for now, will speak to others and will re-add it if there are no issues

Zillah

KERSPLAT! wrote: »

Mod

I've snipped the article in question for now, will speak to others and will re-add it if there are no issues

It's down anyway

KERSPLAT!

Zillah wrote: »

It's down anyway

It was a cached version I think so probably still available, I didn't check

tomwaterford

expectationlost wrote: »

where is WW going to get the money to fight this all the way?

Why bother...just ignore it :pac:

In all honesty this story sounds like something that belongs on the page (I'm not a huge fan of WW...but this is ridcolus)

Johnny Jukebox

Sheep Lover wrote: »

Me neither, buy anything that annoys that fat w@nker is ok in my books.

He's not actually that fat, just a big lad. I saw him in his lycra at the Wexford cycle last year. Just sayin...

expectationlost

tomwaterford wrote: »

Why bother...just ignore it :pac:

In all honesty this story sounds like something that belongs on the page (I'm not a huge fan of WW...but this is ridcolus)

they mentinond Haiti, he's not going to drop it

Samaris

Hah, I read the article on a mirror. Tbh, I'm not surprised O'Brien's lawyers whacked them. Satire or not, the phrase "libel" has probably been uttered a few times.

tomwaterford

expectationlost wrote: »

they mentinond Haiti he's not going to drop it

The horrer of it :pac:
Do they not slightly be unsueable by saying their stories are fictional/satirical??
(They used say this anyway)

mikeym

Dennis Should run for the Aras

cml387

Mardy Bum wrote: »

It was satire.

Had they said that DOB was serving time in jail for bribing all the record shops in England to make Joe Dolce's "Shuddupya face" a hit, thereby depriving Ultravox's Vienna a number one, that would be satire.

You can believe that Dennis is the pantomime demon king capitalist and make fun of him that way.

hatrickpatrick

KERSPLAT! wrote: »

Mod

I've snipped the article in question for now, will speak to others and will re-add it if there are no issues

Sorry, was assuming it'd be grand considering Boards republished the IBRC allegations when almost no one else would. Apologies if this isn't the case this time.

Nodin

myshirt wrote: »

After Vincent Browne goes, who truly will be left to ask the hard questions of the most powerful in society? Who truly has the balls even?

Who has the balls and the money, more importantly. Defamation case = high court, which is serious cash. In certain circumstances they can sue the individual rather than media (paper, radio station etc).

Nodin

cml387 wrote: »

,............

You can believe that Dennis is the pantomime demon king capitalist and make fun of him that way.

At this stage, its not that much of a stretch.

Jayop

cml387 wrote: »

Had they said that DOB was serving time in jail for bribing all the record shops in England to make Joe Dolce's "Shuddupya face" a hit, thereby depriving Ultravox's Vienna a number one, that would be satire.

You can believe that Dennis is the pantomime demon king capitalist and make fun of him that way.

No that wouldn't be satire at all. Satire is talking something real, putting a slight twist on it and making a joke about it. That article was exactly what satire is.

WWN is probably the only news source in the country that's got the balls to say anything about this criminal. I hope it doesn't neuter him.

castletownman

Am I the only one who finds it incredible that he is reported as being richer than Richard Branson, Bernie Ecclestone, Donald Trump and Oprah?

With that in mind, you'd wonder why he'd bother with his propensity for spurious lawsuits.

Jayop

castletownman wrote: »

Am I the only one who finds it incredible that he is reported as being richer than Richard Branson, Bernie Ecclestone, Donald Trump and Oprah?

With that in mind, you'd wonder why he'd bother with his propensity for spurious lawsuits.

Why don't they love me?

Don't cry for me Ireland.

BlaasForRafa

cml387 wrote: »

You can believe that Dennis is the pantomime demon king capitalist and make fun of him that way.

Looks like Fathead has a couple of fanboys on this thread.


I wonder does a senators facebook page count as Dail utterances :pac: You can see a copy of the alleged letter from the solicitor there.

Jayop

I think the next referendum we have should be to chuck O'Brien out of the country for good. Surely there's room for an amendment in the constitution for that.

GreatDefector

Dr Turk Turkelton wrote: »

I would just love to be Denis O'Briens solicitor. I mean think about it, every day you get to bill him for at least one spurious law suit. They must be having money fights in the office at this stage.

In this universe at least

Nodin

castletownman wrote: »

Am I the only one who finds it incredible that he is reported as being richer than Richard Branson, Bernie Ecclestone, Donald Trump and Oprah?

With that in mind, you'd wonder why he'd bother with his propensity for spurious lawsuits.

Because he can. Because it acts as a deterrent to investigative journalism. Possibly because he fears that the findings of the tribunal, widely discussed, would mean losing his political allies. There is also the possibility he resents being one of the few caught, when many more have sinned (even though he has suffered no consequences from the tribunal).

efb

In fairness to WW, some of their articles have been on the money!

DOB ugh... Is this the price we pay for FG in power???

Zascar

Waterford Whispers is brilliant - one of the best Irish websites around. The titles he comes up with are very clever and he's very quick with topical stories. Many people don't like it as they lack this thing called a sense of humour.

Jayop

Can anyone tell me in simple terms why he's not been charged with anything?

The Moriarty Tribunal's second and final report found that Michael Lowry, Ireland's then energy and communications minister, assisted O'Brien in his bid to secure a mobile phone contract for Esat Digifone, a key foundation of O'Brien's personal wealth. The tribunal found that this happened after Lowry received a $50,000 payment from O'Brien via a circuitous route involving a complex arrangement of third parties and offshore accounts. It said that it was "beyond doubt" that Lowry gave "substantive information to Denis O'Brien, of significant value and assistance to him in securing the [mobile] licence" during at least two meetings between the two.[25][26] The Tribunal was not a court of law; its findings were "legally sterile".

BlaasForRafa

efb wrote: »

In fairness to WW, some of their articles have been on the money!

DOB ugh... Is this the price we pay for FG in power???

Pretty much. FF had the developers and builders, FG have fathead, Labour have the unions and Sinn Fein have wealthy american donors and proceeds from the Northern Bank (allegedly). Every party has it's unsavoury side.

Sky King

Zascar wrote: »

Waterford Whispers is brilliant - one of the best Irish websites around. The titles he comes up with are very clever and he's very quick with topical stories. Many people don't like it as they lack this thing called a sense of humour.

I find it quite hit and miss but some of their headlines are hilarious. http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2015/05/01/denis-obrien-to-sue-everyone/

wendell borton

Jayop wrote: »

I think the next referendum we have should be to chuck O'Brien out of the country for good. Surely there's room for an amendment in the constitution for that.

It would be a good thing to re-evaluate some of those wacky old laws of the first democracy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostracism

Nodin

Jayop wrote: »

Can anyone tell me in simple terms why he's not been charged with anything?

The Gardaí have been investigating the tribunal findings since 2011. As can be imagined, they won't comment.

Jayop

wendell borton wrote: »

It would be a good thing to re-evaluate some of those wacky old laws of the first democracy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostracism

I read the URL and thought it was Ostrichism. I suppose that's the term to use for the mainstream media's reporting on the tax exile.

Jayop

Nodin wrote: »

The Gardaí have been investigating the tribunal findings since 2011. As can be imagined, they won't comment.

Ah OK. So in the mean time we just carry on handing out massive state contracts to him. T'is a great wee country.

tomwaterford

Jayop wrote: »

Can anyone tell me in simple terms why he's not been charged with anything?

Because he's rich??

Govt rightly or wrongly don't want to see wealth leave the country?

Kermit.de.frog

Jayop wrote: »

Can anyone tell me in simple terms why he's not been charged with anything?

Let's not pretend the hatred for DOB stems from that. It comes from Irish begrudgery mostly. That is just incidental.