Yelp commenter slapped with lawsuit, settles

Still playing catch-up from the big news that broke while no one was watching at CES. This one is one of the more chilling happenings in the tech world in recent weeks: A user on the popular user reviews website Yelp was sued by a chiropracter for whom he left a publicly-viewable nastygram. The case was settled shortly after the news hit, but the fact that it was brought in the first place -- and the aftermath of the case -- are still decidedly unpleasant.

The backstory: San Francisco resident Christopher Norberg didn't much care for his experience at the hands of chiropractor Steven Biegel, so he went to Yelp to leave a negative comment about the incident (primarily involving the billing process). Biegel sued for defamation, and Norberg panicked, putting up a website asking for help defending himself.

Shortly after the news broke on the web -- although the defamation case was actually filed in early 2008, it took nearly a year to make headlines -- the case was abruptly settled. The terms are confidential, but Norberg replaced both the website and his original Yelp comment with a note about a vague "misunderstanding between both parties" and encouragement for "the internet community to act responsibly."

While everyone's happy that a trial was avoided, the results are still bittersweet for free speech advocates. In the end, it feels a lot like Norberg was successfully bullied into withdrawing a valid complaint about the way he was treated by Biedel's business. This of course isn't the first time the courts have been involved in online commentary disputes. The most notable involves a 2006 case on eBay -- though I can't find any record of how that case ever turned out. Another similar eyebrow-raiser was also filed a couple of weeks ago, as a Canadian model sued Google over comments on its Blogger service that described her as, among other epithets, a "horsey face."

Will lawsuits become the norm for those unhappy with commentary posted online? Sound off in the comments section with your thoughts, but don't say anything bad about me -- I'll sue you!