Last week we saw an Amazon shopper, who left a negative review of a Medialink Wireless Router, faced with the threat of a lawsuit. Lawyers acting for Mediabridge Products sent a letter demanding that the review to be removed or that the reviewer face the consequences.
The legal letter, sent to the Amazon reviewer, was posted on his Reddit page. It showed that Mediabridge wanted to sue him for an "illegal campaign to damage, discredit, defame and libel" the company. It went on to claim that his review statements were "false, defamatory, libellous and slanderous, constitute trade libel and place Mediabridge and its products in a false light."
As a result of all of this, Amazon has revoked the license of said company, removing all Mediabridge products from its online store as a response to the its outrageous legal reaction over the negative review.
Mediabridge later said, in a lengthy official statement on Facebook in defence its action, that it hadn't actually sued the reviewer. It just wanted the "untrue, damaging and disparaging statements" taken down, reports Ars Technica.
"It's our sincere belief that reasonable people understand that not only is it within our rights to take steps to protect our integrity, but that it should be expected that we would do so when it is recklessly attacked," Mediabridge Products wrote. "The reviewer has since changed his review completely to remove the libellous statements, but unfortunately not before having an army attack us on the internet."
While the reviewer has taken down his Amazon and Reddit posts, it is unclear as to how long the company will be banned from Amazon, the only site through which it currently sells its products.
"Unfortunately, as a result of our attempt to get this reviewer to do the right thing & remove his untrue statements about our company, Amazon has revoked our selling privileges. Many hard-working employees whose livelihood depended on that business will likely be put out of a job, by a situation that has been distorted & blown out of proportion."
The above statement was later deleted, along with Mediabridge's entire Facebook presence, following a flurry of negative comments.
