What was the NU fan's punishment for the fake DOK page on Sam/Landry?

[NMSooner'80]

I remember that Kevin Jones, Landry's dad, wanted to sue for libel - and I think he had a pretty good case. I do hope the guy who created that fake Daily Oklahoman page (the Corn fan from Austin) got at least a bit of a fine.

One big reason I was hoping the guy got hammered in the legal system was because a few media outlets assumed it was a true story and "went with it." That also speaks volumes about how our program is still fighting the "outlaw program" image that was deserved at times (but not always), but it would have been damaging to both Sam and Landry.

[soonerloyal]

a few media outlets assumed it was a true story and "went with it."

They ran with the Runaway Balloon Boy story and a psychic's claim about a mass grave in TX, too. Whaddya expect, Edward R. Murrow journalism these days? ;)

[OU Engineer]

refresh my memory as to waht the article claimed?

[madillsoonerfan5353]

refresh my memory as to waht the article claimed?

That they had been picked up for push crack/coke!

:gary:

[NMSooner'80]

refresh my memory as to waht the article claimed?


A Corn fan in Austin created a page that looked just like the Daily Oklahoman and posted a story about how Sam and Landry were busted for dealing. It looked real enough that some people bought it, and the early "leakage" of the fake story even fooled some non-Oklahoma media outlets.

Kevin Jones was talking about suing the guy till it hurt. But amazingly enough, on one of the OU sites a guy kept saying over and over that it was no big deal and "just a joke." I personally thought it was a textbook case of libel, having studied some journalism law when I was at OU. That's why I was wondering if the guy did get sued or had to pay any kind of fine for what he did.

[rekamrettuB]

Well it didn't hurt Sam so I'm not sure what libelous injuries were sustained. Obviously the dude is a huge doosher but no harm was sustained to either party. Unfortunately the guy wasn't hammered and this leaves the door open to copycats, etc.

[badger]

here's the other part of it I guess (from Sept. 2008)


Settlement reached in Internet hoax about OU QBs

By Randy Ellis
Staff Writer
A Nebraska fan who was sued over a bogus Internet article about two University of Oklahoma quarterbacks has reached a settlement with The Oklahoma Publishing Co. and Oklahoman sportswriter Jake Trotter.

The fan, James W. Conradt, publicly apologized and agreed to pay OPUBCO an undisclosed sum as part of a settlement that was filed Monday in Oklahoma City federal court.

Conradt also agreed to never again publish an article in a manner that makes it appear the article was published in The Oklahoman or NewsOK.com, both of which are owned by OPUBCO.

Conradt works as a computing services manager in the information technology department at the University of Texas.

OPUBCO and Trotter sued Conradt after he published an article on the Internet on July 9 that falsely stated Sooner quarterbacks Sam Bradford and Landry Jones had been arrested for intent to distribute cocaine.

Conradt used Oklahoman staff writer Jake Trotter's byline and OPUBCO trademarks to give the bogus Internet article the appearance of legitimacy, according to the lawsuit. He placed a link to the article on his Web site, www.darthhusker.com, and on an online sports message board.

The civil lawsuit accused Conradt of libel, copyright violations and trademark infringements.

"I naively intended the article to be humorous satire and parody and did not intend readers to believe the article was true,” Conradt said in his apology. "If some readers believed the article was true, that was not my intent, and I sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding or harm that may have caused.”

"This experience has been a painful one; personally, professionally and financially,” Conradt wrote. "I wish I had never brought it on myself.”

As part of the settlement, Conradt agreed to:

•Never again use any of OPUBCO's federally registered trademarks, including The Oklahoman and NewsOK.com.

•Never copy material from an OPUBCO copyrighted Web site without OPUBCO's written permission.

•Never falsely represent an article he publishes as being written by an OPUBCO reporter.

•Never promote, republish or publicly comment on his bogus article.

•Never publicly comment on any article authored and published by OPUBCO in The Oklahoman, on the NewsOK.com Web site, or on any other OPUBCO-affiliated Web site.

Under the agreement, Conradt will be required to pay $25,000 per violation if he engages in any of those prohibited activities.

[GKeeper316]

no libel. just copyright infringement.

[Sooner_Tuf]

Nothing happened to him. UT talked about firing him but never did. I doubt he is still posting under the Darth Husker name but that's about it. Well other than getting punked in front of a nationwide audience.

[EatLeadCommie]

I forgot about that incident. I thought LJ's dad and Sooner fans overreacted to it. That some people were idiots and bought it just goes to show the sorry state of the media these days. I mean, it wasn't even a believable hoax story in the first place.

[ouwasp]

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[Sooner Cal]

I forgot about that incident. I though LJ's dad and Sooner fans overreacted to it. That some people were idiots and bought it just goes to show the sorry state of the media these days. I mean, it wasn't even a believable hoax story in the first place.

Your reasoning isn't very sound. Accuse my child of dealing narcotics and you will see a strong reaction. No one has the right to make slanderous claims with no proof regardless of how stupid people may be. To do so with the obvious inent of making it look official is pretty strong proof of intent to harm. It may seem unbelievable to Sooner fans, but it was directed to a wider audience consisting of many people who knew neither Sam nor Landry.

In case you don't realize it, you're making an excuse for a man who clearly did wrong. As it turned out, the idiot was the poster, not those that fell for it. He's the one out the settlement money.

[47straight]

This was done by a UT employee during work hours. Where he spent previous years is not relevant.

[TexassSux]

Sounds like someone the NY Times would hire!

[EatLeadCommie]

Your reasoning isn't very sound. Accuse my child of dealing narcotics and you will see a strong reaction. No one has the right to make slanderous claims with no proof regardless of how stupid people may be. To do so with the obvious inent of making it look official is pretty strong proof of intent to harm. It may seem unbelievable to Sooner fans, but it was directed to a wider audience consisting of many people who knew neither Sam nor Landry.

In case you don't realize it, you're making an excuse for a man who clearly did wrong. As it turned out, the idiot was the poster, not those that fell for it. He's the one out the settlement money.

I'm not making excuses for him, nor am I making excuses for the idiots who fell for the story. They were both stupid. One could easily argue that LJ and Sam, whether we like it are not, are public figures as OU football players, and thus fair game for an obvious joke every now and then. While the circumstances are a bit different, I believe the law on this was settled when Jerry Falwell took Larry Flynt to the Supreme Court and lost. In Falwell's case, you were dealing with an ad that contained a fake interview. In this case, you were dealing with an obviously phony news story with a URL that wasn't even the purported outlet's website.

As somebody else mentioned, the matter was more an issue of copyright infringement, and his settlement with The Oklahoman and Jake Trotter (as opposed to Sam and Landry) indicates that.

[boomersooner28]

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