22 Percent Off

A few months back I blogged about 22 Percent Off, the world’s most useless discount card. I thought I’d have another look at their site to see if a) they were still in business and b) their product had improved at all.

Turns out they have sourced a few new offers for their card, but only a few. One of them is with a business called “Shark Cleaning Services”. So if you have a shark that needs cleaning, 22 Percent Off is the discount card for you!

Overall their new deals are excruciatingly lame. Go look at their site if you don’t believe me. How long before they go out of business?

I am not a lawyer myself, but the recent kerfuffle between 22 Percent Off and Jonk’s Bargains has got me interested in how defamation law works. Hopefully this information will come in handy to those threatened by a defamation lawsuit. To all the lawyers out there: let me know if this information is not accurate. That means you, Sarah.

Defamation law in Australia is handled on a state level, but there is not much difference between the states, as each state agreed to introduce new uniform legislation in 2005, which came into effect this year.

Corporations may only sue for defamation if they have nine employees or less. This is fantastic news; it means that you can pretty much defame any large company you want. Go crazy, kids.

Individuals within a corporation can still sue for defamation. Statements similar to “Everyone at 22 Percent Off are fine upstanding citizens, but together they have created something dirtier than Satan’s underpants” are probably not defamatory.

In practice, defamation is costly and very hard to prove. Statements that are true are not defamatory. Statements that are not likely to cause harm to the plaintiff are not defamatory. Opinions are not defamatory if they are honestly held, on a matter of public interest and based on something that is substantially true.

Some examples: “22 Percent Off’s discount card is crap and not worth the money” would not be defamatory as it is an opinion on a matter of public interest, and does not defame the character of anyone at the business. “22 Percent Off’s discount card is a scam, as none of the businesses listed on their site have agreed to accept the card” could well be defamatory, so it is a good thing that noone is actually saying that.

For most cases, damages are capped at $250,000.

For more information about Australian defamation law, go to http://www.presscouncil.org.au/pcsite/apcnews/feb06/defamation.html

Injurious falsehood is similar to defamation. To prove injurious falsehood, a plaintiff must show that the defendant has maliciously published statements which are false that caused damage to the business or property of the plaintiff. Bloggers have been sued for injurious falsehood before; an example of this is at http://webdiary.smh.com.au/archives/margo_kingston/001297.html

A frivolous defamation suit may expose a plaintiff to an abuse of process lawsuit.

In an abuse of process lawsuit, the defendant must prove that the plaintiff instituted the lawsuit for a purpose other than what defamation law provides for. In practise, this is difficult to prove. For more information about the tort of abuse of process go to http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lrc.nsf/pages/DP32CHP5

The tort of malicious prosecution may also be relevant, but I was unable to find out much information about it.

Remember that companies that threaten defamation lawsuits when they know they have no case are the embodiment of pure evil, and probably take orders from the Dark Lord himself. Don’t be afraid to call them on it.

(I realise I’m flogging a dead horse here, but it’s FUN! Well, at least, I think it is. This will be the last time I mention 22 Percent Off for a little while, I promise. If you are new to all this, go here first.)

Evil: Threatening to sue for defamation, even when the comments made are nowhere near defamatory, hoping that the other party knows nothing of defamation law

Stupid: Not taking into account that some people actually do know something of defamation law, causing the strategy to backfire

It must be a hard cross to bear, being both evil and stupid.

Just being stupid isn’t so bad, so long as you have other qualities to offset it. Take cute little puppies, for example. You wouldn’t ask a cute little puppy to write a thesis for you, but that hardly matters, since they are so cute and adorable and definitely not evil. If, however, you discovered that the cute little puppy was plotting to kill you and your family, you would have no hesitation in driving to the top of the West Gate Bridge and throwing the thing out the window.

Of course, if you were a 22 Percent Off corporate weasel, you would throw the puppy on to your George Foreman grill instead, but I guess that goes without saying.

According to web usability expert Jakob Nielsen, in another five years, computers will be one-fourth their current price. Not sure what he’s basing that on.

While you’re at it, read this. It’s a Christmas related humour column. It’s funny.

Also, remember 22 Percent Off, the only discount card that emits a sulfurous stench from the pits of Hades every time you use it? Jonk, as you recall, was threatened with a lawsuit for bagging their product. Go here to read Jonk’s full account of the Phone Call that started everything.

By “Satan’s evil henchmen” I do, of course, refer to those people who run 22 Percent Off, an Australian discount card company. Jonk’s Bargains didn’t like them much, criticising the lack of discounts available and their general lameness. In response, 22 Percent threatened to sue for defamation. That is an abuse of our legal system, as they had no case and could hardly have thought otherwise. Jonk has left the comments as is.

I went and had a squiz at 22 Percent Off’s website, and can only concur with Jonk’s Bargains. At the time I checked there were 144 businesses listed in Victoria, but that is misleading as businesses with multiple outlets are listed multiple times. There are two listings in Mordialloc, both of which are the same place. The discounts on offer are somewhat less than spectacular. Some of them have expiry dates that have already passed or will shortly. San Remo Bakehouse must be spewing over being classified as “Specialty Retailers” rather than as “Eating / Drinking” or “Restaurants”.

5 Fun Facts About 22 Percent Off (they had it coming):

1. The senior management of 22 Percent Off eat kittens for breakfast
2. For lunch, they prefer puppies
3. They find that the kittens taste nice with tartare sauce
4. They smear the puppies with mustard
5. After work each day they meet up with Satan and play pool

Can’t wait until their PR department sees this.