[net.audio] Bose vs. Consumer Reports libel suit

smb@ulysses.UUCP (Steven Bellovin) (04/30/84)

The Supreme Court has just issued a ruling in the libel suit filed by
Bose against Consumer Union.  The decision, which upheld CU, turned more
on a legal point than on the facts of the case.

In 1970, CU published a report that said that the sound from a Bose speaker
"tended to wander about the room".  A federal judge ruled that that statement
was false and disparaging, noting that a CU employee had testified that the
wandering sounds were confined to a few feet from the speakers.  He awarded
Bose $211K.  An appeals court threw out the verdict, saying "We are unable to
find clear and convincing evidence that CU published the statement that
individual instruments tended to wander about the room with knowledge that
it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.

"CU is guilty of using imprecise language in the article, perhaps resulting
from an attempt to produce a readable article for its mass audience.
Certainly this does not support an inference of actual malice."

Bose appealed this ruling, claiming (among other things) that the appeals
court should not have the power to set aside a libel ruling on factual
grounds.  The Supreme Court disagreed by a 6-3 vote, holding that such
appellate review was essential to protect the First Amendment rights of the
media.  They also upheld the specific finding that CU's article did not stem
from actual malice.