Unvarnished

By James Sheldon on April 5th, 2010

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Clever idea.

It’s another online review/referral/reputation site that focuses on individuals–seeking the truth beneath the varnish.

If Yelp didn’t have the market cornered on extortion potential, Unvarnished has taken it to the next level. A place, solely dedicated to the “praise,” and/or “ripping” of individuals offering services, conversation, relationships, a vocabulary you like or don’t like, or perhaps a shirt that you found to be particularly distasteful on a Wednesday. For those familiar with the arena, Unvarnished is not news, however, the stoking of legal conversation is.

Fred Alvarez of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati offered his point of view this weekend in the L.A. Times:

“Absolutely it is litigation nightmare. The essential question is, ‘Who can I sue?’ Obviously, all the principles of defamation apply to things posted anywhere, including the Web. Having to answer for the statements that we make in public has been a pretty good deterrent to making comments that cannot be substantiated.”

Got that? If you’re gonna rant on Unvarnished, and someone decides to sue, the burden of proof will lie squarely upon your shoulders. If you’re going to vent, I would highly suggest starting your own personal blog/private entity to share your opinion or disdain for any particular group or individual. If you feel secure enough to blast someone based on your opinion and feel like you can hide from Big Brother, by all means, blast away–just don’t be surprised when they find you.

Unvarnished claims that your identity will be obscured for leaving reviews, but c’mon, how obscure do you think you’ll be when someone wants to sue for defamation? As a former employee in this industry, the administrators KNOW who you are, regardless of how anonymous you think you may be.

Sure, there are some people who could and should be knocked down a few notches on their self-constructed totem poles, but we’ll have to wait and see if Unvarnished is truly a tool for the masses, or another safe haven for Internet trolls.

(Image via: Redfin)