Chris McGrath, an author who self-published a book called The Attempted Murder of God: Hidden Science You Really Need to Know under the pseudonym of “Scrooby” is now suing an Amazon (AMZN) reviewer, Vaughan Jones, who apparently maligned his book. Mr. Jones also outed Mr. McGrath as the man behind Scrooby in the reviews section on Amazon.
The Independent reports that Mr. Jones also published an article on the website of the Richard Dawkins Foundation about Mr. McGrath’s book. As such, Mr. McGrath is also suing evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins and Amazon.
The British papers are taking this as a case of libel laws run amok: “Libel reform campaigners have expressed concern that the hearing is another example of how Britain’s defamation laws disproportionately favor claimants, closing down debate particularly among individuals and organizations who cannot afford costly legal battles,” reports the Independent.
