I have mixed feelings about this because I want free speech on the Internet, but I also do not want whoever can afford the best lawyer to control speech on the Internet.
People can get just wacky insane when given an anonymous pseudonym and the ability to publish to the world in the comfort of their own little worlds. Humans are the most cruel and destructive species to ever populate the Earth. People publish hurtful, damaging, despicable things that are completely fabricated and totally devoid of fact with no effort or sound judgement. Before the relatively modern era of tort litigation - we still had free speech but tort damages were still settled because you could get your ass shot in a duel or simply bushwhacked when venturing outside to take a piss. It seems like everyone with a keyboard is a cruel narcissist these days.
Classical and long-standing Defamation and Libel laws - both personal and commercial, extend to the internet for good reason. Persons and Companies can get damaged beyond repair and with real and permanent injury.
Everybody knows when the line's been crossed - it's obvious. And you are free to cross any line you care to, but you had better be able to substantiate your smack talk with facts. If what you are publishing on the internet is harmful to your target, in all truly free societies the target of your wrath has the right to monetize the extent of that harm and to seek a remedy through the judicial system. We have outlawed dueling.
To wit: if you're going to cross that line of publishing information that injures - you had Fucking well better be able to substantiate your smack with facts that withstand the light of day ( like a jury trial ).
There are some very unique circumstances to this case - namely, it wasn't truly a legitimate
Free Speech circumstance in that the target of the vitriol was not allowed to respond because they were banned. Any clear thinking person following that thread could see that the AMP contractor had an axe to grind and he gamed the BMT website in a perfect way. He knew his target was helpless to respond, and he knew that BMT and AMP were not going to do any favors for each other.
IMHO, Big Mike should be just as pissed at the AMP Contractor as AMP themselves for this mess. In many ways, BM is left holding the bag as it were.