Demon Internet has been leaning on its customers to stop them defaming people on newsgroups. The internet service provider (ISP) has actually suspended some of its customers' postings to newsgroups, to prevent it being sued.

The action is the fallout from the legal row between Laurence Godfrey and Demon two months ago. Godfrey managed to successfully sue Demon over postings that had been made through the ISP's servers.

Now some customers have had their connections to newsgroups suspended, after posting comments on the Godfrey situation. Phil Payne, an IT analyst at Isham Research, published a URL where interested parties could read historical exchanges on the case and conduct further correspondence. His account was also cut off.

"It seems that all you have to do to get your Demon Internet service suspended is to post a reference from a Demon Internet user ID to a public archive, Dejanews in this case," Payne said.

"It's like being penalised for telling someone there's information on a particular subject in the British Library. It means that anyone can get access routes to information banned, simply by alleging that they are defamatory."

Payne said that at least 11 users have been suspended, including Kurt Adkins, a retired paramedic. He is scathing of Godfrey's use of litigation and its possible effect on internet use in the UK.

"Godfrey's approach is jeopardising freedom of speech via ISPs. Usenet etiquette is to either engage in debate, ignore it or ridicule the perpetrators.

The course chosen by Godfrey has persuaded Demon to go over the top," said Adkins.

Demon Internet's legal department issued a letter to Payne on 1 June, stating: "We have received information that your postings to newsgroups ... contain a link to a website containing material which is alleged to be defamatory ... Demon makes no judgement on whether the material is defamatory, but the law at present means that if an allegation is made that defamatory material is being published through our systems we must take action to prevent that material being published.

"Failure to take such action would mean that both you and Demon Internet could be liable for substantial damages," the letter concluded.

"There are many free, high-quality ISPs ... but Demon charges £10 a month and threatens customers with liability. They ought to have more sense," Payne said.

Alyssa White, communications manager at Demon Internet, said: "Each complaint is assessed on an individual basis and we looked at the URL after a complaint was received."

She added: "The law needs to be clarified. The internet is a different realm and the laws on defamation and directing someone to something that is potentially defamatory were not designed for this environment."