If you use the Internet, I bet you have at least one friend who sends you regular e-mails reporting stuff they think is interesting or funny. I’m on quite a few distribution lists and often enjoy and benefit from the information. Unfortunately, as I’ve reported before, much of it is false.

Take, for example, an e-mail that’s been circulating for years summarizing outrageous lawsuits like the man who supposedly set his 32-foot Winnebago on cruise control, left the driver’s seat to brew a cup of coffee, crashed, then sued Winnebago for not having a warning against the dangers of walking away from the wheel. According to the false story, he won an award of $1,750,000 plus a new motor home.

There’s a humorous quality to these stories of the legal system run amok, but the real purpose is to confirm broadly held prejudices against lawyers and support arguments for tort reform.

Barbara Mikkelson at Snopes.com, a great website for sorting fact from fiction, points out that these cases are carefully crafted with realistic detail to convince the reader they are true. She then offers an excellent summary of the underlying issue.

"Tort reform has advocates and adversaries," she says. "On one hand, we bridle at the thought of the terminally clueless being rewarded for their folly -- that strikes us as just plain wrong. We also fear for the continued well-being of the small- to mid-sized business that can ill afford to fend off one frivolous lawsuit after another and thus stand in danger of being litigated to death.

"On the other hand, we don’t want to see those who have legitimate cause denied their right to sue for an appropriate amount. We also don’t want to see corporations free to turn out whatever dangerous product they like because the combination of capped awards and their deep pockets render them bulletproof."

Her conclusion: "It’s a complicated issue, not made easier by fake cases of horrendous miscarriages of justice. One has to wonder why someone is so busy trying to stir up outrage and who or what that outrage would ultimately benefit."

My conclusion: Truth does matter, and it’s the responsibility of people of character to identify and reject sources willing to lie to make their point.

This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.