"since they might file for legal damages"
On what grounds would their case not be thrown out immediately? Regardless of how well known their lawyer is. Also, the agency might as well close up shop if they sue as they(incl. CEO & most staff) would never be hired again as agency or individuals given the whole nature of the internet.
from https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/yes-you-can-post-n...
> Congress has reaffirmed your right to post truthful negative reviews about a hotel, restaurant, or service — even if you signed an agreement
OP could easily name company and CEOs real name and still be legally sound & protected.
Stop scaremongering please.
Strategic lawsuit against public participation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_pu...
My point is OP given the situation should speak to an attorney.
As for your points, they’re specific to the US, set of assumptions, etc — which you didn’t even clearly articulate in your comment and created what appears to be a throwaway account to respond to a single comment. Impressive.
— and —
From the article: “They were so excited about the project and got carried away, but he was going to remove the hours they’d spent redesigning the blog.”
___
That’s bait-and-switch in my opinion and might very well be illegal.
My suggestion would be to immediately stop talking about this to random people on the internet and speak to an attorney specializing in contract law. Prepare a brief covering what you did in the blog, have copies of any emails, specs, contracts, etc. — and have them clarify if there was a material breach of contract that would warrant damages and/or any evidence showing the web agency committed illegal acts.
I would also be very careful about identifying the company, since they might file for legal damages. If the CEO’s first name is real, I would immediately remove it from your blog and the reference to finding them on HN to make any claim you did identify them harder.