

If you want fair libel law for the Internet age, get involved - _millymoo
http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/03/24/if-you-want-fair-libel-law-for-the-internet-age-get-involved/

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iwwr
1\. This is why anonymity is important online.

2\. It's unfortunate that the default position is encroachments on rights,
requiring active defense for their preservation.

~~~
Tyrannosaurs
Is anonymity really the solution? That basically says it's OK to say anything
about anyone because there will never be any redress.

I'd suggest that there should be some protection against defamation, the issue
is that the laws that exist in the UK at the moment do a poor job of
differentiating between defending against genuine defamation and what is
frankly an abuse of process (using the process and it's associated costs to
intimidate).

~~~
cstross
1\. UK != England and Wales. (Scottish law is radically different -- based on
defamation rather than libel/slander -- and oddly enough, Scotland isn't a
libel shopping destination.)

2\. The English libel law (which is what's up for reform this year) was pushed
through in the 18th century as an alternative to the dueling field for blue-
bloods with swords to defend their honour. It succeeded admirably in reducing
the death rate, but the challenge/defense model implicit in a mediated
replacement for dueling between peers doesn't transfer well to a situation
where we have corporations using it as a vehicle for SLAPPs.

I'd really like to see, as a principle of law, the axiom that corporations do
not have a personal reputation that can be impugned-- that reputation only
applies to living human beings. As an example of why, consider the McLibel
Case: <https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/McLibel>

~~~
tzs
> I'd really like to see, as a principle of law, the axiom that corporations
> do not have a personal reputation that can be impugned-- that reputation
> only applies to living human beings.

So when someone goes to forums and posts outright lies about a company (e.g.,
claiming that the company's software surreptitiously loads child pornography
on to your computer so they can blackmail you), what recourse (if any) do you
think the company should have?

~~~
cstross
Two words: public relations.

The corporation speaks with a much louder voice than the individual.

(Moreover, web fora are the internet equivalent of a crowded bar: the law is a
very blunt instrument indeed when it comes to dealing with words uttered in
the heat of the moment during an ongoing conversation.)

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p09p09p09
Whew! I thought this was for the US for a second. These really outta have
country codes in the titles like [EU] [UK] [US].

I'm sure the rest of the world feels like everythings all fucked up when they
see US headlines too... :D

~~~
_millymoo
Whoops, sorry. The US has already made leaps and bounds in attempting to sort
this out!

