Thursday, March 30, 2006

Lord, I apologize...

Blogging is not the newest thing around but has certainly spurted into a huge trend of late with just about everyone having a shot at their own page. Thing is with trends that explode like Mount Vesuvius is that unthinkable repercussions and spin-offs emerge as the phenomena grows...

It is no surprise that blogging then became a wonderful medium through which to bring porn to those of you at home that need it but it has been a surprise that blogging has pushed its way into the world of litigation:

A recent lawsuit in the UK, in which a man successfully sued a woman who had called him names in a blog, has highlighted issues that will become more prominent as Internet usage grows and blogging becomes more popular. The Guardian reports Conservative Party member Michael Keith-Smith sued lecturer Tracy Williams, with whom he was debating the merits of military action in Iraq, after she began a campaign of name-calling that started by describing him as ‘lard brain’ and culminated in labelling him a ‘Nazi’, a ‘racist bigot’ and a ‘nonce’. The case is one of the first of its kind between two private individuals to go to court. Legal experts said the case should be taken as a warning to the millions of people that the laws of libel applied just as they would if the comments were published in a leaflet or newsletter.

To be honest, if some retarded bitch called me a lard brain I would be pretty bleak but I wouldn't go through the admin of instituting a defamation claim against her. I would just reply and call her a retarded unpatriotic bitch that doesn't support her country in military operations. Of course in our law we have the defense in defamation that 'if its true its justifiable' so I guess its on my side...

However, this does open the floodgates problem that any 'tom, richard or harry' (dick might have encouraged an action) can threaten legal action if we berate his ability as a person. Hence we are working on a disclaimer...

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