Interesting People mailing list archives
IP: More on Internet defamation
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2001 15:32:24 -0500
Date: Sun, 23 Dec 2001 12:02:35 -0500 From: Peter Shane <pshane () andrew cmu edu> ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Date: Sunday, December 23, 2001 7:12 PM +1100 From: Matt Collins <matt.collins () bigpond com> To: pshane () andrew cmu edu Subject: RE: While visiting Law.com... * Normal 0 DocumentEmail 1.95 pt 5.35 pt 0 Dear Peter, Thanks for forwarding that information to me ? I found it most interesting. By way of reciprocation - I have noted three updates on Internet libel from the UK and Australia on my website in the past couple of weeks: see www.mattcollins.com.au/oupupdates.htm. The developments are, by way of summary: 1 The recent Australian decision of Gutnick v Dow Jones & Co Inc will be going on appeal to Australia?s highest appellate court. The sole issue at the appeal will be whether, for the purposes of Australian defamation law, Internet material is published at the place where it is written and uploaded, or at the place where it is read or seen. There is no doubt that, according to orthodox principles in Anglo-Australian defamation law, material is published at the point of receipt, but the High Court is not bound by precedent and may consider broad questions of policy and overturn common law principles if it considers it appropriate to do so. The appeal will be heard in mid-2002. If the Court were to find that publication occurs at the point of uploading, the decision would have major jurisdictional ramifications ? for example, it would be much more difficult for Australian plaintiffs to sue American online publishers in Australia for defamation, because no element of the tort would have been committed in this country. 2 The English Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Loutchansky v Times Newspapers Ltd on 5 December 2001. The decision is wide-ranging. Of particular note, however, the Court of Appeal rejected the submission that the US ?single publication? rule should be adopted for Internet publications in England. Under English law (and Australian law for that matter) a fresh cause of action for defamation accrues each time defamatory Internet material is read or seen. The Court also found that online publishers cannot rely on a defence of qualified privilege in respect of archived material once they are on notice that the material may be defamatory unless they attach a sufficient warning to the archived material. 3 The UK government has announced that the Department of Trade and Industry will undertake further consultations before the European Parliament and Council?s Directive on Electronic Commerce is transposed into UK law. The Directive contains provisions governing the circumstances in which Internet intermediaries might be liable for hosting, caching or carrying information which they did not create. Implementation of the Directive is likely to be delayed until mid-2002 ? well after the deadline of 17 January 2002 specified in the Directive itself. The delay may leave the UK exposed to the risk of liability before the European Court of Justice if private parties suffer loss on or after 17 January 2002 because of an inability to rely on the provisions of the Directive before English courts. There is more information about each of these developments on my webpage ? www.mattcollins.com.au/oupupdates.htm, including links to supporting materials. Please feel free to distribute this information to others on the list if you think it to be of interest. Kind regards and all the best for the holiday season. Dr AUTOTEXTLIST \s "E-mail Signature" Matt Collins Direct line +61 3 9225 7780 Direct fax +61 3 9225 8646 -----Original Message----- From: owner-insites-network () lists andrew cmu edu [mailto:owner-insites-network () lists andrew cmu edu]On Behalf Of pshane () andrew cmu edu Sent: Friday, December 14, 2001 9:02 PM To: insites-network () lists andrew cmu edu Subject: While visiting Law.com... This message is being sent from Law.com (http://www.law.com) on behalf of Peter Shane who wanted to share an item of interest. Peter Shane thought you might find this interesting: California Internet Libel Suit Yields Big Verdict Law.com is the Web's most comprehensive destination for legal information and services, as well as legal application solutions through its Real Legal division. ---------- End Forwarded Message ---------- Peter M. Shane Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Public Policy and Director, Institute for the Study of Information Technology and Society (InSITeS) H. J. Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management Carnegie Mellon University 5000 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213 412-268-5980 FAX: 412-268-5338 E-Mail: pshane () andrew cmu edu
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