Archive
Category: Defamation
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Internet defamation and the ‘age of humiliation’
As many have argued, the internet etches an indelible tattoo upon the reputations of those whom people tag, ridicule and ‘out’ — be they cat women, dog poopers or just obnoxious celebrities. But this is probably nothing new: All of us now live under the threat of easy and instant humiliation. It’s no longer just… Read more →
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Defamation law reform in the United Kingdom: Public interest edition
Jack Straw yesterday announced three proposals to reform English defamation law, which has long been considered one of the most plaintiff-friendly in the world. The proposals are designed to curb perceived ‘libel tourism’ by foreign magnates, sheikhs and oligarchs, who have used English courts to stifle criticism in publications whose distribution within the United Kingdom… Read more →
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Mr Justice Eady on internet defamation: time for international consensus
In a speech delivered at the Centre for Law, Justice and Journalism in London last week, Sir David Eady called for an end to nationalised approaches to litigation arising from internet communications: What is plainly required is an international agreement to govern communications on the web and, in particular, to determine whether they are to… Read more →
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Google wins online defamation case: not a ‘publisher’ of website content
In an eminently sensible decision, Eady J has held that Google is not liable for defamatory material that appears in the extract displayed underneath search results. Stated more precisely, Metropolitan International Schools Ltd v DesignTechnica Corporation [2009] EWHC 1765 (QB) now stands for the proposition that the facilitator of a defamatory imputation who, without human… Read more →
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Gator isn’t Spyware. No, Really.
Several weeks after Gator Corp filed an action in defamation against PC Pitstop, a prominent anti-spyware software provider, the parties settled out of court. Gator alleged that the defendant misrepresented their advertising plugin software for Internet Explorer as a form of malicious spyware. Instead, Gator claims that its software is “adware”, and PC Pitstop was… Read more →
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Internet Defamation Trial Date Set
In what promises to be a landmark case for internet publishers, Gutnick v Dow Jones will be heard in Melbourne on 3 October, 2003. This case concerns the appeal of one Joe Gutnick, a miner who claims he was defamed by the Wall Street Journal, in which [edit to avoid innocent repetition: certain defamatory imputations… Read more →