Re: [Bug-gnupedia] Legality

[Bob Dodd]

[snip]
> [Note: this bit on libel is purely from a US perspective, pardon the
> america-centrism of it, but it's the only law I know a bit about]
> 
> factual or opinion articles?
> libel is a civil issue, not a criminal one, the plaintiff bears the
> burden of truth, not the defendant, this is an important difference.
> 
> The plaintiff must prove the defendant published or otherwise
> distributed defamatory information in a negligent or deliberate
> fashion, knowing it to be false.

Not in the UK (and most of its ex-colonies: they tended to take over
this aspect of UK law). In the UK, if you publish an article, it is
your responsability to ensure it is legal. If you write that so-and-so
is a thief, so-and-so only has to challenge you in court to prove your
allegations...  Newspapers, publishers, and the media in general have
real problems here. Thre are usually atleast two or three major libel
trials every year. 

The best example I can give was David Irving v. Prof Lipstadter &
Penguin Books last year.  Irving has writtin several books denying the
holocaust. Penguin published an article in a book calling him a
holocaust denyer (amongst other things). He took Penguin to court, and
it took half the accademic community of the UK to defend Penguin.
Penguin won, but Irving has no money to pay costs... And having done it
once, he can do it to others (though it can't be for exactly the same
libel, so be careful of calling him a "much reviled historian" unless
you have as much money as Penguin Books).

I hope that explains why physical location of entries (and potentially
indexes) matters so much.

/Bob Dodd




 

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