Comments on: Zoeller Sues to Find Author of Wikipedia Post

By: Aretha Stefansky

Aretha Stefansky — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:11:04 +0000

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By: Indiedog

Indiedog — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 20:38:04 +0000

Interesting arguments.

Under UK law he could sue because there is defamation, identification and publication.

It’s then down to the website/author (and the ISP if they don’t take it down when notified, you could probably class Wiki as the ISP here) to prove what is said is true and not the other way round.

So Robin’s point is really interesting.

Robert Mugabe keeps talking about extraditing UK journalists about what they’ve said about him when his staff have checked the sites.

A colleague who teaches law to journalists says you could go on a libel holiday and just get people to open sites in countries around the world.

Hmm, a business venture coming on here.

Thanks John, interesting points and Robin’s too!

Indiedog
anarchic in the UK

By: Robin Hamman

Robin Hamman — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:23:39 +0000

The question at the end of your post is a good one and will become increasingly important as more non-professionals, many of whom will have no knowledge or understanding of libel law, begin publishing online. On the one hand, it seems unfair that they should be held to the same standards as, say, a professional journalist working at a major daily newspaper. However, it also wouldn’t seem fair if the words of a kid blogging defamatory content on their myspace page, for example, was able to simply get away with harming someone’s reputation just because they didn’t know the law. And, anyway, that myspace profile may very well get more traffic than some articles on a mainstream newspaper’s website.

Another issue is who’s laws should apply. The UK, where I live, has libel laws that many feel are tipped too far in favour of the claimant. And now there are lawyers taking on such cases on a “no win, no fees” basis. To sue for libel in a UK court, one only need to show that it was published to someone in the UK – which, given the nature of the internet, a wikipedia entry or any other article is likely to meet.

Cameron Diaz recently sued the National Enquirer, based in the US, in a UK court. See http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/article/160207/libel_apology_and_damages_for_cameron_diaz

If you’re interested in a primary UK perspective on internet libel, you might find these posts of use: http://www.cybersoc.com/internet_libel/index.html

Enjoyed your post.
Robin.