Re: UKNM: Libel (was Lastminute.com...website or webhype?) -Reply

[John Enser]

Correction -  the Blair government did not cancel

the legislation as it had already been passed.  The

law was changed by the Defamation Act 1996, so

retailers are no longer liable (mostly). 

Unfortunately, the Act does not provide full

defences to ISPs


 >>> =?iso-8859-1?q?Quentin=20Langley?=

<

qlangleyyahoo [dot] com

> 7/January/2000 11:00am

 >>>

Bizarrely even shops that sell a libellous book,

magazine or newspaper can be sued.  This was

discoverec by the late Robert Maxwell, who

realised

that while publishers might have evidence to back

up

what they said about him WH Smiths and John

Menzies

would not.  Ensuring that books were not

distributed

was as good as ensuring they were not published. 

This

was a loophole, which the law had never intended,

and

which now covers ISPs as well.


The previous government had plans to change the

law so

that innocent distributors - and had this happened it

would probably have protected ISPs - were not

liable.


The Blair government cancelled plans for this

legislation.



--- Ian Betteridge <

ianbwell [dot] com

> wrote:

  > on 6/1/00 2:25 pm, Dan Winchester at

  >

danfreelancers [dot] net

 wrote:

  > 

  >  > I wonder what the libel situation is here? Can

  > the 'publisher' be held

  >  > liable for any (libelous) remarks posted in an

  > open forum? And would a

  >  > web-based forum be different from a

newsgroup?

  > 

  > Anyone associated with the distribution of a libel

  > can be sued. For print,

  > this means everyone from the writer, the editor,

  > publisher, through to

  > printer, distributor, and ultimately the newsagent.

  > Also, it's traditional

  > to sue the printer as well as the authors - printers

  > usually avoid court and

  > settle quickly, thus getting you a tidy sum even if

  > you ultimately lose

  > (usually pays your legal fees at least). There are

  > several celebrities (no

  > names, no law suits) who make tidy sums every

year

  > threatening libel actions

  > in this way.

  > 

  > -- 

  > m: 07957 235463

  > - Saying that cultural objects have value is like

  > saying that telephones

  > have conversations. 


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