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Defamation, Free Speech, Jurisdiction and the Net?
An anonymous reader asks: "I'm writing a legal article on jurisdiction and defamation via the web. There seems to be a trend in various national courts (eg the UK, Australia, Malaysia) to treat the place where a web-page is *read* (ie browsed) as the place of publication of its contents, regardless of where the page or the server serving it are located. This has far-reaching ramifications, as it opens up anyone publishing anything on a web-site (and also Usenet)
in America to the more restrictive domestic laws of other countries -- not just for slander/libel/defamation, but also treason, lese-majestie, hate speech and general censorship laws (think Yahoo and France). Does anyone have personal, practical experience of being threatened by foreign governments or government bodies for material put up on the Net? Or is it just an inevitable consequence, to be overcome by geographical tagging of a browser's location (think icravetv.com) or similar measures?"
"Many people assert that informed Netizens see this as a way of fragmenting the Net, of imposing geographic boundaries and destroying part of the fundamental location-agnostic nature of the web and the Net -- ie, that it's a Bad Thing. Is this really so? Does anyone see this as a good, or at least a neutral, thing?"
If I put a BillBoard up on Canadian Soil bashing an American company can they sue me in America , (where as on the web it can be seen from) NO !
Its crap, If I shout slanders from France to Germany say can I be sued in Germany NO,
If I dance Naked in ??? and you can see me from ??? (Alright bad example as you would most certainly be blind at that point) and its legal to dance naked where I am , can I be sued for indecent exposure where you are ?
I tell you this I some worthless Aussie tried to sue me here I go over there and show the boy what "Down Under" really means.........
Sig went tro...aahemmm.....fishing........
If you use the (admittedly stretched) analogy of the internet as a broadcast medium, then you should be able to look at how current laws governing radio and television broadcasts are handled.
What are the laws like covering broadcasts and how are they enforced? With the right medium (satellite, etc.) you should be able to reach many parts of the world where various broadcasts are deemed illegal. For example, pornography and some countries in the Middle East. How are these handled? I would have thought political broadcasts by one country might be deemed illegal in other countries with differing views.
just remember, if someone violates the laws of another country from their country, the offended country must extradite them in order to prosecute. a lot of times there is too much red tape to make this worthwhile. especially for something as trivial as a web page.
this is slightly off-topic (mod away), but i note the assumption that non-US laws are inherently more restrictive than US laws. this is increasingly not the case. note DMCA and USA-Patriot, among others, and recent high-profile cases of foreign nationals being arested in the U.S. for breaking such laws.
mind you, i think your assumption was true a decade ago, and i'd like to see it be true again...
i speak for myself and those who like what i say.
In using my website, you agree to be bound by the laws of the United States and that you agree to accept any responsibility for any violations of local laws or treaties that using my website may cause. Further, you agree that you will hold the grantor of this license free from any responsibility should you find the material licensed to you to be libelous or in any other way offensive.
This EULA is not transferable.
Blah, blah, blah....
Oh and by the way, IANAL.
If this were easy, they wouldn't need us to do it!
Twoflower
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Twoflower
Does the political principle of "free speech" mean you are free to express someone else's speech? I understand you wanting to protect your speech from government, but you seem to want to be free to use someone else's speech. Isn't it reasonable that people should be able to protect their speech from others as well as from the government?
And what about the 5th amendment, in part: "...nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
What happens when the principle of free speech collides with the principle of just compensation?
If the government doesn't protect copyright, for example, aren't they essentially allowing public use of a creative work without just compensation?
A MiniHowTo on Pleasing Malaysia Court -
1. Get A Lot Of Money.
2. Donate The Money To The Prime Minister Of Malaysia, or, Give A Sizeable Chunk Of Your Company (in terms of shares / ownership) to One Or More Sons Of The Prime Minister. In Other Words, Bribe The Guy, Or Bribe His Family.
3. Get To Know The Judges - who are appointed by the Prime Minister - through the Prime Minister himeself.
4. Before You File A Defamation Suit, Tell The Prime Minister About It. Make Sure That The Judges *Are* Informed Of Your Up And Coming Suit.
5. From Then Onwards, Everything Is Arranged For You. You Can Ask For Whatever Amount. You Victory Is Guaranteed Even If YOur Evidence Is Extra-Ordinarily Flimsy.
6. If You Can't Collect The Judgement - If The Losing Side Don't Have The Money - You Can Sue Again, And Make Those Bastards Pay For "Defaming You". The Court System Of Malaysia Will Throw Your Enemies Into Jail, Because No Justice In Malaysia Will Dare To Make The "Friends Of Prime Minister" Look Bad.
End Of MiniHowTo
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !