Gutnick Can Pursue Dow-Jones Libel Case

Anonymous Coward writes "Libel cases based on Internet material could be mounted anywhere in the world, after a landmark judgment handed down by the Australian High Court today. International news service Dow Jones failed in its bid to have a defamation action brought by mining magnate Joseph Gutnick heard in the United States."

Comments

Re:Question about the precendence this sets...

[SecurityGuy]

Iraq and Afghanistan didn't incur the wrath of the US because they wouldn't enforce the DMCA. Iraq invaded another sovereign nation, threatened our interests in the region AND gave their neighbors enough cause for concern that we were welcomed in to kick 'em back out. "We", being a community of nations who didn't think a dictator like Hussein should annex Kuwait just because he didn't have enough space for palaces in HIS corner of the desert. Afghanistan was run by a repressive regime intent on harboring al Qaeda. Nuff said.

I'm not yet persuaded the US is a bully. I was listening to NPR this morning when I heard some guy from a think tank in Qatar explaining that they favored letting the US use their land for military action against Iraq because they thought it was in their interest to have powerful allies. Fair enough. We get something, they get something, we're both happy. Nobody's getting beaten up on the playground. I'm kinda tired, though, of being the rich uncle (Sam) who gets hit up for money any time anyone needs it, who sends sons and daughters to die thousands of miles from home saving other people's ass...ets, and is treated like a tyrant for asking something in return. I'm thinking of cases like Bosnia where I don't believe there was any political, economic, or military reason for us to bother. In fairness, I'm also thinking of cases like Rwanda, where there wasn't any political, economic, or military reason for us to bother, and to our everlasting shame, we didn't. While you have your nose up in the air ask yourself why you didn't do anything either.

I've got news for all the non-US citizens out there. There are more of you than there are of us. You have more economic power than we do. You have more political power than we do. Military is iffy since it's not a winner take all game. Both sides lose something. Still, we're not going to invade if you don't enforce the DMCA. Ya see, first, the rest of you (and remember, there are a lot more of you than us) would be pretty pissed off, and we don't want that. Second, like the citizens of just about everywhere else, all things being equal, we'd rather not have a war even on YOUR soil. Even those who favor war in Iraq don't favor having a war per se, but rather see the war bit as inevitable and are just choosing a time that's to our advantage (before he has nukes rather than after).

I could go on forever on this topic, so I'll try to draw it to a close by pointing the finger right back at 'cha. For every one of you who sticks up your nose at the stupid Americans while we sit on our fat backsides drinking bad beer and eating hormone filled fast food burgers, YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM. As I've gotten out into the wider world, I've come to accept that here in the good 'ol US of A, we don't always hear what the rest of you are saying. Our ears are open, but unlike a lot of you, it's a long way to the border, the border's water on east and west anyway, and the guys down south speak a language most of us don't understand. We don't share your perspective because we don't live in your shoes, but that doesn't mean we're incapable of understanding your perspective. You don't understand our perspective for exactly the same reason. As long as we are both content to walk around with disdain for the others' ignorance, that's how things will remain. This is changing somewhat due to the advent of satellite TV and the Internet. Those voices are starting to come through more clearly, but ironically not because the speakers have done anything to make themselves heard more clearly. Speak up, mmmmkay?