Slashdot Mirror
US Senate Passes 'Libel Tourism' Bill
Hugh Pickens writes "AFP reports that the US Senate has passed (by a 'unanimous consent' voice vote) a bill that prevents US federal courts from recognizing or enforcing a foreign judgment for defamation that is inconsistent with the First Amendment to the US Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech. If the bill becomes law it will shield US journalists, authors, and publishers from 'libel tourists' who file suit in countries where they expect to get the most favorable ruling. 'While we cannot legislate changes to foreign law that are chilling protected speech in our country, we can ensure that our courts do not become a tool to uphold foreign libel judgments that undermine American First Amendment or due process rights,' said Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy. Backers of the bill have cited England, Brazil, Australia, Indonesia, and Singapore as places where weak libel safeguards attract lawsuits that unfairly harm US journalists, writers, and publishers. The popular legislation is headed to the House of Representatives, which is expected to approve it. 'This bill is a needed first step to ensure that weak free-speech protections and abusive legal practices in foreign countries do not prevent Americans from fully exercising their constitutional right to speak and debate freely,' said Senator Jeff Sessions, the top Republican on Leahy's committee."
mohammed does file them, in a manner of speaking. A group of so-called "descendants" of the pedophile (married a 9 year old girl) "prophet" and founder of the Religion of Peace (my ass) often sue in British and other libel weak courts to harass people who write anything bad about islam.
Corporatism != Free Market
Sorry lib.com scum ... your better world is a wog-infested shiitpile. No such thing as "UN rights". Those who enforce it are by=def totalitarian ... like your neo.Stalinist pals. Try to get perfidious Albion to generate a Constitution. And it's a "global" world when you pry the smoking melted barrel of my 270-cal from my cold dead paws. Now lib.com biitch what don't you understand ?
I don't think it's anti-American as such, just a recognition that there are asymmetries the other way too.
But outside the shrill slashdot echo chamber, the fact is American courts are generally very generous in enforcing foreign judgments, the asymmetry is frequently the other way.
Ahh, bask in the inconsistency and hypocrisy:
US: Excuse us, but this guy broke into our servers and stole stuff. That's against the law, both here and there. Would you be so kind as to send him over so we can try him?
EU_slashbots: WAAAAAA! You stupid doodie meenyheads can't enforce your laws here! We don wanna send him over!
EU_courts: Your person said something in the US that we don't like - we tried him over here and found him guilty, so you grab his money and send it over.
US: Well, he said that IN THE US, and it did not violate our laws - indeed, it is protected under one of our highest laws, so we CANNOT legally do that.
EU_slashbots: WAAAAA! You stupid doodie meenyheads won't enforce our laws in your country! WAAAA! NO FAIR!
(NOTE: I am clearly differentiating between the EU in general (and the EU government and courts specifically), the general EU residents, the EU residents who post on Slashdot, and the subset of EU residents who post on Slashdot who are also inconsistent in their views.
www.eFax.com are spammers
The root of the matter is that all (listen to me, your religion is NOT an exception) all organized religions have been perverted and corrupted by the greedy and the twisted. Most were "started" by wildly charismatic megalomaniacs (Jesus, Abraham, Mohammad, Joseph Smith Jr, etc). It's all just social engineering designed to control population; and it's been arguably much more uniting and effective than any other form of government over the long term.