Slashdot Mirror
British Woman's Twitter Comments Spark Expensive Libel Claims
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from the BBC: "A woman who complained about an unpaid £146 invoice is facing a libel battle that could cost her more than £100,000. Lesley Kemp, 55, took to Twitter claiming that a company based in the Middle East had failed to pay her promptly for transcription work. Now the firm is suing Mrs Kemp, of Milton Keynes, for defamation, claiming up to £50,000 in damages and a further £70,000 in costs. The company, Resolution Productions, based in Qatar, has yet to comment."
The world doesn't revolve around you: you don't have to interject about how proud you are of your "country".
You're correct. It's the Universe that revolves around me. Unless I'm not spinning... That's the basic idea behind relativity. Also, I fail to share your primitive concept of "countries" and borders -- We've just got to get you out into space: You can't see the borders from among the stars...
These are shows staring Earthlings of the English speaking variety and thus share a familiar setting with their largest target demographic's general location. I'd like to see more shows taking place in other regions of the planet too, but this does happen already: Unsurprisingly the number produced are in proportion to the population of prosperous people present in those places. Even less surprising is that the range in type of broadcasts is more limited the less advanced and poorer the region is. Ever watched Somali TV? It's surprisingly uplifting in some ways, sad in others -- Like any other good series.
That's not to say I'm against the idea of Amazon making shows set in Nukualofa, Norway, Nambia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger or Nowheresville. It's just that I don't think its a bad move for them to do shows set in the USA. When you're starting out with anything you always cut your teeth on the easy stuff first (but really now, only one space colony -- the closest to the planet you can get -- after 4 whole decades? I'll never get a vacation at this rate). Could you imagine the actors trying to pull off an Indian accent? (outside a campy comedy of course) I've no doubt that there would eventually be shows set in less populated regions or even using other languages once they get over the hurdle of actually being successful at something -- Providing there's a audience of Internet connected folk to watch them -- I mean, it's a Corporation not a Charity; It's not like even existing studios are expected to make shows for needier folks with no funds to mine.
As a cultural connoisseur I'd have nothing against a Comedy set in Cambodia, or a Drama in Denmark, or Mystery in Malaysia. I'd even voraciously devour the various subtitled versions -- the translators actually add their own small artistic contribution in selecting the culturally equivalent meanings, and mapping between what was said and what was told in subtitles is very interesting (It's not just what's lost in translation, but what's defanged or even transformed altogether). Hell, I'd watch a Sex show about Sea Slugs with sultry seductive star laden voice-over instead of the dry nasally nature narrators -- Why oh Why do you humans typecast the other species so? However, unlike you, I rationally realize that everyone is not like me, in fact, I'm unique among you even though we sometimes share similar tastes. I don't expect folks to make shows singling out styles only I prefer, especially not in the first attempt at the show business. I mean who among you would make the market for a cosmic scale musical staring a sentient nebula in love with a beautiful but brain dead stellar nursery -- Ah, unrequited love, a classic plot element, but it gets me every time (especially the part where you find out the love interest is incapable of love -- Just like those temporary chat room romances between humans and spam-bot AI).... All things in due time.
Sadly it's the mob that rules the ratings.