Ruling in Australia May Have Big Impact on
Web News Sites
By
REUTERS,
December 10, 2002, Filed at 6:06 a.m. ET
CANBERRA
(Reuters) - Australia's highest court ruled Tuesday that a defamation case
sparked by a story on a U.S Web site could be heard in Australia, opening a
legal minefield for web publishers over which libel laws they must
follow. The landmark ruling that
an article published by Dow Jones & Co
was subject to Australian law -- because it was downloaded in
Australia - is being watched by media firms as it could set a
precedent for other cases. Dow
Jones argued the case, brought by Australian mining magnate Joseph Gutnick for
an Internet version of an article from Dow Jones' Barron's magazine, should be
heard in the United States, where libel
laws are considered relatively
liberal.
Debate
centerd on whether an alleged defamation was published in the U.S. state of
New Jersey, where Dow Jones's web servers are located, or in Victoria, where
some readers saw the story.
Gutnick, who has initiated defamation proceedings in his home state of
Victoria in Australia, was delighted with the ruling. ``They'll have to be very careful what
they put on the net. The net is no different from a regular
newspaper. You have to
be careful what you write,'' he told Australian
television.
A disappointed Dow Jones said in a statement it would continue to
defend the case brought by Gutnick.
Two Victorian courts refused Dow Jones' application. The publisher then appealed to the
High Court of Australia, the country's highest court, which unanimously
dismissed its appeal. ``The court
was asked to determine where that article was published. It has made no findings on the merits
of the defamation action itself,'' the court said in a
statement.
Media
Watching
The
ruling caught the eye of the media sector as it was believed to be the first
time a country's highest court has defined where Internet publication takes
place in a libel case. The court
allowed 18
organizations
to make submissions to the hearing, including AOL
Time Warner Inc, Amazon.Com Inc, the Associated Press, Bloomberg LP,
News Corporation Ltd., Reuters Group Plc and Yahoo! Inc.
Dow
Jones, which also publishes the Wall Street Journal, had argued that exposing
Internet publishers to defamation suits in jurisdictions where material is
downloaded could lead to claims all over the world and restrict freedom of
speech. But the court dismissed
Dow Jones' concerns of multiple defamation actions arising from one
publication. It
said a publisher could argue it should only have to defend itself
once.
The
court said a claim could be brought only if the person had a reputation in the
place where the material was published
- in this case, Gutnick's home town of Melbourne. Dow Jones said it was encouraged the
court ruling recognized the ``novel, complex and global'' issues of Internet
publication which the publisher said needed international
discussion.
The
executive director of Australia's Internet Industry Association, Peter
Coroneos, said the ramifications of the ruling were profound for anyone
publishing content on the Internet.
``However, the practicalities of bringing legal actions could
ultimately prevent the mass of suits that some have feared,'' he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-media-australia-internet.html
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2002