Comrades,
As a follow-up to an earlier posting I forwarded about internet
censorship at the end of March.
John Walker
>X-Envelope-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>From: "Outcast Magazine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: "Outcast Magazine" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: 'Net Libel' law to be challenged in Europe
>Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 14:07:36 +0100
>Organization: Outcast Publishing Limited
>X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2615.200
>X-Envelope-From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>P R E S S R E L E A S E
>For immediate use - 12th April 2000
>
>
>Outcast editor to challenge 'Net Libel' law in the
>European Court of Human Rights
>
>
>The editor of a radical current affairs magazine has begun a legal
>challenge to amend the law that holds Internet Service Providers
>(ISPs) liable for the content of all websites they host. It will be
>the first European Court case concerning freedom of expression on the
>Internet.
>
>Chris Morris will argue that the current law effectively prevents
>small magazines and individuals from publishing controversial
>articles on the Internet. Outcast's own website was suspended two
>weeks ago because lawyers for a rival magazine warned Outcast's ISP,
>NetBenefit PLC, that an article due to appear on the site next month
>might be defamatory to their client. The site was closed down
>immediately and is now hosted in exile on a server in America.
>
>Morris will be represented by David Price, a leading libel lawyer,
>who will argue that the current law breaches Article 10 of the
>European Convention of Human Rights - the right to freedom of speech.
>
>Chris Morris, said today:
>
>'The current law is unworkable. Whereas editors can make informed
>decisions about whether to publish controversial articles, having
>heard all the evidence, ISPs can only decide whether or not they
>trust the word of the journalist. It would be very expensive for
>them to fact check every article, so they err on the side of caution.
>
>'Ministers have been unable to give an assurance that this issue will
>be given parliamentary time. A legal challenge seems to me to be the
>only way to put this issue on the agenda, and ensure that the law is
>clarified.
>
>'My case will not make it any easier for journalists to publish
>libellous or dishonest material. I believe that journalists and
>editors must always be held to account. But we should be accountable
>to the courts, not to an ISP whose only interest in the article is a
>commercial one.'
>
>
>Notes to editors:
>
>- Outcast is a queer current affairs magazine run by volunteers.
>Contributors include Peter Tatchell, Ken Livingstone MP, David Borrow
>MP, Paul Burston, Mark Simpson, Chas Newkey-Burden, Emma Butcher and
>many other well-known writers.
>
>- The magazine's website can be found at
>http://www.outcastmagazine.co.uk
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John Walker
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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