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Court unmasks anonymous media site posters
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April 15, 2010 - Posted by Dean Jobb
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NEWS – In what may be the first case of its kind involving comments posted to a Canadian media website, the Halifax weekly The Coast has been ordered to identify seven people who made allegedly defamatory statements tagged to a story about racism in the city’s fire department. As well, Google was ordered to identify the holder of a gmail account who circulated an email that could be defamatory. "The court doesn't condone the conduct of anonymous Internet users," a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge ruled April 14. The Coast and Google did not oppose the motion to produce the information. Read the reports in The Globe and Mail and Halifax's Chroncile Herald.
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CP fined for breaching ban
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July 23, 2009 - Posted by Dean Jobb
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News
The Canadian Press has been fined $4,000 for contempt of court for breaching a publication ban imposed at a British Columbia murder trial last year. The wire service circulated a report that used the first name of an undercover RCMP officer whose identity was protected under a court-ordered ban. The CP reporter covering the case was aware of the ban but assumed the name used to identify the officer in court was a pseudonym; it turned out to be the officer's real name. The ruling will be of particular interest to online journalists, as the report appeared on only a handful of websites before CP realized its mistake, killed the story and apologized to the court. Read the Vancouver Sun report. Read the ruling.
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Web 2.0 libel suits multiply
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February 11, 2009 - Posted by Dean Jobb
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Feature
The Web 2.0 movement ushered in an interactive Internet and put power in the hands of the people, tapping the so-called wisdom of the crowds to change the world -- and to keep such a digital democracy in check. A decade later, as defamation lawsuits mount in response to an explosion of vicious attacks and anonymous gossip, some are questioning the wisdom of the crowds -- and wondering if it hasn't turned into mob rule. Deborah Gage reports in the San Francisco Chronicle.
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Defamatory email costs sender $7,800
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December 11, 2008 - Posted by Dean Jobb
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News
An email containing "malicious gossip" has cost the sender $7,800 in an out-of-court settlement, even though it was directed to only one recepient. The case is a reminder to journalists to be careful not to make or repeat unfounded accusations when seeking information and conducting interviews by e-mail. Betsy Powell reported on the case in the Toronto Star.
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Britian's libel laws 'a global menace'
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July 28, 2008 - Posted by Dean Jobb
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Commentary
Britain's libel laws are outdated and a gift to the censorious and powerful, who use them to silence critics and, increasingly, to try to shut down websites and bloggers. The Internet and the global nature of publishing ensure "these medieval laws have become the most powerful extra-territorial legislation ever drafted." Author George Monboit, writing in The Guardian, says timid British politicians and compliant British journalists are to blame, but fears he'd be sued if he dared to name names.
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Wanted: Libel law for the digital age
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September 26, 2007 - Posted by Dean Jobb
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Commentary
A libel suit filed against Mumsnet, a community website where women offer one another advice, support and friendship, underlines the need for a libel law that reflects the reality of publishing online. In this May 2007 commentary, Justine Roberts, co-founder of Mumsnet, argues that treating an electronic bulletin board as if it were a newspaper or book is like using railway signals to control air traffic.
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Libel suits put online free speech at risk
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May 3, 2007 - Posted by Dean Jobb
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Commentary
A pair of recently filed defamation suits have the potential to reshape free speech on the Internet in Canada, Internet law expert Michael Geist warns in this Ottawa Citizen commentary published on May 1, 2007. A British Columbia businessman is suing a who's who of the Internet, including Yahoo!, MySpace and Wikipedia for allowing users to post or link to articles he alleges are defamatory.
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Internet media law 101
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December 30, 2006 - Posted by Dean Jobb
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Backgrounder
The Internet has changed the landscape of Canadian media law, but the rules that govern what appears in the traditonal media also apply online. A primer on defamation law, publication bans and copyright on the Internet, as well as the restrictions on accessing child pornography.
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New Brunswick's amateur journalist
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March 7, 2007 - Posted by Dean Jobb
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Feature
Charles LeBlanc fights for bloggers to share press privileges Рand rights. Vanessa Green, writing in the King's Journalism Review, explores how the Internet is changing the definition of journalist.
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Pssst ... try the back door to cyberspace
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December 26, 2006 - Posted by Dean Jobb
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Feature
On the frontiers of human rights and technology, Julia Belluz writes in the Ryerson Review of Journalism, outspoken nerds fight to free the flow of information on the web.
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Libel-tourism suffers setback in Canada
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March 7, 2007 - Posted by Dean Jobb
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Commentary
The Supreme Court of Canada has denied leave to appeal from the Ontario Court of Appeal decision in the case of Bangoura v. Washington Post. The decision finally decides that Bangoura’s Internet-libel claim cannot proceed in Ontario and cements an important precedent against libel-tourism in Ontario. The Washington Post's lawyers, Paul Schabas and Ryder Gilliland, comment.
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