British libel laws and the internet--are you scared yet?

[matgb]

K, briefly, something very serious, but I need to follow it up properly. Read this:
Chicken Yoghurt » Public Service Announcement - Craig Murray, Tim Ireland, Boris Johnson, Bob Piper...
Then go on to read these
Ministry of Truth » Blog Archive » Wealth (n). Impunity.
The Devil's Kitchen: Directing action against UK libel laws

The US allows for hosts to be covered by, amongst other things, common carrier status. The UK doesn't. I've mentioned the stupidity of the UK libel laws before. But for Tim's business, and the websites of two completely unrelated well known professional clients to be simply taken down because Fasthosts appear to be running scared? That's not good.

I suspect a change to the law will be needed. Scarily, wouldn't take much, especially if someone like Boris Johnson is already directly involved. Might want a letter writing/emailing campaign. More to follow.

Comments

[jantshira.livejournal.com]

have ya considered actually reading the laws and a textbook on them, cos the internet/blogs/whatever aren't always the most reliable of sources. anyone who writes does so to get an opinion across

[paulatpingu.livejournal.com]

My quick thought is yeesh, my second thought is more like eek! I'll give it a proper read through tomorrow, but boy, this doesn't sound good.

Just as a quick response to the comment below; these are some of the most respected political bloggers on the internet we're talking about. True, that doesn't make them infallible, but it does make them slightly more reliable than something you may find on MySpace...

I vote for getting everything hosted by Piratebay... :-)

[(Anonymous)]

For example, Boris Johnson - a leading candidate for Mayor of London and front bench spokesman.

US equivalent: what would the reaction be if Hilary Clinton's website was taken down?

Thanks for the post btw.

Matt Wardman
www.mattwardman.com

[raggedhalo.livejournal.com]

Also look at labourstart.org and the attempts to silence their Fremantle campaign...