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