Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven
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| Sunny Days in Heaven Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven |
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Saturday, November 01, 2003 What is Libel? Instapundit links to a brouhaha about an NR columnist, Luskin and a blogger called Atrios. Luskin is claiming libel about being labeled a stalker of Paul Krugman by others. Bill Quick says: Leaving aside the question of whether Luskin is enough of a public figure that he cannot effectively be libeled (I think he is), by dragging in the lawyers to muzzle Atrios in what I believe is his right to free expression moves Luskin beyond the pale of the blogosphere, particularly the ethic that underlies the very existence of the blogosphere. Something I've been careful about from day one of my blogging is that people are liable for what they write. You can't simply defame, denigrate, and slander at will. You don't have a right to do it in your local tavern, at work, or anywhere public. I've felt for a long time that our libel laws (court rulings against our former libel laws) are much too lax. Having any kind of public identity makes anyone a helpless target. The blogosphere doesn't mean free, unfettered speech. Rules of decorum and law still apply. Maybe Luskin should have a thicker skin, but if he can throw a scare into bloggers who use the web as a giant megaphone to spout vicious slurs, then I'm for it. Some speech ought to be chilled. Some people should be forced to shut their ugly mouths. P.S. I could be wrong about this, but I believe the J.D. Salinger case created the ruling that letters have a copyright which belongs to their author, and cannot be printed without permission. So for all those who print emails or letters from lawyers like Atrios did, they might wish to remember whose rights are whose. posted by Mark Butterworth | 2:42 AM | |
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