Interesting post on one of the smh blogs about bloggers and the law:
Bogs fall under the same defamation and other laws that regulate all media organisations in the country.
While US bloggers are protected by a freedom of speech clause in the US Bill of Rights, new sedition laws passed by Australian authorities may make life even tougher for bloggers.
Local bloggers, even without the new laws, must be very careful about what they write.
“Bloggers may be liable for what’s on their website as the publisher of the information,” says Stephen James, a specialist in Technology Law and partner at TressCox.
“I think they need to be more cautious. There is no exception in the law for internet conversations.”There have been only a few cases involving internet bloggers, but James expects more cases involving breaches of other laws.
His golden rule for bloggers is: “Don’t post any comment about any person that you wouldn’t be happy to see about yourself.”
“Remember all laws, including defamation, legal obligations to keep some information confidential, providing negligent advice and even the new sedition laws may apply to bloggers,” says James.
