Playing catch up after two days on the road, I find that Munir Umrani at The Blogging Journalist highly recommends an article by Jennifer L. Patterson, The Shifting Legal Landscape of Blogging.
"By their nature, blogs may not fit within the private/public framework that the U.S. Supreme Court constructed for defamation law more than 30 years ago. Unlike traditional means of publication and broadcast – newspapers, magazines, television, and radio – blogs can help level the playing field for private and public figures. The distinguishing feature of many blogs is the interactive ability of readers to post comments in response to blog entries. Since anyone can start a blog – or respond to a blog posting with his or her own comment when the blog gives readers that opportunity – the private/public figure distinction may no longer be as meaningful for defamatory blogs. Indeed, both private and public figures have the same means and access, at least on the Internet, to counter false statements."
As the title of the article suggests, this topic is still in a state of flux. We don’t have control over what others say (and never have had it), but do have control over our own response. Equal and ample opportunity to counter with ones own side/opinion.
This will be discussed more in a future Fears of Blogging posting.
This is an article you should read and bookmark. Follow the topic. One way to do that is by subscribing to The Blogging Journalist (feed).
Here are Munir’s thoughts on the article.
Technorati Tags: Defamation, Blog Laws, Business Blogging, Fears of Blogging
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