alchresearch Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Legal wigs to sort out rules on internet defamation, contempt In the wake of Lord McAlpine's lawyers threatening to sue thousands of Twitter users for libelling his name with false allegations of child abuse, as well as the multiple issues surrounding tweets that may be in contempt, the Attorney General has clarified that the same legal framework applies on the internet that applies offline. Dominic Grieve QC told MPs on Wednesday, in response to a question from Labour politico Chi Onwurah, that the Law Commission was in fact reviewing contempt specifically as it relates to the internet. He said: An offence committed on the internet remains an offence. It is my belief that public awareness and understanding of this has been raised by a number of high profile cases and court proceedings over recent months. These have resulted in both fines and imprisonment for the offenders and have been widely reported. The Law Commission is currently reviewing the law of contempt and will look at the issue of contempt and the internet. A public consultation will shortly commence. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/22/law_commission_public_consultation_on_internet_and_contempt/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem8634 Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Legal wigs to sort out rules on internet defamation, contempt http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/11/22/law_commission_public_consultation_on_internet_and_contempt/ I've mentioned this issue before on a thread about free speech. The law seems to be grappling with its position regarding social networking and hasn't quite caught up with the implications of something that has become so ubiquitous and powerful relatively quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alchresearch Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Yep, pretty much the same as the music copyright issue. Although way back in 1984 I remember someone being prosecuted for sending an offensive MBX (the Prestel equivalent of email), so its not like this medium has just suddenly appeared! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem8634 Posted November 22, 2012 Share Posted November 22, 2012 Yep, pretty much the same as the music copyright issue. Although way back in 1984 I remember someone being prosecuted for sending an offensive MBX (the Prestel equivalent of email), so its not like this medium has just suddenly appeared! True it isn't sudden in general, but the revolution in social media (twitter/facebook etc.) is much more recent and I don't associate the process of legislation with lightning response times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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