Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Freedom of Speech, The Internet, Blog’s and The Law

If you publish your opinions in the public domain, not everyone who reads them will agree with you. They may even go as far as trying to prosecute you, or to advocate some other form of disciplinary action against you.

Fortunately, I have a close relationship with a lawyer here in Cambodia, should I ever have any such problems, also, I know a few international organisations who are very hot on internet and Bloggers rights.

Below, a cut and paste article linking back to the original source, I am registered with them, just in case …

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Whether you are a newly minted blogger or a relative old-timer, you will have been seeing more and more stories appearing every day about bloggers getting in trouble for what they post.

Like all journalists and publishers, bloggers sometimes publish information that other people do not want published. You might, for example, publish something that someone considers defamatory, republish an AP news story that's under copyright, or write a lengthy piece detailing the alleged crimes of a candidate for public office.

The difference between you and the reporter at your local newspaper is that in many cases, you may not have the benefit of training or resources to help you determine whether what you are doing is legal. And on top of that, sometimes knowing the law does not help - in many cases it was written for traditional journalists, and the courts have not yet decided how it applies to bloggers.

But here is the important part: None of this should stop you from blogging. Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Internet bullies should not use the law to stifle legitimate free expression.

That is why the EFF created this guide, compiling a number of FAQs designed to help you understand your rights and, if necessary, defend your freedom.

http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/faq-overview.php

To be clear, this guide is not a substitute for, nor does it constitute, legal advice. Only an attorney who knows the details of your particular situation can provide the kind of advice you need if you are being threatened with a lawsuit, or disciplinary action. The goal here is to give you a basic roadmap to the legal issues you may confront as a blogger, to let you know you have rights, and to encourage you to blog freely with the knowledge that your legitimate speech is protected.

http://www.eff.org/bloggers/

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