Libel Chill blog
p2pnet news | Freedom:- “Canada is preeminent as the defamation lawsuit marketplace,” p2pnet posted this summer, going on:
It’s the place to go for forum shopping, but that doesn’t mean to say it’s not happening elsewhere as well.
Attempts to stifle, if not completely gag, people and sites whose views run contrary to those of the (usually) corporate mainstream are becoming commonplace.
“Some might accuse me of exaggeration when I say that Canada’s libel laws are currently the most outdated and repressive in the English speaking world,” said well known Canadian media lawyer Dan Burnett last year.
“I say it is no exaggeration.”
That was in June and the only thing that’s changed since then is: the situation is getting worse.
The Libel Chill blog was launched to emphasise the danger Canadians are in.
“We have put together this site to educate Canadians about the sad state of our backwards libel laws and to raise funds for a series of lawsuits which we hope will set new precedents protecting our freedom of expression in the realm of political writings,” it says, going on:
A handful of current Canadian lawsuits currently pose an enormous threat to the Internet and politics in Canada, namely:
a) the enormous social and global potential of collaborative computing, social networking, and open source dialogue;
b) open and frank political speech in Canada, currently being “chilled” as truth disappears;
c) silencing, real and potential, of Internet whistleblowers, satirists, political humourists, anonymous sources and political dissidents;
d) the potential liability to anyone writing or hosting a blog or a wiki, for fear of legal and financial liability
The CBC recently aired Threat to the ‘Net and Political Free Speech. Click here to see it and meanwhile, an alert notice posted on Facebook says, among other things:
Ever criticize a politician in writing? How about a backroom political operator? A CEO? Canada stands alone in the Western democratic world in that it still allows public persons to maliciously use libel law to silence their critics. Worse, our courts are still unclear how to apply libel law to the Internet. If Wayne Crookes (the plaintiff) gets his way, entire sites could be forced offline simply for linking to another site which somewhere on it has content someone claims is libelous.
He’s already managed to wipe one blog off the net over just one post and some comments, and he’s done so without even a legal finding or a court order. See http://www.greencompostheap.blogspot.com for what I mean.
Crookes is also using Wikipedia and (ironically) the OpenPolitics.ca wiki. For a great piece about the OpenPolitics case, see http://www.christindal.ca/2006/08/07/the-silliness-of-suing-a-wiki/
It adds:
To defend ourselves, we badly need funds. Over at LibelChill.ca you can donate to our defense fund through Paypal. Please give generously. Libel lawsuits are very expensive and as we are fighting several at once, we are looking at an initial price tag of up to $100,000.
The threat is real
If you have a dollar or two to spare, please help. And in the meanwhile, remember: any Canadian anywhere who posts something someone else doesn’t like, no matter if the allegedly offended party is in Canada or some other country, and no matter if the item in questions is political or not, is in equal, and very real, danger.
Nor is Crookes the only person wielding the hammer.
I, too, am named in the lawsuits Holloway refers to, but it doesn’t end there. I’m also being sued for defamation by Nikki Hemming, the woman who runs Kazaa, the P2P file sharing application owned by Australia’s Sharman Networks.
Sharman was also suing p2pnet but decided to withdraw, leaving Hemming up front.
Burnett is representing me pro bono in this case. We’ve filed for summary dismissal and are currently waiting for evidence from Hemming in response.
He’s also acting for Wikimedia and others in the Crookes defamation cases. Luckily for me, Wikimedia has generously allowed me to be tied in with them.
But this isn’t the end of it either.
p2pnet certainly comments on political events, but I wouldn’t call it a political blog, by any means. However, it’s certainly satirical on occasion and has been known to lampoon people and events.
For example, SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) recently decided it was time to go after hair-dressers who have been wickedly playing music for their customers while they were having their hair permed.
And they weren’t paying SOCAN the privilege !!!!
I did a post on the subject and by way of illustration, draped a wig over the SOCAN logo.
I got a ‘Take it down immediately — or else’ letter from one of SOCAN’s legal eagles, and this wasn’t the first time the organisation had tried to intimidate me.
This case is currently in the very capable hands of CIPPIC, the Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic.
Once upon a time, the Net was the place we could go to talk to others and exchange information without fear.
Not any more.
Jon Newton – p2pnet
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August 18th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
I posted in my own blog about your SOCAN post and included your graphic as an example of what complete tards SOCAN has become. Haven’t got a letter from them yet. While the laws may seem to be sliding backwards into a slimey stinky pit o’ poo the only way to get them changed is to work through our elected representatives and to continue to be vocal. If enough people exercise their rights in the face of unjust laws there will be change. Don’t give up or give in. Keep on keeping on. Cheers.