In a worrying development for bloggers everywhere, Boing Boing reports that American biology professor and writer P Z Myers is being sued for "Assault, Libel, and Slander" by Stuart Pivar, the author of a book about which Myers gave a negative review in his blog, Pharyngula. I'm no defamation lawyer, but whilst the review is rightly scathing, I couldn't see anything libellous in it. Let's hope the court throws out the claim for showing no cause of action.
Meanwhile, on this side of the pond the Daily Mail reports that the O2 Arena is to be fined because, horror of horrors, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones smoked cigarettes on stage. Perhaps the audience will sue the band when they all get lung cancer...[I've since seen that the O2 Arena will not be fined, according to the BBC. Could this be the application of common sense by one of the authorities in this country? If it is, then the world really has turned upside down...]
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Thank you for taking the time to comment on this post. Constructive comments are always welcome, even if they do not coincide with my views! Please note, however, that comments will be removed or not published if I consider that:
* They are not relevant to the subject of this post; or
* They are (or are possibly) defamatory; or
* They breach court reporting rules; or
* They contain abusive or threatening language; or
* They contain 'spam' advertisements (including links to any commercial websites).